Panama City - July 25th
We had been in Panama for about a month now. For the uninitiated, Panama is located in Central America, between Costa Rica, Central America to the west and Columbia, South America to the east and south.
We glanced at the arrivals screen. Our friends had landed minutes before after a five and a half, to six hour flight from Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. We knew it would be 30 minutes or so before they were fingerprinted and photographed as every person entering Panama is when they initially arrive at Immigration and Customs.
The fingerprinting and photographing of new arrivals certainly sends a message to those would-be criminals that if you are going to do something illegal here in Panama, it is highly likely, you WILL be caught.
The fingerprinting and photographing of new arrivals certainly sends a message to those would-be criminals that if you are going to do something illegal here in Panama, it is highly likely, you WILL be caught.
We had checked into our apartment in Panama City the day before in order to do a dry run to the airport so we would know our way the following day. We intended to stay for four or five nights so we and our friends could view some of the local attractions and places of interest in Panama City.
Donna was getting hungry so she googled places to eat locally. She quickly found an Indian Restaurant just three blocks away so we decided to go there to sample the food. If it was good, we would take Liane and Jerry back there one evening.
As we walked toward the restaurant door, it was strange to see the owners standing at the door ready to unlock it so we could enter. Must have just opened I thought to myself as we walked through into the reception area, but no, there were a couple of East Indian families eating at tables inside with their families.
I turned as the lady closed the door after we had entered. The thought crossed my mind that the restaurant must have been robbed at some stage if the owners are acting like this. One thing would be for sure. a locked door in a restaurant would never pass fire regulations back in the US or Canada. We took a seat in a pleasant area at the back of the room as the lock on the door clicked shut once again.
I turned as the lady closed the door after we had entered. The thought crossed my mind that the restaurant must have been robbed at some stage if the owners are acting like this. One thing would be for sure. a locked door in a restaurant would never pass fire regulations back in the US or Canada. We took a seat in a pleasant area at the back of the room as the lock on the door clicked shut once again.
To say the food was below expectations would be an understatement. I ordered the Lamb Vindaloo. Donna ordered a chicken dish cooked in Mustard leaves. We also had some veggie pakoras, saffron rice and some aloo parathas. Unfortunately we left most of it. It was not authentic and virtually tasteless. It was not like any Indian restaurant we have ever eaten at before and we have eaten at many. We would not be returning.
The doors to the main concourse opened and there they were with their inimitable smiles. "Welcome to Panama - Long time no see" we said as we shook hands and gave them a welcoming hug as they came through from the customs area having had their bags scanned.
It was a smooth flight they told us, but they looked tired so without further delay we left the terminal, jumped into the SUV we had rented and drove back into the city centre. All I can say is Thank goodness for WAZE, the navigation system APP we had used in Canada and the US. It even works here in Panama.
While driving, Jerry mentioned something that we would continually hear over and over again during his time in Panama. "It's just like Mexico" he would say at every turn in the road. It soon became our in-house Panama joke saying which would always produce a smile on everyone's face.
Casco Viejo - Old Town
Having had some shut eye, we decided to go out and look around at a part of the City we had been advised to go to, the old town - a walled area called Casco Viejo. This is a popular tourist attraction visited by thousands ever day. it is steeped in history and has some really nice architecture in the buildings, many of which are being renovated into gorgeous homes, restaurants and hotels. This is a place to go to during the day and at night as the whole place takes on a completely different romantic flavour at night.
Taxi
Not wanting to drive in a city that appears to have no rules of the road whatsoever and very few signposts telling what street junction we are at, we hailed a taxi. There is a rule in this part of the world i.e., Mexico, Central and South America. One never gets into a taxi without first agreeing a price. "Cuánto cuesta un viaje a Casco Veijo" I asked. "Quatro dollar" was the reply. OK, let's go. We jumped into the taxi and were gone. The ride was about 6 kilometres up the road, so $4 was a steal but quite normal for Taxi costs here in Panama City.
We alighted in the Centre of Casco Viejo in front of an Iglesia (Church) built in 1672. It was gorgeous as were all the surrounding buildings. The four of us strolled through the streets then called in to a bar for a cool drink as even later on at night, it was very warm. We had a couple of drinks and walked some more then noticed an attractive restaurant a few steps away. It had tables on the sidewalk and others within. We opted for the inside where there was air conditioning. We ordered drinks and a platter of seafood. Donna opted for chicken wings. During the evening we discussed some of what we would do over the next five weeks we would have together.
The platter arrived shortly after. On it we had Lagostino (giant shrimp), normal sized shrimp, Calamari, Oysters, Clams, Red Peppers, Octopus (pulpo), Plantains and Yucca......Oh was it ever delicious! After an hour or so, I hailed the waiter. Senior, La cuenta por favour. The waiter promptly produced the bill. This was looking good. Including the cost of the drinks at the previous bar (two each), then a nice cool glass of Vino Blanco (white wine) at the restaurant and four good size meals it cost under $100 between the four of us. There's no way you would get away with prices like that in Canada or the USA.
