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Published: November 19th 2008
Carlos, the boat driver swore us to secrecy - don´t tell the ´rich´tourists who we were picking up 8 miles downstream how much we paid for the boat trip and the tour to Lamanai. We paid 80 Belizean dollars, the folks coming in from the Cayes (small islands just off the east coast of Belize) paid 260! Bargain.
The 8 miles on the speed boat, powered by 2 massive outboard engines, were exhilarating. Snaking around river bends and small islands, my hair was truly windswept and blow dried after just 3 minutes.
Skipper Carlos was an experienced and informed wildlife spotter. For no apparent reason to James and myself, he would suddenly drop the revs and direct the boat towards the shoreline. "Shh," he whisphered, "Do you see?". All I could see were trees and plants - green, green and more green. Then slowly my eyes focused at what he was pointing, like how your eyes take a minute to adjust to darkness. A flame coloured iguana sunning itself on a tree branch. Inexplicably called a green iguana (apparently young ones are green and turn orange with age), it seemed to almost pose for our photos. Snap snap and
Spot anything?
Look carefully...then on we flew.
Past the local rum factory and Mennonite farms. Carlos cut the engine again. My eyes searched the bush for any signs of animal or reptile life. Green, green and more green. Then I noticed a flicker of movement in the water. A crocodile! Its eyes peeked above the water line, studying us intently and calmly. (Ironically, Lamanai, our ultimate destination, is Mayan for ´submerged crocodile'.) The boat drifted closer and closer, but the croc - a 12 footer according to Carlos, judging by the distance between its eyes - did not move. It just regarded us without any fear or concern. "Why would it be scared," Carlos explained, "when it could eat us all?" It wouldn´t, he assured. Good to know. I´ve never seen a crocodile in the wild, warts and all, nevermind be so close that I could reach out and touch it. Which I didn´t, especially after Carlos´comment. After a few minutes in the presence of this prehistoric creature, we sped off.
Next stop, a small swampy island. Carlos handed us a banana each. Wait, he instructed, the monkeys will come. I heard them before I saw them, branches rustling above our
The green iguana
Called green, even though its actually orange. heads. Two brave young spider monkeys had broken away from their group, lured by the sweet scent of ripe bananas. They happily swung down by their tails and literally took the fruit right out of our hands. Unfortunately we couldn´t hang around with the cheeky monkeys all day, we had American tourists to pick up.
Ten minutes later the boat was crowded and we continued onto Lamanai, Mayan ruins situated an hour or so along the New River from the small town of Orange Walk. Dated back to 800BC, the structures are mostly unrestored and have simply been cleared of the jungle which reclaimed the site after it was abandoned. We climbed the stone steps of the tallest ceremonial temple, so steep I had to crawl up on all fours. The Mayans are shorter than even me, I have no idea how the kings and shamens would have made the ascent with any grace or decorum. But from the top, the view of the New River Lagoon with its pure blue water was breathtaking, no better spot to worship the gods.
DO NOT book the Lamanai River Trip anywhere except from Orange Walk - or you´ll miss out on the crocs and the monkeys, although it will cost you more. We booked the trip through Hotel De La Fuente - a great small hotel with good budget options, free internet, free coffee and super friendly owners. Cyndi and Orlando will arrange everything for you in advance www.hoteldelafuente.com. Trip price included the boat ride, lunch, a guide, and some rum punch on the return boat journey.
From Jess
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Yay!! Photos at last!
Loving thse photos!! Really like the one "Scrambling down the temple"... nice angle! Keep 'em coming folks! Hope your having loadsa fun!