Panama trip

Hi AlliG!

Thanks for sharing

Armand

Thanks AlliG, that was one of the most informative blogs I've read lately. Why were they rioting? I thought the government there was stable now, ahh well, guess you can't have everything, we will be out there sometime in the next year, probably fall to check it out ourselves. Again, thanks for the excellent report.

Kurt.....

Hey Ali,

I'm glad you finally made it. I'm headed to El Valle in a couple of weeks. I've always wanted to visit there and I've heard it's stunning. Like you, I'm not really into the beach life. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale and just got tired of it I guess.

To answer Kurt's question, the rioting had to do with Panama's President Ricardo Martinelli wanting to sell public land to private companies. They say that he promised some of the companies that backed him during his campaign, that he would sell some of the land in the Colon "free zone" area, which has always been public land and rented to these companies. When the people found out about it they flipped out. They demanded he repeal the decision. He was out of the country in Japan and Vietnam during most of the riots. When he returned he stopped the deal and all of the rioting ended. Unfortunately 3 people were killed during the riots, mostly due to police trying to break up the riots.

Don't worry though. Panamanians are just passionate people. They love their land and they fought so long and hard to become a sovereign nation. So now that the U.S. has left the canal zone and Panama completely belongs to Panama, they don't want to give up anything unnecessarily. President Martinelli has done so many good things for the country in his short stint in office, but he's also been accused of being very corrupt and doing a lot for personal gain along the way. So the government has been a little less stable, but it's no big concern. It's all party vs. party crap just like in the States. Either way, it's good to know that expats are appreciated, they want us here, and no matter who the president is, we'll be fine.

Chris

Thanks for the info Chris, you certainly are well informed and seem like you have your finger on the pulse of what to do in Panama. I hope to be there next year around this time frame and would love to meet you and your Panamanian wife. I am not sure how many of us will be heading that way, so far there are three to four of us that are contemplating the visit. That could change overnight though, I am excited to check out the area. My thing would probably be away from the city, someplace in the mountains where the weather would be cooler, but very close to the beach. I am 55 years old, and have a girlfriend who I've been with for 20 years now, so I'm not looking to party or nightlife of any sort. The reason I would want to be close to the beach is because a long time ago I learned to sail. Really a long time ago, so long ago in fact, I doubt I can remember much, except for the fact that I loved it!!! So finding a big sailboat, some dive gear, and of course a lot of fishing gear would be optimum, oh yes and a safe place to keep it in some kind of marina on the water is what I would be looking for.
I have a vision of playing in my garden in the mountains for my own veggies, and sailing and fishing, or spearing my seafood. Cars to me do not matter, I love motorcycles, or anything with two wheels over a car. I will be living on Social Security and whatever measly pittance I get from working twenty years for the state of Washington. I figure around $3,000 a month total is what I'll have to live on, I know that is more than possible to do in Panama. I follow your writings on this forum and so far, I like your writings, you are very informative and sound like you really like your life. I want that too, and it might be around ten more years for me to do this move, but I am gathering all the info way before I have to move so it becomes seamless when I do this move.

Kurt.....

Hey Kurt,

Thanks, man. I appreciate that you're reading my posts and getting something out of it. Yeah, I'd love to get together with you guys when you get here. Let me know when you'll be in town. I'll send you a friend request or whatever they call it on this blog.

I just replied on one of the other posts, about some of the places close to the city that are worth checking out. I was just in Coronado yesterday (actually just got back about fifteen minutes ago) and me, my wife, and her best friend and husband were discussing moving out to that area. Like you, I want to live in the mountains. I met a couple, maybe two weeks ago, who just moved from South Florida to Panama, and they bought a place in Altos del Maria. That's only about...maybe 20 minutes from the expat-friendly Coronado beach area. They love it up there. It's a mountain/hilltop community. The guy's name is Gary, and he's a surfer, so that tells you how close this mountain area is to the beach. I think the area might be a bit pricey though. I've never been up there, but I'm planning to stop by next week on my way out to El Valle (which is another mountain area that's supposed to be stunning). If you want to be near the beach, but also in the mountains, you'll probably want to be somewhere near the Coronado area. That seems to be the only place that kind of has both within very close proximity. Oh, also across from Coronado is a town called Las Lajas. I think those homes are a little less expensive than in Coronado itself.

Go to this site: http://www.compreoalquile.com/

It's the real estate site I use all the time. Plug some of those towns I mentioned into the search field at the top. Try Coronado, Gorgona, Chame, Las Lajas, and Altos del Maria. El Valle is the other beautiful mountain area I always hear about, but I don't think it's very close to the beach.

The site I just mentioned is in Spanish. Most pages can be translated though. Alquiler is rent and venta is for sale.

$3,000 per month should be more than enough to live on, especially if you're going to rent, or if you're planning to buy right off the bat and not have a cheap or no mortgage payment. The Pan-American Highway is a fairly smooth road. Motorcycles cruise up and down it all the time. It's some of the side roads that can be bumpy, like heading into the smaller towns. I've heard the road leading to El Valle is a mess.

Oh, you mentioned your age and not needing a crazy nightlife. Again, the Coronado area could be for you. Most of the gringos living there are in your age group or older. It's a retirement community. So in any of those towns I told you to use in your search field, you'd be in that general area. Gary and Rhonda, the couple I mentioned living in Altos del Maria, told me all about their gardening plans and the hummingbirds that visit their feeders every day. That place sounds like the place to settle down...if it's affordable (I'll be checking into that soon).

Hope this helped.

Thanks again for your kind words.

Chris