Our Lawyers
Before we picked up Jerry and Liane, we had arranged to meet with our lawyers who would process our Jubilado or Pensionado Visas to gain permanent residence into Panama should we decide to come.
Ricardo Caballero and his wife Esmarelda are both Panamanian born lawyers. They are also Canadian Citizens having lived in Toronto, Canada along with their children for 15 years. They took the time to drive into Panama City and called into our apartment spending over an hour with us explaining what paperwork we needed to effect our residency and giving us some really good general advice about Panama.
Our Tour Guide - Carlos Caballero.
Ricardo has a cousin Carlos. He runs a tour company in Panama. We explained to Ricardo that while we were in Panama City for four days, we may as well visit as many places as possible. Ricardo called Carlos immediately. He handed me the phone and I talked briefly with Carlos. Within a minute we had organized a complete tour of Panama City.
Carlos told me that he would pick us up at 10:00 am Sunday (Domingo) morning and it would be a five hour tour in around Panama City including the Panama Canal, the Mira Flores Locks on the Panama Canal and lots more for just $120. We were delighted and so we went on the tour. Carlos is very well read and he knows a lot about the history of this fascinating city. All four of us learnt a lot. He was a cheerful guide too, telling us jokes as we sped around the city. Referring to the traffic as he drove us he said "I don't know if you are aware, but no-one robs a bank here" "why's that"? I asked, stretching his upturned palms toward the front window pointing towards the gridlock....."That' why" he said, you would never get away in a getaway car. The cops would only have to walk to keep up with you". We all laughed as we waited for the lights to turn green. Point taken.
All in all, it was well worth the tour. I can highly recommend Carlos and his tour.
While on the tour, we saw these very strange rodent looking animals as big a small dog. they look like a Capybara, but they aren't the same animal. If you get to close to them, they spray like a skunk. Needless to say we kept our distance from these free ranging animals. We also saw two Toucans in the trees before they flew off - Wonderful.
Return to Gorgona
On the fourth day we returned to Gorgona to the house we are renting. The four of us enjoyed lots of time in our own personal private swimming pool often spending an hour of more three times a day in it. It is a hot and very humid country. The humidity makes it feel far warmer than normal and with no air conditioning in the living room, the fan just did not cut it so, into the pool we would go.
Heat & Water Intake
We all have homes in Mesquite, Nevada where it is currently 107 degrees but it is very dry. You can cope more easily with the heat in a dryer climate running in and out of air conditioned shops and houses. Here its not quite the same and unfortunately, Jerry got heat exhaustion right away. He needed to drink lots of water to bring his water levels back up to the point where he could sweat once again and also some Gatoraid to increase the electrolytes in his body. It took him almost three days to recover.
Heat exhaustion is a very dangerous affliction which can kill if it goes on for too long, so our friends quickly became aware that one must always drink enough water to replace the amount we lose in perspiration every hour. Fortunately for us, the water is really good nationwide, so you can drink it right out of the tap unlike Mexico where one can easily suffer Montezuma's Revenge from the Ice cubes in the drinks or from the water used to wash lettuce and salad stuff, but not here or in Costa Rica. The water right out of the tap is very drinkable.
A Tour Of Some Real Estate
We have been out and about looking at some real estate. The houses in the nicer areas such as Coronado seem highly priced to us but people are still buying them up. Many Ex Pats who have lived here for years tell us that they believe property values in Coronado to be out of line and inflated so we may well take our time and rent for a while until we are comfortable and more familiar with prices in general.
Many of you who know us personally, know we aren't the types to play the game of overpaying for property. Paying to much at our stage in life doesn't work for us and in any case, both of us having been selling real estate for the past 25 years we should know better than to add to the problem.
The Real Estate person we used for Coronado, Sarah was a very pleasant Canadian lady. She took us around and contributed a lot to the amount of information we have about the area generally. We are aware that when one begins to look, we are really seeing a lot of what's left over, so it will take some time upon our return, to find some of the newer listings that are more realistically priced.
Another difference in buying a home here is that as we understand it, a lawyer must write up the actual contract and it must be written in Spanish. That's the law. The real estate person has a simple form, a kind of letter of intent to purchase stating the price offered, the possession date, deposit, inclusions and any other important terms or conditions that a buyer wants included in the actual contract. Once an offer/intent letter is accepted, the lawyer will write up and formalize the contract reflecting the buyer's and seller's needs and wants.
Mid-way through the looking process, we switched our thinking to encompass apartment living as well. We did find some really nice nice apartments offered by a developer on our own and have them on our list for when we come back in March. These properties rent for as much as $2500 to $3,000 a month in the high season which would be when we will be away out of the country. These apartments overlook the Southern Pacific Ocean with unobstructed views.
