Lamanai

I spent a bit of time trying to figure out which Maya ruins trip we should do. I googled things like, "best maya ruin belize" for inspiration but of course, there were many differing opinions. In the end, I opted for Lamanai because of the journey itself (boat, bus, boat) where people described seeing howler monkeys and crocodiles and other awesome wildlife.

Unfortunately, our day started off with some rain. We showed up at the Searious dive shop at 7am with worried faces. The first boat trip we took, which was towards mainland Belize, was torturous. The wind pounded in our faces for a good 30 minutes and we were soaked to the bone halfway through. Luckily, I'd brought a plastic bag to wrap up my camera bag so it didn't get wet. If I could re-do the trip, I would have brought a change of clothes. There was really nothing we could do to prevent from getting pelted with water in the boat. The whole ride took a little over an hour.

Once we got near the mainland, we entered this little alcove-y area with awesome trees. It was awesome.

Then, we hopped off the boat in Ladyville. They gave us about 15 minutes to use the restrooms before we shuffled into a van. We were on the road for another hour or so.

And then we hopped in another boat to head up New River Lagoon. The third leg of our journey was another hour - so all in all, three hours spent just getting to Lamanai.

The best part of this last boat ride was that we saw monkeys! This little guy waited on a branch for our guide to hand him a banana.

He was so cute! And he looked right at the camera - or close to it. My sister said his facial expression reminded her of our dog, GM.

Once we got off the boat, we walked towards these two huts where our guide and his assistants set up lunch for us. I forgot to take a photo, but it was a great meal. It was homemade and it tasted that way (that's a compliment). We had rice & beans, stew chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, spicy pickled onions, and a choice of soda or Belizean beer.

After lunch, we walked right into the jungle to see the ruins.

{Mask Temple}

{High Temple}

My sister and I were too hot and tired to climb to the top of the High temple (where you use a rope to help you) but we hopped up a few stairs.

{High Temple}

The ball court was sort of pathetically small but it was still cool.

{Ball Court}

{Jaguar Temple}

{Jaguar Temple}

And of course, we had to take a few silly photos.

Vine swing!

Weird statue and a Baird's Tapir at the Tower Hill rest stop. Excuse my terrible posture that makes me look like I have a huge Santa belly!

 Cute puppy at the rest stop in Ladyville.

And back on a boat to Ambergris Caye.

This trip was a tough one because of the rain, the heat and the mosquitoes. If you plan on doing a trip like this, I recommend you bring the following:

• change of clothes (wrapped up in a plastic bag to keep it dry)
• small towel (also wrapped up in a plastic bag to keep dry)
• sunscreen
• bug spray
• camera

We also brought water bottles with us. Our tour group kept us hydrated with frequent water breaks so you don't need a water bottle, but it was nice to have our own. There were restrooms available to us at each stop of our journey so that was never an issue. Oh, and on the trip back, the guides provided us with coconut tarts and rum punch.

I recommend that you wear light and airy clothes, as it is humid as heck in the jungle. If you have nasty B.O., please use antiperspirant and/or deodorant. There was one man, who wore long sleeves and long pants, which kept the mosquitoes from biting him, but he was so sweaty and smelly that the mosquitoes were swarming around his butt. I kid you not. At one point, my sister and I were getting bit all over and realized it was because we were standing right behind Mr. Smelly.

Overall, it was an awesome trip and despite the initial inclement weather, I'm so happy we went.

Cheers.