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Best of Lamanai, Belize

Night Spear Fishing on the New River in Belize
Night Spear Fishing on the New River in Belize
Our wonderful trip to Belize began with four nights in the Jungle of Lamania. We stayed at the Lamanai Outpost Lodge and took day and night trips filled with adventure and amazement. Our guide, Maricio, took us on night safari, spear fishing, canoeing, birding and a wonderful trip to the local ruins.
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We love Belize!

Dec 16, 2011
Waiting for the boat to take us to Lamanai Outpost Lodge
Waiting for the boat to take us to Lamanai Outpost Lodge (Robin Muskal)
Our trip began flying into Belize city where we were met by Adventure Life ground crew and transported by car to Orange Walk. From here we were picked up by a boat and taken to Lamanai Outpost Lodge. Lamanai translates to ''submerged crocodile''. Our boat journey was 22 miles up river and filled with sunshine and fantastic animal sightings such as crocodiles, exotic birds and a tree lined with camouflaged resting bats. After arriving we settled into our cabin and my son who is 10, began taking videos of the local monkeys. He was especially taken by the very boisterous alpha monkey and his 3 little babies. They lived in the tree right outside our cabin. My husband and I found our way up to the restaurant where they greeted us with home made potato soup and fresh rolls. Perfect after a long journey originating in Newark, NJ. Later that evening we met with our guide, Mauricio, and journeyed on a night hike complete with headlamps and plenty of bug spray. This hike was quite exciting as we saw a tarantella and spiders with eye shine. I never knew that what looked like a silver carpet of ground covering were actually, spider eyes glaring at us. We were amazed!

Lamanai Ruins

Dec 17, 2011
Bats sleeping on tree during the day on boat trip to Lamanai
Bats sleeping on tree during the day on boat trip to Lamanai (Robin Muskal)
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.

Spear Fishing

Dec 18, 2011
Lamanai Ruins - 13 foot stone mask of Mayan King
Lamanai Ruins - 13 foot stone mask of Mayan King (Robin Muskal)
The next day a family from Texas arrived with 3 son's and we spent the day together hanging out on the dock while the kids swam and played. In the evening after a wonderful meal of fish, veggies and key lime pie we headed back to the dock for our long awaited spear fishing exhibition. Mauricio and the boat driver picked us up on a pontoon boat. Mauricio had rigged a headlamp that was powered by a car battery so that we could see into the water to find our catch. The boat skated smoothly and slowly along the water bank as we eagerly searched for sleeping fish. My husband was the first to attempt spearing the fish with a 6 foot spear. It only took him 3 tries before he landed a snook. Amidst all the excitement we looked up to notice a sky full of stars. It was a magical evening and certainly the highlight of our trip to Lamanai. Since all of us caught one fish the kitchen staff cooked up a feast for themselves later that evening.

Chetumal, Mexico

Dec 19, 2011
High Temple, Lamanai
High Temple, Lamanai (Robin Muskal)
After Lamanai, we took a local bus across the border into Chetumal, Mexico where we rented a car and drove toward Majahual for 5 nights on the beach. We snorkeled the reef, took long walks and swung on hammocks. We then drove back to Chetumal to return the car and boarded a boat to San Pedro Island.

San Pedro, Ambergris Island

Dec 20, 2011
Sugar Mill in middle of jungle created by the British
Sugar Mill in middle of jungle created by the British (Robin Muskal)
San Pedro is a fun and quaint little Island. We went on 2 snorkeling trips one during the day where we visited sting ray alley. Here we snorkeled with nurse fish and sting rays exclusively. Our second stop proved exciting as we swam with sea turtles. The second snorkel trip was at night. We each had flash lights in our hands and followed our guide closely. It was one of the most exciting snorkeling trips we have experienced since we have never seen the nocturnal fish in such large quantity. We saw sharks, huge green eel's and octopus. Lobsters were hiding in the rocks and of course seeing a shark at night is quite a thrill. Our son, Adin was a trooper. He was a bit tentative but once he jumped off the boat into the water he was good to go. Seeing the divers below with their bright lights was a comfort to him and to me. We are already planning a return trip to spend more time on San Pedro and hopefully get in some diving this time. Thanks Adventure Life, you are great! This is our second trip with you and we look forward to many more.

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