One can find an 1800 sq.ft, apartment with three and a half baths, Central Air, two or three bedrooms, six pools, restaurant, spa, gated and full time security 24/7 offered from the mid $300,000's to the low $400,000's. Not bad when you consider there are no taxes to be paid for the next 15 years either. As previously stated though, we will rent until such time as we find a place (home or apartment) that we consider acceptable to us in terms of price and utility. There's no point in rushing into this.
Socialising With The Locals
During the first part of August, the four of us invited Frank and Dilcia, the local bar owners over for Sopa de Camarones (giant shrimp soup). Donna and I first had this dish in Ecuador, South America. The dish is a meal in itself. I liked it so much I memorized the recipe, determined to make it upon our return to Canada. Frank, Dilcia, Jerry and Liane, Donna and myself all had a large bowl of this soup. Everyone loved the recipe which I have reproduced below.
Wedding Anniversary August 7th
An important day here in Panama, not for the Panamanians, but for Donna and me. This was the day 21 years ago that I married my best friend. We celebrated with Jerry and Liane. I cooked an Indian Curry with Rice, Papadams, Pakoras and accompaniments.
Everything tasted great except that the moment the papadams were taken out of the oil being really crisp, within minutes, with the humidity, they flopped and became very soft. I tried in vain to re-crisp them in the oven but you cannot beat nature and the humidity. They just would not re-crisp up. Oh well, Chalk one up for nature.
A Wonderful Find For Our Entertainment.
We had been speaking about the lack of English Speaking TV and programming when I had learnt through Sarah, our real estate representative that she had a system that was capable of getting literally hundreds upon hundreds of Movies, TV programs, Music Videos, U Tube, live TV, Live News and Live Sports and lots lots more.
I contacted Jeff, the Canadian designer of the software and system. He came to our home to give us a test drive. All I can say is FANTASTIC. The Apple TV worked well for us but with this new system we can access literally every movie ever made and it's all free. We purchased a unit at a cost of $695 immediately. We will take it back to the US and Canada with us when we leave.
For anyone else living in Southern Panama who is wanting to know about the system you can always contact me but Be aware that it will not work, if you don't have at least a good bandwidth with a minimum of 10 Mbps download speed or above. If you do have, it will become your complete home entertainment system.
Jerry and Liane brought one the very next day. We sold our Apple TV within seconds on Facebook. I could have sold it several times over. If you would like the contact details of this person who installs the equipment, email me here
Our Long Awaited Fishing Trip
Tuesday August 12. We awoke had a quick breakfast, threw some underclothes and a change of shorts and T shirts in a suitcase then we all headed south to Pedasi, a small fishing town on the southern coast of Panama 250 Km's or 150 Miles west and south of our base. Pedasi is on the Azuero Peninsula. This area is famous for it's different type of Panama Hat and great fishing. The drive would take us about four hours.
We booked rooms at Casa Lajagua, an attractive and very well cared for B&B/motel owned by a Canadian couple. The grounds to the B&B are gorgeous and the prices are competitive but better than that, the rooms are very clean.
The owners also own a boat. Craig the husband, skipper's his own boat out for hire. We checked into our rooms then took a short walk to a local Italian restaurant in anticipation of the following morning's fishing trip. We enjoyed a superb supper there and then walked back to the hotel.
It started to rain during the night. The thunder and lightening offered up an amazing light show. The rain came down in torrents and kept us all awake as it hit the roof above. Pretty typical for this country and time of year. I awoke again at 4:am to the noise of the rain still falling outside.
At exactly 5:00 am, the rain ceased. It was still dark at that time but by 6:15 am it was light. I glanced out to see a mixture of white clouds and blue skies above. We all grabbed a quick coffee and by 7:00 am, we were in the boat speeding through the waters of the South Pacific heading way out into ocean.
The boat was bouncing around as we crested the swells that seemed to be coming at us from straight ahead. Onwards we went until the coastline completely disappeared either because of the distance we had put between it and us or because of the worsening visibility.
The skies darkened and by 7:30, the rain came back with a vengeance. I am sure you can imagine the six of us in a boat with cover enough for the skipper to steer a course and see and shelter his instruments.
The rain was coming down like there was no tomorrow. Within minutes we were soaked, from head to toe, vests, shorts, underclothes the works and that is how it would be for the next four hours but the rain was warm.
The driving rain wasn't all we wondered about. The skies turned dark grey and fork lightening struck the seas around us. To make matters worse we had two steel extender rods sticking up way above the boat. These rods allow us to keep the fishing lines apart while trawling but when Craig mentioned that they could potentially be lightening rods, it got me thinking. I moved my hands away from the metal handrails I was holding onto to steady myself as the boat rolled.
