The trip to the site up the New River Lagoon is its own safari; once you’re at the Lamanai ruins, you’ll see numbered trees that correspond to an informational pamphlet available from the caretakers at the entrance of Lamanai Reserve.

Birders, look around the Mask Temple and High Temple for Montezuma oropendolas and their drooping nests. Black vultures are often spotted slowly gliding over the entire area. A woodpecker with a distinct double-tap rhythm and a red cap is the male pale-billed woodpecker. Near the High Temple, small flocks of collared aracaris, related to the larger toucan, forage the canopy for fruits and insects.

The black-headed trogon is more spectacular than its name implies, with a yellow chest, a black-and-white tail, and iridescent blue-green back. Though it looks as if the northern jacana is walking on water, it’s the delicate floating vegetation that holds the long-toed bird above the water as it searches along the water’s edge for edible delicacies.

Other fauna spotted by those who live there are jaguarundis, agoutis, armadillos, Central American river turtles, and roaring howler monkeys. Up in the village, pay a visit to the Xochil Ku Butterfly Farm, an effort by Don Guillermo Melchor Ramos.