Belize City, New River & Lamanai - 21 Aug 2002 My photo album of Belize City Views My photo album of the New River & Lamanai
	Belize is a small country with a total land mass of 8.860 sq miles, including over 1,000 offshore islands. The Maya Mountain range rises to 3,688 feet, most of the northern and coastal areas consist of low lying plains. The Belize Barrier Reef, which is 185 miles long, is the second largest in the world and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. Our First View of Belize City [On arriving by Tender] Between 200 - 800 A.D. Maya cities flourished through Belize. The Mayan Civilization is among the elite of all archaic civilizations, and the ancient sites of Belize cover the full spectrum of time and diversity. Belize boasts the oldest known Mayan site; the longest occupied site; and the largest carved jade object in all Mayandom. Over 600 hundred sites have been discovered to date in Belize. Christopher Columbus sailed along the coast of Central America in 1502, and named the bay which borders the southern part of the barrier reef Bay of Honduras. The first settlers were English Puritans. During the 1840's, Great Britian declared Belize to be the colony of British Honduras. In 1973, the colony's name was changed to Belize and on September 21, 1981, Belizean Independence was declared. English is the main language. For the complete 'History of Belize' please click here, and a Timeline of 'Belizean History' can be viewed here. A Ringed Kingfisher [Seen on the New River] We arrived in Belize at 8am. Due to the reefs and shallow water we anchored about 4miles off shore; a 30 minute ride in speedboats, each with 3 large outboards.   Some of the Tenders used in Belize We took the ship's tour to Lamanai & the New River, as we wanted to visit at least one Maya Site on this cruise. Most major sites are a fair distance from the ports of call, and doing them on your own, when you won't be off the ship first [those on the ship's tours get priority when tendering], is cutting the time available very fine in most cases.   Top Various Types of Homes in Belize City   The MarineTerminal is fairly new with a food court and various shops, alongside the 'Belize Tourism Village':) That is where NCL send you to shop, but we didn't check it out; our coaches were awaiting. These are modern air conditioned coaches. I was expecting something a bit older. We were driven through Belize City, past the Fort George Lighthouse and Baron Bliss Memorial, Radisson Hotel and Memorial Park. The 2 tour guides, from Cruise Solutions, were brothers and gave us an excellent rundown of the sites and places being passed, along with an overview of Belizean History. They were exceptionally proud of their National Flag which has a lot of detail and history incorporated into it. For an explanation look here. The City itself seems quite rundown in places, and over the years it has suffered devastation by hurricanes. There are many old Colonial type buildings; mainly in a state of disrepair. It is not a place to wander alone, especially at night. There are however, like any city, the smarter areas, with large new mansions. The City is built on swamp land and is sinking slowly. Buildings need foundations down to the bedrock, 35ft below, and some are therefore on stilts above the ground. We passed one housing estate where many of the homes were obviously sinking, some leaning over at quite an angle and shored up with scaffolding. The story from the tour guide, was that the estate of 'affordable homes' was built by a Chinese man specifically for an influx of families from Hong Kong, when its sovereignty reverted back to China in 1997. They were erected in record time without proper foundations, and the Chinaman is now know locally as Mr Lean To. View some more of my photos of Belize City   Top The journey to Tower Hill where we joined the boat for the trip up the New River took 1 ¼ hrs. Here we were given a bottle of water and got into small boats. 12 people in our boat and off we sped, for 1 ½ hrs, up the New River, stopping every so often for the tour guide to point out the flora and wildlife we passed. Air Plants [Epiphytes] It was fun and interesting, but we didn't see as many animals as expected. We did see the 'Jesus Christ' Lizard which appears as if it's walking across water. We didn't see any howler monkeys, although did hear their calls at Lamanai. Tiny Fish-Eating Bats There were many types of birds, plants, some bats, orchids [the black orchid is the Belize National Flower], and a baby crocodile. Snake Cactus Shipyard Community We passed the Mennonite Community at Shipyard. The women wear bonnets and long dresses while the men denim overalls and hats. They have their own school, church and financial institution in their community, earning money through cultivating the land, fishing and woodworking. They are forbidden to keep radios, drive rubber-tired vehicles, drink alcohol, ride bicycles, or own a telephone. But as the guide pointed out, are not adverse to using large outboards on their boats. The Mennonites began arriving in Belize in 1958 from Manitoba, Canada, Chihuahua and Mexico. Top Temple Of The Masks We finally arrived at Lamanai [Submerged Crocodile], on the west side of New River Lagoon, the largest inland pocket of water in Belize. Lamanai really means 'Submerged Bug', but the name was incorrectly translated by the Spanish in the C16 from the original 'Lama'an'ayin', which does mean 'Submerged Crocodile'. We sat down to a lunch of spicy chicken & rice/salad, bread with a coconut tart to follow. Bottled drinks were also provided. View some more of my photos of the Temples of Lamanai Click here for the Sitemap Lamanai was one of the longest continuously occupied Mayan cities. David M. Pendergast of the Royal Ontario Museum began excavating the site in 1974, and more than 700 structures have been found. Only a fraction are viewable to the public. For information regarding the various temples and site layout visit the Maya Mayan and Maya Ruins websites. Lunch at Lamanai Beverley contemplating the Vine! Lamanai is situated in dense rainforest. It was hot and very humid, especially in the small museum. The guide led us round the main 5 structures one can view, providing tons of information on everything from the buildings themselves, to the flora and fauna, including the Mahogany tree, the National tree of Belize; many of the trees and plants appeared to have medicinal properties, no pharmacy required here. We saw the termites at work on dead wood, a dead tarantula, which had succumbed to the cannibalistic tendencies of another, heard the howler monkeys, although never saw one and I played Tarzan [or should that be Jane?] on a vine. It was a very interesting visit, just too much to write about on a web page. Top The boat ride back to Tower Hill was as fast as the boats could go. It was fun speeding along twisting and turning, getting wet with the spray occasionally. Half-way back the guide stopped and handed out plastic sheets to cover ourselves with. The black skies had loomed and the HEAVY rain fell! It hurt on the face so we all ducked under the sheets. Black Skies - Dave   Fisherman & his Catch At Tower Hill there was a stall set up to enable one to purchase some cold Belize Belikin Beer. $2 a bottle. I am not a beer drinker, but being thirsty we had some, and it tasted fine to me:) worth sampling.   Once back at the Cruise Terminal the sun re-appeared, but there wasn't any time left for shopping. I looked in the shops we passed in the queue for the tenders, but it moved too fast and no sooner had I gone inside than Howard called me out! There were a few stalls at Lamanai and at the boat dock at Tower Hill where I had bought a couple of things. Tower Hill is cheaper. We throughly enjoyed our day here and would love to go back to visit another area and the City one day. Top

	The Itinerary
	The Ship
	Cruise Intro
	Photographs