Lamanai Ruins

The next morning was a 6 a.m. sunrise canoe ride across the river into a channel where we had a peaceful hour of bird watching. We also learned many interesting facts about the area from our learned guide, Mauricio.

After a wonderful breakfast of very strong coffee, fruit and eggs we headed by boat just 5 minutes away to the Lamanai Ruins. These are lovely ruins with many different areas to wander. The 3 most impressive temples on site are the Jaguar, Mask and High Temple. These ruins sit on the New River Lagoon and are surrounded by jungle. The ruins of Lamanai are a layered site where successive populations built over each other without destroying the previous generations precious symbols of worship. We especially enjoyed the howler monkey's jumping from tree to tree. They can be heard from up to 2 miles away.