Lamanai

On December 28^th we made a trip to Orange Walk County in northern Belize to visit the Mayan ruin of Lamanai. The trip was a full-day affair – we left the island at 6am, went on an hour and a half boat trip to mainland and then through rivers to get to the small town of Bomba, then a bus ride to another river where we got in another boat to get to Lamanai. The nature was absolutely stunning, as were the ruins of Lamanai, which was apparently a huge Mayan City that was only discovered in the 1970s and remains mostly unexcavated (five temples have been excavated out of an estimated 95 believed to be in the area).

Morning on water, going towards mainland

In the river system

Iguana

Monkey

Jesus bird

This bird is called the Jesus bird because it looks like it walks on water, while actually it walks on lily pads. It is interesting because in this bird species, the female has mulitple partners and leaves the male to take care of offspring.

Orchid

Once we got to Lamanai we saw some really impressive trees and plants. The black orchids were grown in planters, while the crazily huge trees were all around.

Big tree

Jumping in front of Mask Temple

The first pyramid we went to was the Mask Temple, so called because of the reliefs on the bottom of the pyramid. The masks are still on the pyramid, but they have been covered with plaster to protect them from the elements and erosion.

Atop highest pyramid

The highest pyramid in Lamanai is some 120 feet tall and reaches above the tree-line, leading to some cool views from up top.

Jumping again with dad

Jaguar pyramid

The jaguar pyramid complex is really neat because there are remains of rooms all around the pyramid area. It is thought that these rooms were for the elite, who really only went indoors for sleeping (the rooms literally just had enough space to walk in and get on top of a big rock slab bed).

Peeking into a room with dad

With mom and one of the two jaguar faces on the base of the pyramid

Pelican?

On the way back from Lamanai we saw some more birds and the water lilies that had not opened up yet on our way in were finally blooming.

Lotus flowers

Back in Bomba before heading back out to Caye Caulker, we saw a crazy rodent pet. It was the most hyper-active animal ever, running all over the place and playing with its owner. Made me think of Cappuccino back at home.