The thunder and lightening continued. The swells increased and the boat was cresting the waves then sinking down on the other side. Craig did a great job altering the speed of the outboard engine to lessen the impact it had on the water as we hit the lower far side of the swells with the bottom of his boat. Good job it was a self bailing boat with this volume of rain falling.
All of a sudden the local fisherman who was accompanying the skipper and us pointed into the distance. We looked and saw huge water spouts ahead. Whales - huge Humpback Whales. All of a sudden one breached in front of us, its massive body rising maybe 12 or 15 feet out of the water then it came crashing down, tons of weight hitting the seas turning them a mixture of white and azure blue due to the amount of oxygen in the water from the immense size of the whale's body crashing down onto the water.
The babies could be seen mimicking the mother whales. We saw this time and time again. It was a wonderful spectacular show which delighted us all as we all let out loud cries of glee and amazement as the whales rose up out of the water and crashed back down over and over again. Craig even said that this was probably THE best show he had seen. We were privileged.
It had been about an hour and a half, and we had caught nothing, then one of the rods made a zinging sound as the fish hit the bait. Jerry was first up. Placing the rod into the belted rod holder around his waist, he begun to reel in. The boat engine was cut while he reeled in his catch, a nice looking Mahi-Mahi (Dorado).
It wasn't long before another rod snapped into life, Liane grabbed the rod and brought in our second catch of the day. Great I thought casting our worries about the thunder and lightening and swells aside for a moment. Then, all of a sudden one, two, three rods were all going at the same time.
Donna grabbed one rod, I grabbed the other and Gerry the third......This was fun I thought to myself. We must have hit a shoal of Mahi-Mahi I thought. Jerry's fish was in danger of getting caught in the propellors so he gracefully handed over his rod to Abbydale the fisherman who in turn handed it to Liane who was waiting with baited breath.
We all brought in good sized Mahi-Mahi. Liane landing the largest of the catch. You could see she was happy as a broad smile emanated from her face as they shoved the fish into the hold - Jerry eying her sideways as to what could have been as the fish's tail slipped beneath the floor of the boat.
By this time it was close to 11:00 am. The whales were still breaching, crashing and rolling, showing their massive tails and occasionally a huge side fin as they disappeared beneath the surface of the water.
All of a sudden there were Dolphins, one, two, four, ten and many many more. They seemed to be everywhere - all around us. They were swimming beneath the boat so close, that with a little effort, Donna, Liane and Jerry could have reached down and stroked them as they easily kept pace with the boat while on the surface of the ocean.
When there are Dolphin in the water, there is very likely to be Tuna which is the Dolphin's staple diet. The local fisherman suggested we retool the lines and throw out a couple of lures for Tuna. Quickly, he let out the lines and not five minutes later, bingo, one of the rods bent. Abbeydale handed it to me as I was the closest.
There was something powerful on the end. I wound it in, and in a few minutes, I saw a gorgeous Tuna approaching the boat, glistening as it changed direction on me. Definitely a keeper I thought to myself.
It was now past the time we had booked for the trip, so Craig, looked at Marine Garmin Navigation system on board and pointed it along a red line, the route he had programmed in for the journey out. We headed down the line in the reverse direction. Slowly, the coastline re-appeared in the distance.
None of us had a clue which way the land was without that wonderful device. Having taught advanced navigation in whiteout conditions and in the darkness on high mountains for years, I appreciated the fact that we were totally disorientated. I would have been completely stumped if that system had gone down, then I remembered we also had a gyroscopic compass on board, so I would have not been as stumped as I first thought, just follow a line on a NE tack and we would eventually have made land.
Back on Terra Firma, we went back to the hotel Casa Lajagua where the local fisherman Filleted the fish for us. Below is a picture of the proud drowned owners of the fish we caught.
We said our goodbyes to the owners of Casa Lajagua, Craig and April then we departed, taking the road north back to the Pan American Highway before turning east and heading back to our Base in Gorgona with some of the fish we had caught frozen in plastic bags.
On the way back, we had promised ourselves that we would call in to the Mercado de Pescado (Fish Market) at Rio Hato. There we quickly honed in on some Lagostino's (Giant Shrimp) so we could cook up a curried shrimp supper that night.
We also purchased a very nice looking whole Red Snapper weighing in at 8 lbs. The fellow behind the counter skinned and filleted the fish for us giving us two massive fillets in a bag. He also suggested we take the remainder of the fish to make Sopa Pescado de Marisco (fish soup of the ocean). We agreed, so he deftly cut up the fish, de-finned it, cut the head down the middle and smiled as he handed us a bag and told us to enjoy.......
As we left the fish market and told the girls we were going to cook up fish soup, we suddenly heard cries of "Eeeewww" and "NOT HAPPENING". "I am NOT eating an animals face" Liane said and "I am NOT eating eyes floating in soup" were the words added by Donna. We quickly realized that Jerry and I would be the only takers for the fish soup then - they laid it on us.
