Ruins of Lamanai

Sunday morning, we awoke to the sound of congregations singing in churches in the distance.  Either the Belizeans really have some pipes, or the churches actually amplify and broadcast the singing.  We once again had only one night booked at this guesthouse, so we needed to pack up our stuff, and do it quickly before we were picked up by boat at 9:00am at the river alongside our lodging.  Additionally, I had to run to an ATM to get more cash.

The owners had told me the night before that there were several banks just outside our complex that were easy walking distance.  So while the girls were getting ready, I went for a quick walk.  The town of Orange Walk is one of Belize's larger cities, but with half of the 350,000 people living in the country located in Belize City, even the other largest cities are still tiny by any American standards.  The city is much cleaner and nicer looking than Belize City, though there is still occasionally some graffiti.

Just outside our complex, and right up against the riverside was what looked like a very old American treehouse or club house.  It was all wood, about 8 feet by 8 feet, and up on stilts about 6 feet high.  As I walked past I saw someone in the back room (it appeared to have 2 rooms) stand up and stretch.  Apparently just waking up.  It is incredible the difference in poor housing in a country such as Belize vs. America. 

Small House Next to River

Orange Walk

Orange Walk

As I got out of the complex, I walked past many people either on their way into or out from church.  I would have liked adding attendance of a Belizean church to our itinerary, but wasn't able to do that with the timing of our other scheduled activities.  I found a Scotia Bank, only a short block away from the alley that leads to our guest house, and grabbed some cash, and headed back.

The girls were ready for breakfast, and we went over to the bar/restaurant.  However when we got there, the large French family and the owner all went walking quickly over to the river.  Apparently there was another crocodile sighting.  The owner explained that the crocodile's were fairly docile to humans.  He used to dive in the river, tag the crocodiles, and track their movement.  He said he had tagged over 1000 of them.  Asked if they were at all dangerous, he said "No.  I swim in the river, everyone swims in the river.  They are not very aggressive. Sure enough, through out the day, we saw dozens of people swimming in the river, and a handful of crocodiles.  I, however, decided I would not be swimming in the river this week.

We all headed back to the restaurant (though now we were a bit behind schedule). We had egg and cheese omelets, toast, bacon, and some frozen horchata made with coconut milk.  The horchata was awesome.  The eggs I again forced down.  I've now eaten more eggs this week than the last 20 years combined.  And hopefully more than the next 20 as well.  The owner came over and said the boat was going to be here soon for our New River and Lamanai Ruins tour, so the girls ran back to the room to get all our bags packed and loaded in the car (we were checking out, but leaving our car there while on the boat) while I settled our tab for the visit and meals.  The owner then told me the boat operator had called and was almost there. I ran quickly back to the room, and as I started going a boat could be heard in the distance.  The owner said "That's him coming".  I moved as fast as I could to brush my teeth and get everything out to the car, but as I was doing that the owner said he told the boat operator to pass by and pick up the next group and come back for us, so fortunately we had an extra 10 minutes to finish packing up.

We got on the small motor boat with a few other tourists.  We continued down the river and stopped to pick up some more.  All in all there were 12 tourists that seemed to be made up of Germans, French, and Americans, and our Belizean tour guide. For the first 30 minutes, our guide stopped frequently to point out wildlife along the shore.  We saw more crocodile, he pointed out different types of trees, and talked a bit about the river that we were on: the creatively named "New River."  At one point we pulled up to some weeds floating on the surface of the water, and there were 2 similar looking birds about 15 feet apart from each other.  One slightly larger one, was standing fairly still, staring at the slightly smaller one, that was stomping his feet up and down as if crushing grapes for wine.  Our guide explained that the smaller one was the male, and that his job was to incubate the eggs, and the female's job was to supervise.  Hmph.  Typical.

As we continued further, a spider monkey started following our boat.  We pulled over to the trees by where it was, and our guide pulled out bananas for people to hand to the monkey.  Clearly the monkey had done this many times before, as he eagerly came over and waited patiently for someone to step up and give him a banana.  He would then bite the center, break it in two halves, eat one and then the other, and then toss the peel into the river.  Kalyssa also got a chance to give him a banana.

