Belize Day 3 - Lamanai, Baby!

So here we go, off on another adventure!

Remember when I said that the paradise payoff = very small planes??

Yeah. That and wacky assed runways carved out of sugarcane fields. Like this...

Now granted, I took these pictures at the end of our tour of Lamanai - just before I willingly got back on the plane - more Dramamine, please! - to fly back to San Pedro.



Because, seriously - I was green to the gills when we got there. Even with Dramamine, the flight was bumpy and riddled with swoops! and falls! and when the pilot guy did the big tilty banking curvy thing (yes, that *is* the technical term) in order to land, and I spent s few minutes looking at the ground with WxMan staring down at me from his seat next to me??

It was all I could do not to throw up. Good God.

Then as we landed, and I was thanking the no puke gods of the universe (because once on the ground the odds of me puking decrease exponentially - yay!) the plane came to a stop.

More like a STOP!!

As in "Thank God we were all wearing our seatbelts and the seats are relatively soft when you whack your head on them!"

We were all looking around with our WTF?? faces on and the pilot exclaimed:

"Wow! What was that??"

Shit Dude - if you don't know, I sure as hell don't!!

And then he concluded,

"Well, we must have hit a rock. The plane's stopped - you can all get off..."

Thanks. You don't need to tell me twice... More than happy to.

So here we are - tiny little rock hittin' planes in the midst of the sugar cane.

And here come all of these happy looking guys in older minivans and a Honda (I got to ride in the Honda) ready to take us to the boat, and off on our tour of the New River up to Lamanai. Whoohoo!

That's my boat. Uh huh...

It was great. Nathan, our guide, took us 25 miles up the New River stopping frequently to point our wildlife (read: birds) along the way. For pictures of that - Christina has me covered...

Best line from the beginning of the trip? "Hey kids - this is NOT Disneyland. Keep your hands inside the boat at all times."

Which loosely translates to: "Guess what kids, there are things in this river that will EAT you - act appropriately."

Word.

We got to Lamanai and it was everything I had hoped for... Here is a view of the top of the High Temple from the Lagoon...
And it just gets better from there...

First stop was the Jaguar temple - a quick left after the howler monkeys...

Can't see them? Yeah - me either. Like I said, Christina got much better pictures...

Jaguar Temple was cool. Even cooler was our guide, Nathan. He was so passionate about all of the information and history. He really took time to explain in detail what it was we were seeing and the kids stuck to him like glue - hanging on his every word... It was great.


We got to see where Mayan kings and queens lived and ruled, the sheer scope of the buildings was impressive - especially when you consider the manpower required to build such massive structures.





On our way to the High Temple, we even saw a few critters...

Here is a line of ants we were instructed *not* to disrupt...

No problem there - I think I saw that movie... Yeepers!

Later it was a pretty green snake...

Made even prettier given the fact it was moving away from us. Yay!

Here are the girls infront of a very primordial looking frond.

And a pretty flower!
The funny thing was, usually I have to curse and cajole, beg, plead, scold and sometimes threaten to get them to line up and pose for a picture. On this day though, they were so wanting to stick to Nathan to hear what he had to say next I would call them over for a photo-op and after the briefest of frustrated looks they would run over, snap to, and smile so I could quickly get my shot - and then they would run back. Loved that.

So here we are at the High Temple. In a word?? Whoa...




WxMan made it all the way to the top. Sporta, dang near and Computa Half-way. Me?? I stayed on the ground. Happily.

I got the kids to pose on the steps - Wee one, Computa, Sporta and Oddy's hubby and cutie Boy.

Then we were off to the Mask Temple.



Christina took one of my favorite pictures of the whole trip...


I can see that shot being our Christmas card this year.

After the Mask Temple, we trooped through the jungle and enjoyed a traditional Belizean lunch of black beans and rice with stewed chicken, fresh fruit, salad, cole slaw, fried plantains, and this awesome habanero onion relish - yummy!

Then it was back on the boat for another ride on the New River. Lovely...


And can you say tired but happy?? Oh yeah...








Soon it was time to bid Nathan a fond farewell and *gulp* get back on the plane. Oh goody...

Here is a picture of me not long after take-off... (WxMan thinks he's funny...)

Yes, I *am* holding on with both hands, dang it! Shut up! It's helping!!

Flying over we saw a few things...

The sugarcane plant.


Talk about hard work - the guys who cut the cane were standing along the road with all these trucks loaded to the gills waiting to go to the factory. They looked pretty damn tough...

Then the Rum Factory...


I really came to enjoy their product!

And the river we were just on...

After a few minutes we landed safely in San Pedro. And I got to order one of these...

Rum Punch anyone?? Mmmmmmm...

Then it was a quick water taxi ride for some R&R at the resort. In fact - that's tomorrow's post. Belize days 4 & 5 - R &R is my friend...

See you then!