Sunday Stills: Cruising the New River to Lamanai.

Ed’s Sunday Stills Challenge this week is “Rivers and Creeks.” Whilst in Belize, we just had to visit the Maya temple ruins at  Lamanai, one of the oldest sites in Belize, which dates back to 700 BC. The only way to get there, is by speedboat down The New River.

Our boat captain and guide Carlos, was really excited to show us some of the sights, such as the Morelet’s (Mexican) crocodiles. Did I mention that the name Lamanai, means “submerged crocodile?”

There did seem to be quite a few of them around. They are smaller than a lot of other types of crocodiles, only measuring about 7-10 feet, which I’m sure is plenty big enough for some of my friends here, who have a bit of an aversion to reptiles. You may remember my green pic for St. Patrick’s Day, which resulted in a few “Eeeks!” in my comments.

The possibility of encountering one of these crocs didn’t seem to worry the local fishermen at all, who looked quite relaxed in their small canoes.

I suppose the children are quite blasé  about them too. There are no child safety precautions in Belize.

There were also some very pretty sights along the river, like this  bird which the Belizeans call the ‘Jesus Christ Bird’. Can you guess why?

After our day at the Maya ruins, we were ‘treated’ to a helter skelter, rather hair-raising trip back along the river in order to be in time for our plane ride back to San Pedro.

To see more ‘Rivers and Creeks’, visit Ed’s Sunday Stills post.