Friday
Today we did the Lamanai Tour. This is one of the most famous Mayan ruin tours in Belize. To reach Lamanai we had to take a boat 36 miles up the New River. Along the way we saw Crocodiles, Iguanas, Spider Monkeys, and so many Epiphytes. You might know them by their common name, air plants. They grow of the trees and gets there nutrients from the rain and the air. I love them. The most common kinds we have back home are bromeliads which they sell in stores.
One of the main highlights of the boat ride were the monkeys. The spider monkeys were so cute. The tour guides called to them as we went along and they followed the boat till we stopped. You could see them swinging from tree to tree. When the boat stopped the tour guides gave us bananas and the monkeys actually came onto the boat and took them straight from our hands!!
Lamanai was the same deal as Xunantunich except this time we had a tour guide. It made the tour much more educational. We got to see sketches of each ruin and what they looked like when they were active. The Mayans never tore down what they had already built. They just added on. So each ruin was layer upon layer. The pictures showed what each stage of construction looked like spanning hundreds of years. We also got to see the “ball court”. This is where the Mayan played a game that is similar to basketball. The winner of this game earned a great reward, SACRIFICE! I am pretty sure I would not want to win this game but it was a great honor to them.
Today we did the Lamanai Tour. This is one of the most famous Mayan ruin tours in Belize. To reach Lamanai we had to take a boat 36 miles up the New River. Along the way we saw Crocodiles, Iguanas, Spider Monkeys, and so many Epiphytes. You might know them by their common name, air plants. They grow of the trees and gets there nutrients from the rain and the air. I love them. The most common kinds we have back home are bromeliads which they sell in stores.
One of the main highlights of the boat ride were the monkeys. The spider monkeys were so cute. The tour guides called to them as we went along and they followed the boat till we stopped. You could see them swinging from tree to tree. When the boat stopped the tour guides gave us bananas and the monkeys actually came onto the boat and took them straight from our hands!!
Lamanai was the same deal as Xunantunich except this time we had a tour guide. It made the tour much more educational. We got to see sketches of each ruin and what they looked like when they were active. The Mayans never tore down what they had already built. They just added on. So each ruin was layer upon layer. The pictures showed what each stage of construction looked like spanning hundreds of years. We also got to see the “ball court”. This is where the Mayan played a game that is similar to basketball. The winner of this game earned a great reward, SACRIFICE! I am pretty sure I would not want to win this game but it was a great honor to them.
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