Belize Day 3

Day 3 was going to be our most exciting day. The day we were to fly to the mainland for our excursions. We signed up for a half day hiking at the Mayan Ruins and half a day hiking to the top of a mountain to ride a tube down a river INSIDE A CAVE!! Cave tubing was what we were looking forward to the most of the whole trip. But God had other plans. Because of all the rain the previous few days (and more on the way) the cave tubing was cancelled because of flash flooding. We had three options. We could go to the Xunantunich ruins and come back to San Pedro or we could do the Xunantunich ruins and the Belize City Zoo or we could go to the jungle cruise and Lamanai Ruins but that takes the whole day. We have an amazing zoo here in Omaha so we chose Lamanai.

So a ten minute water taxi to San Pedro for a breakfast sandwich (delicious) and a 20 minute mini plane ride to the main land.  

Where we were shuttled into a van for the hour and a half ride through the country of Belize. Interesting note...there are no speed limits enforced in Belize. There are some posted but none enforced. So the rely on speed bumps and stop signs on their highways to slow cars down every now and then.

After a 90 minute van ride we settle into our boat for the hour and 15 minute ride to the ruin site. And about five minutes into it, it starts to rain. And it's not super warm. But the lily pads are blooming...how pretty.

And the snake cactus is tricking everyone into thinking there are snakes in all the trees. Neat-O

And then the rain stops and the sun comes out. Of course the humidity is super fun at that point but I was just so glad that I was warm I didn't complain. So friends this is Lamanai.We didn't realize what a treat we were in for or we wouldn't have been sad about missing out on the cave tubing. First off we had a delicious lunch prepared by our guide, Captain Ron, and his Mom (a direct descendant of the Mayan people). Rice and beans cooked in coconut milk (I could have eaten this at every meal), chicken thighs (I was hungry so the bones didn't bug me too bad), mashed potatoes (YUM), fried plantains (meh...they were ok), cole slaw (pass) and some various sauces that I didn't  need because everything was so dang good!!

We had a minute to look at the little museum and line up the time lines with the BOM. Then we walked through the jungle to our first stop. The jaguar temple. Thus named for the jaguars on each side. Mayans put their Gods on their temples to make them holy places (but you probably already knew that). But did you know that 99.9% of their gods are animals? Me either. Our guide was well versed in the history and culture of the Mayans. Even letting us know that they weren't even called the Mayans. Nope. That is a word that means "not sure" in the language of the people that "discovered" them. 

Jim asked him if he had heard of the Book of Mormon. Yes!! He had. Not only that, but he does BOM tours!!! WHAT!!! He would take us aside after he had told us (and the rest of our group) the official script and let us ask questions about how the time line here lined up with the BOM lineage. He was so knowledgeable. It was wonderful!!

Lazy monkeys! It's the only way the can survive here though. Not a lot of food available for them. 

The jungle is an amazing place. But the ruins were fantastic. We talked a lot to Ron about his thoughts about the truthfulness of the BOM. He told us that it supports his knowledge of the Mayan history (he has a Masters degree in history) and his testimony of that part is strong. He meets with the missionaries often to discuss his other questions. 

So during our amazing afternoon we kept pinching ourselves to make sure we are awake. The four of us wanted to do a BOM but they only do that for a bigger group. But here we were taking a mini BOM tour through the jungle in Belize!! So blessed!!

I wish I could have made a video to bring home and study with my BOM. I think that would just be the icing on this cake!!

My Mom always grew the most beautiful ferns, but hers never got this big!!

This is the temple we got to climb. It is the highest point in all of Belize. The view from the middle was great but from the top you could see the whole jungle canopy.

Another vacation pose for Jim!

The view from the top!! That is looking back toward the river we came up. Spectacular!!

This is looking toward Guatemala. I wasn't sure where to look to find it from there...but apparently you can see it.

The two people sitting in the shade to the very left are Jim and Ron. Jim was picking his brain for more info. This guy was a treasure!!

This is the view from the middle. We stopped for a minute to get our bearings and look around. Obviously the view was stunning.

Robert liked the top of the temple. It took me a minute to stand up there. It was sturdy and all but man...it was high up. Imminent death if you got too close to the edge!!

Here is the only Mayan temple to have a human face for the deity. The only one. It was built around 500 A.D. I asked Ron if he thought it was a coincidence that the only human face turned up on the temple after Christ had visited the Americas. He said he didn't think it was a coincidence at all. 

I also asked Ron if he loved his job. (If you know Jim you know he HATES his and longs for a job like Ron's. He's sure everyone like that loves their job and that if he had a job like that then he would be happy) Ron said he likes being out in the jungle but HE HATES HIS JOB!! Yup. I almost hugged him. Strange I know. But it made an impact on Jim. This is Ron and I being pelted with rain on the way back to the van. It was cold and stinging our faces. ("Daddy, I do not want a boat like that!" Name the movie)

After we got back to the island we thought we'd want to explore town for a bit and have some dinner. No dice. We were beat. We went back to the resort and ate at the bar (burgers were the bomb) and sat in the hot tub. We rehashed the day and felt so blessed to have had our testimonies strengthened ON VACATION. Not every day you get to do that. I know we were led to Captain Ron and his tour. We wouldn't have had this amazing experience if we had gone cave tubing.