The ship couldn’t dock in Belize City because the port isn’t deep enough so we had to be tendered in on smaller boats from where we were anchored.
We had booked an all day excursion to see the Mayan ruins in Lamanai. It was raining as we were transferred to a waiting motor coach…
The coach ride took about an hour. Then we were back on a boat to take us up the river.
The idea was that we would see all sorts of wildlife on the boat ride into the rain forest. … This rather obviously tame spider monkey came out of a tree to get a banana.
A white heron had caught something good to eat.
But, with all the recent rain, the river was four feet higher than normal and I think all the crocodiles were hidden under the trees.
We saw lots of water lilies but they only open in sunshine…
This is a termite nest in the trees.
and these are bromeliads
It didn’t actually rain all the way, and it was warm!
We arrived at Lamanai,
where there was more interesting vegetation…
We had come to see the ruins so that’s what we did. This is the Jaguar temple. Some people climbed all the way to the top. The steps were very high. Sheila got up to the first level…
Then, as it started raining again, we made our way to the High Temple.
Sheila took this picture of the carving. I didn’t do any climbing.
Apparently Lamania was one of the longest occupied Mayan cities in Belize. The site spreads out way into the jungle and very little of it has been excavated so far. We enjoyed the gravel walkways but if you looked off to the side you could see how thick and lush the jungle actually is.
It poured on the way back down the river. I’ll leave it to your imagination what my pink streak looked like, running down my face… We snoozed on the bus ride back to town. We were on practically the last tender back to the ship. You can see the Navigator of the Seas anchored to the left of a Carnival ship in this pic…
I missed the Quilters’ Bingo before dinner. I really needed a warm shower!
Despite the weather it was a good day. The Mayans were living in Belize over three and a half thousand years ago and we had stood where they stood. It’s amazing isn’t it?
With all that thinking I was asleep by 8.30!
More adventures in Cozumel tomorrow.
