My wife and I will be staying on AC the last week in May. We plan to spend a couple of days on the mainland, returning to AC each day. Looking at all the material available, we'd like to see some ruins, go to the Belize zoo, and maybe do the cave tubing trip we've read about. Can all this be done in a couple of days? Is the cave trip worth the effort? Do you recommend the river cruise to the ruins, or some other option?

Sure, you can do quite a bit in two full-day trips to the mainland. I think the Lamanai Maya site is a great one to visit -- the trip there up the New River is wonderful and the ruins have a beautiful setting on the New River lagoon. You're sure to see howler monkeys, too. But Altun Ha is a little quicker and cheaper trip.

I definitely recommend the Belize Zoo. The zoo and some -- not all -- of other sites in that area such as the capital of Belmopan (takes about 15 minutes!), Guanacaste park, a drive down the Hummingbird to Five Blues and/or the Blue Hole, a visit to a butterfly farm (Green Hills is the one I recommend) can be done on your own in a day if you get over early and rent a car.

Caving trips are something you should do with a guide. Barton Creek gets rave reviews, but the cave tubing trip at Jaguar Paw is also good (if it's raining heavily river trips may be difficult).

--Lan Sluder
Belize First Magazine
http:/www.turq.com/belizefirst/

The Lamanai trip is awesome, I highly recommend it. Besides a bazillion kinds of birds, you often see crocs, monkeys, an amazing variety of orchids and bromeliads, huge ones, and the landscape is awesome.

there is a series of photographs of the trip at: http://AmbergrisCaye.com/tanisha/lamanai.html

I simply love the backside (no jokes there), kayaking or boating back there is a great way to spend a few quiet hours, its a lot easier to blend in with a kayak..
http://AmbergrisCaye.com/seaduced/kayaking.html

Keith: We did take the Day trip from San Pedro to Altun Ha. Great trip. For more info and pictures of the trip, go to my web site
part 2 and click on the text and pictures for the trip to Altun Ha.
click http://oldgatorsnest.addr.com

liked the Rio Frio caves in western Belize awesome

We took two inland trips from AC...one to see the manatees, with stops at Goff's Caye and Caye Cauker -- a fabulous trip. The second to Lamani was good, not great. We didn't see much wildlife (three notable bird species), one monkey, etc. And I thought for $125 US, it really wasn't worth it, though there were some really interesting stops -- like Bomba Village, a postage-stamp size primitive (i.e., no electricity) settlement on a riverbank.. Plus we booked the trip with SEAduced, and our bag was stolen (it was supposedly being watched with others in our group by our guide). The tour operator gave us a VERY hard time about reimbursing us (they finally did), but blamed us for the loss...it's a long story, but I plan to post the details soon.

We just got back. It was fabulous. One day we did the Goff's Caye thing with SEAduced and it and they were great! Then, did Altun Ha and Maruba Resort, Bomba, etc and had a blast. Then, did Tikal in Guatamala and that was tremendous. Had a marvelous time. Was impressed with the tour guides and how much they new and tried to make your trip a great time.

Melissa: We also took the Altun Ha trip. Really had a ball. It was an interesting ride to/from up the narrow river and then to the ruins on the bus. Our guide did a great job explaining the ruins. Did you partake of the Viper Rum at Maruba?
I put the excursion on my site in words and pictures at http://oldgatorsnest.addr.com scroll to Part 2 and click the links.

When in Belize, I always take several days to go to San Ignacio. Mayan ruins, river floats, and a Central American Environment await. Contrasts nicely with the Carribean feel on Ambergris. Have some ideas, but just let it happen.

Hi Keith1 My husband and I will also be in San Pedro the last week of May. We are planning on taking the trip to Lamanai. Maybe we will run into you!