After the first 30 minutes or so, we picked up the pace and continued travelling the 37 miles down river to the Lamanai ruins.  At one point, there was a complex of very clean and new looking homes up on stilts. Our guide told us these were, until recently, John McAfee's--yes, the founder of the anti-virus software.  If you've not read the recent history of this eccentric millionaire, I definitely recommend that here.

Former McAfee Compound

About 90 minutes or so after boarding the boat, we finally arrived at a doc with a small thatched roof hut with a sign that said: Lamanai - Submerged Crocodile.  As we were pulling up, our guide explained that it is believed that the Mayan word Lamanai means "City of the Submerged Crocodile". 

We disembarked, and our guide gave us a moment to visit the restrooms, and asked if we wanted lunch now or later.  We all voted for later.  We began our hike to several temples within the complex.  While in the shade and when the breeze was blowing it was comfortable.  However, a good portion of the hike was in the sun.  It was in the lower 90s today, and as is the whole country, extremely humid.  Moments after stepping in the sun, one could feel the sweat running down your body almost in sheets.  Since we were hiking in the rural jungle, we all wore long pants to protect against bugs and scratches, but that of course makes it even warmer. 

Jaguar Temple

The ruins were absolutely magnificent.  The first one, Kalyssa and I climbed (Allie decided she
 climbed enough the day before).  The second one, the "High Temple" was the tallest of the complex, and the 3rd tallest in Belize.  Both Allie and Kalyssa decided they'd watch me have the fun, and they sat in the shade.  Climbing the steps on the face were not allowed for most of the height, but wooden stairs had been built around the back to make the ascent.  Reaching the top, provided an amazing view, of what seemed like the entire country.  I could definitely see or many many miles.  This temple was 33 meters high, and was built in 100BC.  The amount of solid rock that this contained, and the idea of people building this in the oppressive weather, and carrying the blocks to these heights was just unfathomable. 

View from atop High Temple

Later in the complex we came upon a very small ball court.  (Apparently it is unknown why this one is so small.)  The guide went over in brief the rules of the game as we know them.  Interestingly, this game was taken extremely seriously, and was considered a test to see if one could enter directly into heaven without having to go through the levels of hell first.  Therefore, the champion of the tournament would be killed, so that he could take his direct flight to heaven.  Wow what a deal!

Mini Ball Court

Stela Temple

At one point while we were finishing up the high temple, Allie and Kalyssa started talking with the German family (they spoke fairly good English).  Mom and Dad were here with there son who was probably around Kalyssa's age.  They took the opposite approach of us, in coming into Belize (and Mexico City and the areas near Cancun.) with virtually no preorganized plan.  They flew into Mexico City, and were flying out from Mexico City in another week, and were planning each day on the fly, and using the public buses in Belize for transportation.  Note, the public buses are all old decommissioned US school buses.  Small seats, and no air conditioning, packed full of people.  They said it was definitely uncomfortable, but a neat experience, and only cost at most US$3 per person for trips that took as long as 5 hours (crossing half the country).  This made me very glad I had my rental car.

Mask Temple and Burial Ground

By the time we were done with the ruins tour it was shortly after noon and the entire group was exhausted.  We went over to a picnic area and our guide brought out a couple of coolers with Tupperware containers full of Belizean dishes.  More seasoned chicken, rice and beans, salad, and what was perhaps potato salad.   Additionally, they had a large bottle of rum punch.  A couple glasses of this REALLY hit the spot after the long day. 

We eventually all got back in the boat, and took an "express" trip back to Lamanai Riverside Retreat.  On the way back, we did get the opportunity to see what I believe were 3 Mennonite women (queue song from yesterday: "Mennemonite doo doo, da dah dum....")The were all very fair skinned and appeared blonde, with floor length purple dresses and either large hats or bonnets and were sitting on a dock.  We all waved, and they waved back.  It certainly was a bit of an unexpected site to see in Belize, even though I knew it was likely in this region.

Once we arrived back at the guesthouse, Kalyssa asked if we could get some more frozen horchata

Local Kids Playing in New River

before we left.  This honestly sounded fantastic after 7 hours in the 90+ degree heat and humidity, so we ordered 3.  An American couple that was on the tour with us also got off with us, simply to relax at our bar for a bit before walking down to their own resort. 

