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Though they can't match the scale of the great sites in Mexico and
Guatemala, the ruins of Lamanai (daily 8am-4pm; US$5) are the
most impressive in Belize, and their setting on the New River Lagoon
- in the four-square-kilometers Archeological Reserve, now the only
jungle for miles around - gives them a special quality that is long
gone from sites served by a torrent of tourist buses.
Lamanai is one of only a few sites whose original Maya name is known
- it translates as "Submerged Crocodile", hence the numerous
representations of crocodiles. Lamanai, however, is the
seventeenth-century mistranslation of Lamanyan, and actually
means "Drowned Insect". The site was occupied up until the sixteenth
century, when Spanish missionaries built a church alongside to
encourage the Maya to abandon their heathen ways. Troops of black
howler monkeys make Lamanai their home and you're certain to see
them peering down through the branches as you wander the trails.
The site's most impressive feature is the prosaically named N10-43,
a massive Late Preclassic pyramid, the largest structure from
the period in the Maya region. The view across the surrounding
forest from the top of the temple is magnificent. North from here is
N9-56, a sixth-century pyramid with two stucco masks of a
deity (probably the sun god) carved on different levels.
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 Belize
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The lower mask, four meters high, is
particularly well-preserved, showing a clearly humanized
face bordered by decorative columns, wearing a crocodile
headdress. There are a number of other well-preserved and
clearly defined glyphs.
Traces of later settlers can be seen around the nearby village of
Indian Church ; to the south of the village are the ruins of two
churches built by Spanish missionaries. The site's small
archeological museum at the site houses an amazing collection of
artifacts arranged in chronological order, mostly figurines
depicting gods and animals. Nazario Ku, the caretaker, is very
knowledgeable about Maya culture and the best guide at the site.
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