Day in Pana and Santiago

This morning, we enjoyed breakfast at Rancho Grande. Our waitress was very good to us and kept us going with hot coffee, pancakes and the trimmings.

We headed down to the lake for our ride across to Santiago. The lake was calm and beautiful. There were not many boats on the lake and the ride was smooth.

JoLee, Mary and Andrew are seated for the ride. It was not originally a private boat but since we did not want to waste the morning waiting for more passangers, we opted go right away and make it our private boat.

Mary and Andrew chilling as we cross the lake.

It was a beautiful morning and the weather could not have been better.

When we arrived to Santiago, everyone wanted to take us places. We decided to walk through town and see what we could see. One young guy asked if we wanted to go and see Maximón, one of the Mayan saints. I find it interesting but also very evil. You can find a lot of intersesting stories about him and how the Cathlolic Church identifies him with Judias Iscariot. People gather around him, pray and offer tobacco products, alcohol, Coke and tropical plants. They find a way to actually have him smoking as someone taps the ashes from the cigarrette.

One legend about him is that when all of the men in one community were out working in the fields, he slept with most of their wives. When the men returned, they cut off his arms and legs and that is why he is often seen without arms or legs.

This is the large Catholic church in Santiago.

There were many people inside and different things to look at.

The walls were lined with statues.

Off to one side, was the designated area for the Mayans to pray. They are not allowed to pray in the main area of the Catholic Church. We could hear their prayers and they were very fervent.

The water level of the lake is very high. As we left, we could see parts of houses and docks that are submerged. Our guide said that the lake is 6 meters above the normal level. It has been high since Agatha hit last year and we also had a lot of rain in October.


OK, it is time to head back to Chichi and do clinic tomorrow in Chutzurob. I am hoping that the lady will be there that we visited in her home last week.