We began talking to them, and asked where they were from, and they said: "Tennessee." 
"Hah! So are we!" I replied. Turns out they are from Knoxville.  I started remembering the French fellow the night before saying that there were some other people at the resort from Tennessee.  I asked them if they had stayed here last night.  They said no, but said they did stop by the bar for a drink last night.  "Ahh, you must have talked to the French family then?"  Confirmed.  As we talked more about activities that we've done or plan to do, they mentioned they were at Altun Ha they day before and it was empty, but that as they were leaving they had seen the French family there also.  I had said we also ran into them before checking into the resort at Altun Ha, and then Allie's eyes lit up and she said "Wait a minute, you guys parked next to us, I remember there was a dog under your car when you were leaving and we had just gotten there."  Also confirmed. We are learning that Belize is DEFINITELY one giant 'small town'.

While we were sitting there, another man who had been there the night before,  (and I believe is also part of the family that owns the guest houses) pointed to our Nissan X-Trail, and asked if it was ours.  I knew something bad was coming... Apprehensively, I said "Yes....?"  He said there was a light on in it all night.  Oh no.  I remembered when I went out to it this morning one door looked like it wasn't closed all the way.  The dome light must have been on all night.  I asked the woman behind the bar if anyone here had jumper cables.  She apologetically said she really didn't know.  I went over to give it a try and see what happened.  As I approached it, I used the remote entry without even thinking, but then heard the doors unlock.  Well, that's a good first step.  Lets see if there's enough juice to start it. I turned the key, and the engine roared to life.  Phew! Crisis averted.  I walked back to the bar and left the car running to ensure the battery recharged a bit before turning it off again.  I paid our bill, and we all went back to the car, and hopped in for the 90 minute ride to our 3rd lodging in 3 days.

On our way back south, I once again saw several "Tapir X-ing" signs.  I've been very eager to see a Tapir cross my path this week... still waiting :-(.  I also continued my bad luck at seeing the sneaky Belize speed bumps.  These sit in the highway (where the speed limit is 55 mph) and are fairly high, with a platform about 4 feet wide before falling back to street level.  Apparently they use these as opposed to police to prevent speeding.  And of course, one should slow to about 5-10 mph to go over them.  Sometimes they have a sign, often they do not.  I quite often see them at the last minute, slam on the breaks, and still end up flying over them at 25 miles an hour, causing everything in the car to go airborne, with a very loud crash.  I hit about 3 or 4 of these this way on today's drive.  They are only near intersections (which there are very few of) or populated areas with a lot of pedestrians crossing.  However, if you don't know the area, you obviously don't know these are coming up, and there far enough apart, that you forget to keep an eye open for them.  Fortunately, I've not destroyed the shocks and suspension on the car yet. 

We finally made it to the Savannah Guest House.  This was to be an interesting stay, as the owner's (Richard and Carol Foster) of the guest house have a huge nature reserve, that I believe they own.  They are videographers for National Geographic and have an impressive resume of work they've done.  The house is "off the grid" which I assumed would mean no air conditioning.  We pulled in a bit earlier than Richard  (or I) had anticipated but he quickly showed us around the house.  It is powered by solar power, the kitchen sink has filtered rain water fed to it for cooking with water (or there is bottled water that is potable) and as expected there is no air conditioning. And of course in the common area, there was a TV where we could watch much of his Nat Geo work.  Unfortunately, I knew we'd likely have no time for that.

As he showed us to our room however, it was absolutely beautiful a bedroom with 2 beds, and a screened in porch with a hammock and a third bed.  Nice!  I asked him about the walking trail that I had seen coming in, and he said it was about a mile and a half, and while not likely if I went, he did once see a jaguar. I asked the girls if they wanted to walk the trail.  They said absolutely not.  They wanted to get ready for dinner.  I told them I'd go for a walk, and when I got back we'd leave to eat.

The trail went alongside a huge open field that I can't even attempt to estimate its size.  It seemed to go on forever.  The trail then went into an area that had more brush.  I didn't see a jaguar, but I did see a vulture, and could smell its meal.  After a 30 minute walk or so, I returned to the room, we jumped in the car and went a couple miles down the road and had some comfort food at a restaurant that Richard suggested called Cheers. We ordered hamburgers, and ribs. The meal was very good, and filled us up, however the mosquitos were starting to get annoying so we finished quickly and went back to the guest house for some much needed rest, before an extremely busy morning.

View from Walking Trail

Vulture

Dinner at 'Cheers'