It was as if they had planned it all along. "when you have fish soup, WE are going to the Casino" they said. It was like they were both waiting for the "perfect storm". We were dead in the water. There WAS NO COMEBACK. Oh well, can't win em all I thought as I drove towards home.
We have had a ton of fun together here. We have been very lucky to have had two people as easy to get on with for five weeks as Jerry and Liane. They have been great company. Would we do it again. In a heartbeat. Thank you both, and we also include those of you who visited us in Costa Rica - Kathy and Brad. and Carol and Ib. We had a riot with you all.
While we have been away, We have had some ups and downs. Tragically, I lost my dad while in Costa Rica May 25th. He remains in my mind every day. On a more positive side, we have celebrated our 21st. wedding anniversary and my 66th birthday here in Panama.
For those who have been reading my blogs, I gave a full summation of what it was like for us and how we felt about the Costa Rica part of this four month journey so I will leave that part out. You can always read them as the links to those blogs are posted on the right side of the page towards the beginning.
Have we decided what we are going to do. Yes! but before we tell you that part, here are some honest facts about our take on Panama. Remember, this is not an authoritative guide on Panama, it's how WE saw it. Some people may differ with our viewpoint and that's just fine, but only we know what we saw or how we viewed our trip to Panama. So here it is.
To summarize. We have decided to move to Panama. We will move to somewhere on the southern coast, probably about an hour or so west of Panama City. We have a pretty good idea where, but who knows - nothing is settled yet. We have to find the right fit in a home or Apartment. We are very comfortable with that decision as we would be within striking distance from the City and the airlines leading back home.
Thank You
Finally, we would like to say thank you to the people of Panama for allowing us into your wonderful colourful country. We have enjoyed our stay as we have also enjoyed the people. We also thank the myriad of people we have met who made our stay more comfortable and who in many ways shortened the learning curve for us.
We say thanks to Frank and Dilcia - owners of La Ruina Pub/Restaurant in Gorgona, who were so friendly towards us and who looked after our every need and answered any questions we had if or when they arose.
Thank you to Sarah Booth our real estate representative who showed us around the Coronado real estate scene so diligently (all is not lost Sarah). We never intended to buy this time around.
Thanks also To Craig and April - Owners and hosts for our stay at the Casa Lajagua in Pedasi who provided accommodation and the boat for our fishing trip and who gave us a great opportunity to see the many Humpback Whales and their babies breaching in the waters off the coast. And of course Craig again, for Skippering his boat so efficiently so we could catch the Mahi-Mahi and Tuna.
Thanks also go to Carlos Caballero, Tour Organizer and budding comedian, who gave us a great tour of Panama City, Casco Viejo and the Canal and who introduced us to the history of this wonderful place. He kept us laughing all day long speaking excellent English.
And thank you to Carlos's Cousin Ricardo Caballero and his wife, Esmerelda both Canadian and Panamanian Citizens and both Abogados (Lawyers) who took the time to come to our apartment in Panama City to introduce themselves and who spent well over an hour of their time explaining in great detail how they will manage our application for our Pensionado Visa's and how they will diligently check everything when we buy a property here.
To Chris and Richard Durose who befriended us through Facebook, who came here the same day as us and whom we have visited with on a couple of occasions at our home and theirs since we arrived. We have enjoyed your company and our chats on Facebook. We feel we will see much more of you in the future.
Thank you to Dave Filing. A real character who is a prolific poster on Facebook and who opened our eyes a lot about all sorts of facts about this country. Dave is prominent on the Ex Pats Panama Facebook page. He contributes a lot to those of us who want to learn. I am pleased to have met him personally and I look forward to getting back to meet him again. Dave, we simply ran out of time this time around, but we will get together when we return. We value your opinions and we respect them.
It would be wrong to leave without saying thank you to the literally hundreds of Facebook contributors and group members and the organizer of Ex Pats Panama, Canadians in Panama and Tropical Cowboys who have provided us with the medium from which to learn about this country and from whom we have learned so much from over the past year and in our run up to this fact finding trip.
Thank you also to Panama Road Runner for picking us up and dropping us off on our arrival and departure from Panama. We will use you again. It's a great service. You have Sarah to thank for that referral.
And last but not least, to Brian and Judy Ham, back in Canada, the owners of the Casa we rented in Panama. Thank you again Brian for putting us in contact with Ricardo and Esmerelda. We will use them when we apply for our Pensionado Visas in April and of course, thank you so much for allowing us to use your home. We really appreciated it.
Thank you, thank you and thank you all again.
So as we prepare to head off to the hotel Aeropuerto Riande in a few days time for our last evening here, we can say we have thoroughly enjoyed everything we have seen, and, almost everyone we have met during our time here.
We will see you all again soon. Now, it is time to pack up and head back to our home in Nevada and back up to Canada where we will enjoy Canadian Thanksgiving there, then US thanksgiving in Nevada, Christmas and New Year in Nevada then prepare to hand over our treasured home to the new owners come February.
