Lamanai Secrets: Lost City Expedition & Wildlife River Safari

The river cruise was amazing! No luxury, just pure tropical, authentic experiences! The Mayan Ruins were majestic and inspiring. Wear comfortable tennis shoes!

The tour guide was informative and a great river cruise driver. The shuttle bus to pick us with was clean and great AC.

We were picked up at our hotel in Belize city by a nice young man. He made the 1 hour drive pleasant and answered questions about Belize, where he lives, other random questions about the area etc. The boat ride up the New River was a mix of bird spotting/watching, plant/tree identification, and even came across a very young crocodile on a long so camouflaged I am not sure how the driver saw it. This all continued during the tour of the Lamanai site. The guide/boat captain is very knowlegable of the area flora and fauna as he grew up on the river and has been providing tours since the opening of the Lamanai site to the public. The lunch provided by his wife was stewed chicken, coconut rice and beans, tortilla chips, salsa, water and soda was very good and there was plenty for the 8 people on the tour. The only criticism I could possibly have is the boat is small and you need to get cozy with your fellow travellers. Thank you for a wonderful day in your country!

Great experience to visit Lamanai via river boat ride. Brenda, our guide, was fantastic! She is truly passionate about the culture, its ruins, and the surrounding environment, which made the experience even more authentic.

A great tour. Had good communication about meeting point (a hotel not far from ours) While still nervous, it went as arranged. Our driver was personable and well informed on a wide range of topics about Belize. Our boatman and guide Amir could not have been better! He grew up on the river and has been guiding since the Lamanai park opened (guide registration #1, and justifiably proud of it). He had a sharp eye for spotting wildlife from a fast moving boat. When we got to the pyramids sight, he proved very knowledgeable about the history and Maya culture (he is married to a Mayan woman who grew up at the site before her village was displaced by the park). He was also attentive to and skilled at navigating our group of 10 so as to avoid the much much larger group from a cruise ship who arrived at about the same time (but with a much shorter and less interesting boat trip, just across the lake). Amir’s knowledge and interest in the plants growing at the site added a lot. Repeatedly, he passed around a crushed leaf (oregano, key lime, allspice, licorice tree, an anti-diarrheal nut, and others) for us to smell. If you are planning a tour, you would do well, if you can, to arrange to go with Amir. Also, planning for a day not a Tuesday or Thursday would help you avoid cruise ship crowds (though they were not that big a deal). Lunch was excellent (Amir’s wife cooked it), plenty of water was provided. We got back to the ferry terminal about 4 pm, which allowed us to catch an earlier boat that arrived in Caye Caulker before sunset. Well worth doing. Bringing binoculars would help sometimes (baby alligators, monkeys, some not-so mobile birds, though many were fast moving and hard to catch in binoculars).

This was a great experience. 1.5 hour drive from Belize City. 1.5 hours on the river. Great tour of Lamanai Mayan site. Guides were excellent.

This tour exceeded our high expectations. Our guide was very knowledgeable and really added to the experience. We saw so much beautiful wildlife and enjoyed the ancient sites. The lunch was seemingly home cooked, but very tasty. Served at picnic tables near the temples. Highly recommend this experience!

10/10 fantastic adventure down the river and to the Lamanai site!! We had BRENDA to guide us who was amazing and knew everything about the site. She pointed out all plants and creatures to us during the day as well and even stayed extra time at the site so we could go explore the sugar mill.

This was well worth the money. Our guide Amir was very knowledgeable and had a person connection to Lamanai and actually found one of the artifacts on display at the museum.

Brenda was a wonderful guide and made our day spectacular. We were able to take breaks as needed and take pictures. Lunch was delicious.