January 23, 2026
Belize City
Weather Sunny and 80’s
We have an early day today as we are the first ones off the ship and the last ones back to the ship. We queued up in the Star Theater until 7:10 when we were ushered on to an 80-passenger shuttle boat for a 35 minute ride to the dock. Once on the dock we were rushed onto a bus because we were a bit late getting to shore.
Once on the bus with Gus(tavo) and Soso, our driver we took the North Highway for an hour. Belize has four highways-- the North, the South, the Western and the Hummingbird Highways. There are 14 traffic lights in the country and maybe 10 of them function as advertised. The road was poor after we left Belize City.
We were pleased to hear that education is mandatory from ages 3-14. Belize has the 2nd highest literacy rate in Central America. Again, there is no military. Health care seems to be good. There seems to be a lot of poverty. The minimum wage is $5 per hour which is actually about $2.50 US. Gus has 2 jobs. He is a tour guide but also works the family business with his sister buying and selling produce. He lives near the ruins and had to leave home about 4 this morning to meet our group.
A little past Carmelita, we turned left onto the Bat Landing area where we boarded a boat. There are no highways or roads to the Lamenai Ruins and so we had to travel 35 miles up the New River for an hour to reach the ruins.
Pedro, our captain, piloted this “James Bond” boat in a way that would make the secret agent proud! The river was maybe 10 meters wide at most places and Pedro gunned our way snaking a path through. On the way he would stop from time to time to show us wildlife. We saw bats, turtles, crocodiles, snake necked birds, Jesus birds (They walk on the water), iguanas, termite nests, Ospreys, Herons, Egrets, and many birds Pedro identified, but I forgot. No macaws or toucans were in evidence.
We had in our group one of those photographers with a camera and lens that spoke of a professional. This was Chris and he was nice enough to solicit e-dresses from the group and he promised to send all his wildlife pictures to us later. He was a very nice and considerate man!
After an hour of an exciting river ride, we landed at Lamenai Archeological Park. When I was in Third Grade, I wrote a report about the Mayan civilization at Chichen Itza and ever since then I have wanted to visit a Mayan Ruin. So, this was a childhood dream come true and it did not disappoint! Only 5% of the city that held 100,000 people has been excavated. All around we saw mounds of dirt that hid a structure. There were 4 major stops along the way. First, we stopped at the Jaguar temple, then the Ball Court, then the High temple and finally the Mask Temple. The Jaguar temple had writing but Gus said it had not been translated as yet. This was a really special place.
I did not ascend any of the temples, but I was there and could not resist a teaser photo. We made our way past the gift shop where Shirley bought a little turtle to add to her collection. Then back on the cigarette boat and in an hour we were eating beans and rice with coleslaw and habanero chicken with watermelon and fried plantains. Then Soso drove us back to the dock where we caught the last tender back to the Viking Mars.
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