Adios Amigos. We will see you again soon.
The views expressed above are entirely our own, written from our own perspective, in good faith and not prompted or influenced by any other person, persons or entity. Copyright by © Ken Carter.
Casco Viejo - Old Town
Having had some shut eye, we decided to go out and look around at a part of the City we had been advised to go to, the old town - a walled area called Casco Viejo. This is a popular tourist attraction visited by thousands ever day. it is steeped in history and has some really nice architecture in the buildings, many of which are being renovated into gorgeous homes, restaurants and hotels. This is a place to go to during the day and at night as the whole place takes on a completely different romantic flavour at night.
Taxi
Not wanting to drive in a city that appears to have no rules of the road whatsoever and very few signposts telling what street junction we are at, we hailed a taxi. There is a rule in this part of the world i.e., Mexico, Central and South America. One never gets into a taxi without first agreeing a price. "Cuánto cuesta un viaje a Casco Veijo" I asked. "Quatro dollar" was the reply. OK, let's go. We jumped into the taxi and were gone. The ride was about 6 kilometres up the road, so $4 was a steal but quite normal for Taxi costs here in Panama City.
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| Night time takes on a flavour all of it's own here in Casco Viejo |
We alighted in the Centre of Casco Viejo in front of an Iglesia (Church) built in 1672. It was gorgeous as were all the surrounding buildings. The four of us strolled through the streets then called in to a bar for a cool drink as even later on at night, it was very warm. We had a couple of drinks and walked some more then noticed an attractive restaurant a few steps away. It had tables on the sidewalk and others within. We opted for the inside where there was air conditioning. We ordered drinks and a platter of seafood. Donna opted for chicken wings. During the evening we discussed some of what we would do over the next five weeks we would have together. The platter arrived shortly after. On it we had Lagostino (giant shrimp), normal sized shrimp, Calamari, Oysters, Clams, Red Peppers, Octopus (pulpo), Plantains and Yucca......Oh was it ever delicious! After an hour or so, I hailed the waiter. Senior, La cuenta por favour. The waiter promptly produced the bill. This was looking good. Including the cost of the drinks at the previous bar (two each), then a nice cool glass of Vino Blanco (white wine) at the restaurant and four good size meals it cost under $100 between the four of us. There's no way you would get away with prices like that in Canada or the USA.
Our Lawyers
Before we picked up Jerry and Liane, we had arranged to meet with our lawyers who would process our Jubilado or Pensionado Visas to gain permanent residence into Panama should we decide to come.
Ricardo Caballero and his wife Esmarelda are both Panamanian born lawyers. They are also Canadian Citizens having lived in Toronto, Canada along with their children for 15 years. They took the time to drive into Panama City and called into our apartment spending over an hour with us explaining what paperwork we needed to effect our residency and giving us some really good general advice about Panama.
Our Tour Guide - Carlos Caballero.
Ricardo has a cousin Carlos. He runs a tour company in Panama. We explained to Ricardo that while we were in Panama City for four days, we may as well visit as many places as possible. Ricardo called Carlos immediately. He handed me the phone and I talked briefly with Carlos. Within a minute we had organized a complete tour of Panama City.
Carlos told me that he would pick us up at 10:00 am Sunday (Domingo) morning and it would be a five hour tour in around Panama City including the Panama Canal, the Mira Flores Locks on the Panama Canal and lots more for just $120. We were delighted and so we went on the tour. Carlos is very well read and he knows a lot about the history of this fascinating city. All four of us learnt a lot. He was a cheerful guide too, telling us jokes as we sped around the city. Referring to the traffic as he drove us he said "I don't know if you are aware, but no-one robs a bank here" "why's that"? I asked, stretching his upturned palms toward the front window pointing towards the gridlock....."That' why" he said, you would never get away in a getaway car. The cops would only have to walk to keep up with you". We all laughed as we waited for the lights to turn green. Point taken.
All in all, it was well worth the tour. I can highly recommend Carlos and his tour.
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| Jerry, Liane and Donna at the restaurant waiting for our supper |
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| Ah yes, the Panama Hat. Almost all of them are made in Ecuador. Not all, but most of them. They make a different Panama Hat on the Azuero Peninsula |
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| Standing at the entrance to Casco Viejo |
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| Some of the streets are very quaint, some buildings still need renovating on the inside and out, but it is changing rapidly as the tourists come and pressure to upgrade these areas of the old town increases. |
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| Lookiing back at Panama City from a viewing platform on one of the hills |
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| We saw these boats coming through the Canal. It took about an hour from start to finish to pass through one set of locks. |
While on the tour, we saw these very strange rodent looking animals as big a small dog. they look like a Capybara, but they aren't the same animal. If you get to close to them, they spray like a skunk. Needless to say we kept our distance from these free ranging animals. We also saw two Toucans in the trees before they flew off - Wonderful.
