Mayan Ruins at Lamanai

Terry and I heard that the trip to the Mayan ruins at Lamanai had a two fold benefit. We weren't all that interested in the architecture, but the site was supposed to be great for birding.

A bigger boat than the regular water taxi took us all the way to the mainland, high speed all the way.

It had to skirt the southern end of Ambergris Caye, the island where we are staying off the coast of Belize.  Finally we made our way through an opening in the mangroves which came into sight after an hour or so stretch of sea.

Mangroves grow in part salt, part fresh water

Weaving back and forth through a lagoon like area we arrived at the small village of Bomba, population 70. The inhabitants had connected to power a mere month ago!

The village of Bomba

Breakfast time. We hungrily dove into individually wrapped Johnny cakes, freshly baked fluffy biscuits filled with egg salad spread, that our hostess took out of her bag, and had some orange juice, delicious banana bread, and watermelon. Unfortunately, I was so focused on eating, I forgot to take a picture.

The little toilet shack even had flush toilets! Hopeful vendors had their wares spread out, but no one bought anything.

Carved wood dishes for sale

This bus bumped us along for another hour along the Northern Highway, with a bit of rudimentary pavement, but mostly not. Tolerating the bumps, we kept our eyes peeled for any birds, but none to be seen at that speed.

Choice real estate, anyone?

We transferred to a riverboat for another hour long ride along the Rio Nuevo.

When the driver slowed down we knew there was something to see.

Tiny bats cling to a dead tree

Eat the peel if it's ripe, toss it if not!

Time for lunch: Surprise! The 'typical Belizean lunch' was exactly what we've been eating at the base: rice, beans, chicken, coleslaw, and fried plantains.

The Lamanai [ the name means submerged crocodile] site was a national site, so we had to pay another $5.00 US, and wandered around the small museum. Soon we were drawn outside again by an unearthly noise, sounding as if it came from some futuristic movie.

Black Howler Monkeys! We didn't see more than black blobs moving high in the rain forest canopy as they foraged for fruit, leaves and berries. Their howls, however, were said to be heard from several kilometres away.

Here are a couple of shots of the ruins, but we were not energetic enough to climb them in the heat.

 Instead, we veered off as our guide pointed out various birds he saw and heard.

I got my heart's desire: we saw the Keel-billed Toucan! I giggled as I realized why this bird is on the Kelloggs Froot Loops box. He eats fruit of course! And on the way back, our boat startled a flock of Roseate Spoonbills.

Terry was pleased to add about 50 more birds to his Belize list. That was a trip worth taking.