Travel Tips

The buses from Placencia back to Belize City leave at 5am and 6am, we got the 6am bus. You can catch the bus all along the main road but we decided to lug our packs to the end so we could get the bags on (the buses have very limited luggage space at the back) and also to make sure we got a seat. It was a long bumpy journey but at least it wasn't too hot being so early, sunrise was beautiful. I am a little worried as I have a tear in the top of my pack where the back straps attach, I knew it was too heavy! I just hope it holds for the next 2 months or I am in poo.
At Dangriga we had to change buses (a wait of 30 minutes) and then at Belmopan the bus filled up and by then it was hot so it was like being in a wind tunnel with all the windows open.
We finally got to Belize City and the next bus to Orange Walk was in 10 minutes so we got our tickets and…. no we didn’t get on the bus... there wasn’t even room to stand. Marc was keen to just push on and I said no way we can wait an hour for the next one. Sheesh enough already! I needed a break from being squished and squashed by smelly bodies and bumping around I couldn’t even feel my derriere never mind my knees! We only just managed to get our bags and ourselves on the next bus. Someone needs to donate some buses to Belize, they could really do with a few more.

We got to Orange Walk two hours later (9 hours in total) after the police hauled two guys off the bus at the checkpoint (I have no clue as to why). We got a taxi to a very nice hotel overlooking the river (St Christopher’s hotel), we dumped our bags put the fan on full and didn’t move for an hour. I was engrossed in my book anyway, The Vanished Man by Jeffery Deaver. We have also been reading a few of Dan Brown's novels, the Da Vinci code is excellent, I have Angels and Demons to read next but I am digressing.

We managed to book our river cruise to Lamanai for tomorrow and then went to a nice restaurant on the river for dinner. We hadn’t eaten all day and in our haste to feed ourselves we forgot to put mossie spray on so we became dinner too *scratches ankles as she types*. Sam played with a little Mexican girl and Marc bought them ice cream. Amazing how kids just gravitate to each other.

What an absolutely amazing day!!!
We were picked up at our hotel at 9am (ish) and then went a few miles down the road to just after the toll bridge where our motorboat was docked. Fernando our guide was extremely informative throughout and made it all that more of a good day and he also has eyes that can spot anything and everything.

The river is beautiful in its own right but then you have all the wildlife as a bonus. Our first stop was at a burnt out tree trunk in the water where we saw brown bats. As we skimmed over the water we saw so many birds I can’t even begin to tell you all the names but we saw, kingfishers, blue herons, white egrets, snail hawks and a brown hawk which is a nocturnal bird that is so well camouflaged it just looks like a knot on the branch. We also saw Jesus birds so named because as they walk on the water lilies it appears as though they are walking on water. Water lilies cover large areas of the river banks and with their white flowers look beautiful. The river trip takes about 1.5 hours (23 miles).

When we got to Lamanai we first had a look round the museum which has one of the original stellas in it and lots of info about the site and then made our way to the complex. The first structure is the jaguar temple and if you look on the left hand side you can see the face of the jaguar made out through the recesses in the stone. We then climbed up to what would have been rooms and a meeting area where decisions on harvesting and planting would have been made. You then walk through the jungle, look out for the strangler fig on some of the big trees, they are so ferocious that they root themselves very fast and within a few years can kill off a large tree.
We then go to the high temple which you can climb, it is very impressive. One of the things we wanted form this trip was to see Howler monkeys and this is where we saw them. They make a noise like a lion roaring which echoes throughout the forest canopy, not at all what I expected, we heard them before we saw them. At first they were way up in the trees but then Mom, Dad and baby came down lower so we could get a good look at then. You have to be careful not to stand right under them because they will wee on you or worse!
From there we walked on to the masked temple. There used to be 4 masks but there is now only one remaining and it is completely different to any other temple we have seen. If you walk round the back of the temple you can see down to the river but you also realize how high up you are!
As we got back to the docking area our guide spotted a toucan in the tree. WOW!!! It didn’t stay for long but we got a great view of its beautiful colours as it flew off. One of the guys hadn’t even seen that one, he was looking at the other toucan that no-one else had spotted so we got to watch it for a while and got some great photos. The colours are truly amazing, I can’t believe we got to see them as well as the Howler Monkeys.
We had lunch under a palapa overlooking the lagoon, after all the walking it was really good to sit down to a good meal.

On the trip back we got to see lots of birds again and got up very close to a snake bird and it posed for its photo very nicely! We also managed to see a couple of small crocodiles which was the cherry on the cake. As we were going down the river Marc and I spotted a huge iguana unfortunately we couldn’t stop as there was another boat behind us. It was about 2 feet long and bright orange (male), the biggest I have ever seen.
The trip was over all too soon, it was a fantastic day for all of us and I very highly recommend it.