Return to Gorgona
On the fourth day we returned to Gorgona to the house we are renting. The four of us enjoyed lots of time in our own personal private swimming pool often spending an hour of more three times a day in it. It is a hot and very humid country. The humidity makes it feel far warmer than normal and with no air conditioning in the living room, the fan just did not cut it so, into the pool we would go.
Heat & Water Intake
We all have homes in Mesquite, Nevada where it is currently 107 degrees but it is very dry. You can cope more easily with the heat in a dryer climate running in and out of air conditioned shops and houses. Here its not quite the same and unfortunately, Jerry got heat exhaustion right away. He needed to drink lots of water to bring his water levels back up to the point where he could sweat once again and also some Gatoraid to increase the electrolytes in his body. It took him almost three days to recover.
Heat exhaustion is a very dangerous affliction which can kill if it goes on for too long, so our friends quickly became aware that one must always drink enough water to replace the amount we lose in perspiration every hour. Fortunately for us, the water is really good nationwide, so you can drink it right out of the tap unlike Mexico where one can easily suffer Montezuma's Revenge from the Ice cubes in the drinks or from the water used to wash lettuce and salad stuff, but not here or in Costa Rica. The water right out of the tap is very drinkable.
A Tour Of Some Real Estate
We have been out and about looking at some real estate. The houses in the nicer areas such as Coronado seem highly priced to us but people are still buying them up. Many Ex Pats who have lived here for years tell us that they believe property values in Coronado to be out of line and inflated so we may well take our time and rent for a while until we are comfortable and more familiar with prices in general.
Many of you who know us personally, know we aren't the types to play the game of overpaying for property. Paying to much at our stage in life doesn't work for us and in any case, both of us having been selling real estate for the past 25 years we should know better than to add to the problem.
The Real Estate person we used for Coronado, Sarah was a very pleasant Canadian lady. She took us around and contributed a lot to the amount of information we have about the area generally. We are aware that when one begins to look, we are really seeing a lot of what's left over, so it will take some time upon our return, to find some of the newer listings that are more realistically priced.
Another difference in buying a home here is that as we understand it, a lawyer must write up the actual contract and it must be written in Spanish. That's the law. The real estate person has a simple form, a kind of letter of intent to purchase stating the price offered, the possession date, deposit, inclusions and any other important terms or conditions that a buyer wants included in the actual contract. Once an offer/intent letter is accepted, the lawyer will write up and formalize the contract reflecting the buyer's and seller's needs and wants.
Mid-way through the looking process, we switched our thinking to encompass apartment living as well. We did find some really nice nice apartments offered by a developer on our own and have them on our list for when we come back in March. These properties rent for as much as $2500 to $3,000 a month in the high season which would be when we will be away out of the country. These apartments overlook the Southern Pacific Ocean with unobstructed views.
One can find an 1800 sq.ft, apartment with three and a half baths, Central Air, two or three bedrooms, six pools, restaurant, spa, gated and full time security 24/7 offered from the mid $300,000's to the low $400,000's. Not bad when you consider there are no taxes to be paid for the next 15 years either. As previously stated though, we will rent until such time as we find a place (home or apartment) that we consider acceptable to us in terms of price and utility. There's no point in rushing into this.
Socialising With The Locals
During the first part of August, the four of us invited Frank and Dilcia, the local bar owners over for Sopa de Camarones (giant shrimp soup). Donna and I first had this dish in Ecuador, South America. The dish is a meal in itself. I liked it so much I memorized the recipe, determined to make it upon our return to Canada. Frank, Dilcia, Jerry and Liane, Donna and myself all had a large bowl of this soup. Everyone loved the recipe which I have reproduced below.
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Wedding Anniversary August 7th
An important day here in Panama, not for the Panamanians, but for Donna and me. This was the day 21 years ago that I married my best friend. We celebrated with Jerry and Liane. I cooked an Indian Curry with Rice, Papadams, Pakoras and accompaniments.
Everything tasted great except that the moment the papadams were taken out of the oil being really crisp, within minutes, with the humidity, they flopped and became very soft. I tried in vain to re-crisp them in the oven but you cannot beat nature and the humidity. They just would not re-crisp up. Oh well, Chalk one up for nature.
A Wonderful Find For Our Entertainment.
We had been speaking about the lack of English Speaking TV and programming when I had learnt through Sarah, our real estate representative that she had a system that was capable of getting literally hundreds upon hundreds of Movies, TV programs, Music Videos, U Tube, live TV, Live News and Live Sports and lots lots more.
I contacted Jeff, the Canadian designer of the software and system. He came to our home to give us a test drive. All I can say is FANTASTIC. The Apple TV worked well for us but with this new system we can access literally every movie ever made and it's all free. We purchased a unit at a cost of $695 immediately. We will take it back to the US and Canada with us when we leave.
