more Lamanai

this mask depicts the image of a Mayan ruler represented as a deity. our tour guide informed us that the Maya had a god for everything, even suicide.



and here's the jaguar temple. Belize is home to the world's only jaguar reserve, and jaguars can still be found in the wild throughout the country. we didn't see any of those, but we did see a couple howler monkeys, and witness firsthand the incredible noise that gives them their name.



roots of a particularly spectacular strangling fig (so named because they're actually vines that drop onto the branches of host trees and swallow them from the top down, eventually killing the host).



here's a sight for all those out there with a sweet tooth. the main industry in Orange Walk for years was sugarcane. this is raw sugar being emptied onto a barge, to be shipped downriver.



and one of the many glimpses of local fauna we caught on the ride down the river. also on the list were: a couple crocodiles, a colony of bats snoozing in a dead tree, a great blue heron, and a slew of Jesus birds (so nmed because they walk on water).