For anyone else living in Southern Panama who is wanting to know about the system you can always contact me but Be aware that it will not work, if you don't have at least a good bandwidth with a minimum of 10 Mbps download speed or above. If you do have, it will become your complete home entertainment system.
Jerry and Liane brought one the very next day. We sold our Apple TV within seconds on Facebook. I could have sold it several times over. If you would like the contact details of this person who installs the equipment, email me here
Our Long Awaited Fishing Trip
Tuesday August 12. We awoke had a quick breakfast, threw some underclothes and a change of shorts and T shirts in a suitcase then we all headed south to Pedasi, a small fishing town on the southern coast of Panama 250 Km's or 150 Miles west and south of our base. Pedasi is on the Azuero Peninsula. This area is famous for it's different type of Panama Hat and great fishing. The drive would take us about four hours.
We booked rooms at Casa Lajagua, an attractive and very well cared for B&B/motel owned by a Canadian couple. The grounds to the B&B are gorgeous and the prices are competitive but better than that, the rooms are very clean.
The owners also own a boat. Craig the husband, skipper's his own boat out for hire. We checked into our rooms then took a short walk to a local Italian restaurant in anticipation of the following morning's fishing trip. We enjoyed a superb supper there and then walked back to the hotel.
It started to rain during the night. The thunder and lightening offered up an amazing light show. The rain came down in torrents and kept us all awake as it hit the roof above. Pretty typical for this country and time of year. I awoke again at 4:am to the noise of the rain still falling outside.
At exactly 5:00 am, the rain ceased. It was still dark at that time but by 6:15 am it was light. I glanced out to see a mixture of white clouds and blue skies above. We all grabbed a quick coffee and by 7:00 am, we were in the boat speeding through the waters of the South Pacific heading way out into ocean.
The boat was bouncing around as we crested the swells that seemed to be coming at us from straight ahead. Onwards we went until the coastline completely disappeared either because of the distance we had put between it and us or because of the worsening visibility.
The skies darkened and by 7:30, the rain came back with a vengeance. I am sure you can imagine the six of us in a boat with cover enough for the skipper to steer a course and see and shelter his instruments.
The rain was coming down like there was no tomorrow. Within minutes we were soaked, from head to toe, vests, shorts, underclothes the works and that is how it would be for the next four hours but the rain was warm.
The driving rain wasn't all we wondered about. The skies turned dark grey and fork lightening struck the seas around us. To make matters worse we had two steel extender rods sticking up way above the boat. These rods allow us to keep the fishing lines apart while trawling but when Craig mentioned that they could potentially be lightening rods, it got me thinking. I moved my hands away from the metal handrails I was holding onto to steady myself as the boat rolled.
The thunder and lightening continued. The swells increased and the boat was cresting the waves then sinking down on the other side. Craig did a great job altering the speed of the outboard engine to lessen the impact it had on the water as we hit the lower far side of the swells with the bottom of his boat. Good job it was a self bailing boat with this volume of rain falling.
All of a sudden the local fisherman who was accompanying the skipper and us pointed into the distance. We looked and saw huge water spouts ahead. Whales - huge Humpback Whales. All of a sudden one breached in front of us, its massive body rising maybe 12 or 15 feet out of the water then it came crashing down, tons of weight hitting the seas turning them a mixture of white and azure blue due to the amount of oxygen in the water from the immense size of the whale's body crashing down onto the water.
The babies could be seen mimicking the mother whales. We saw this time and time again. It was a wonderful spectacular show which delighted us all as we all let out loud cries of glee and amazement as the whales rose up out of the water and crashed back down over and over again. Craig even said that this was probably THE best show he had seen. We were privileged.
It had been about an hour and a half, and we had caught nothing, then one of the rods made a zinging sound as the fish hit the bait. Jerry was first up. Placing the rod into the belted rod holder around his waist, he begun to reel in. The boat engine was cut while he reeled in his catch, a nice looking Mahi-Mahi (Dorado).
It wasn't long before another rod snapped into life, Liane grabbed the rod and brought in our second catch of the day. Great I thought casting our worries about the thunder and lightening and swells aside for a moment. Then, all of a sudden one, two, three rods were all going at the same time.
Donna grabbed one rod, I grabbed the other and Gerry the third......This was fun I thought to myself. We must have hit a shoal of Mahi-Mahi I thought. Jerry's fish was in danger of getting caught in the propellors so he gracefully handed over his rod to Abbydale the fisherman who in turn handed it to Liane who was waiting with baited breath.
We all brought in good sized Mahi-Mahi. Liane landing the largest of the catch. You could see she was happy as a broad smile emanated from her face as they shoved the fish into the hold - Jerry eying her sideways as to what could have been as the fish's tail slipped beneath the floor of the boat.
By this time it was close to 11:00 am. The whales were still breaching, crashing and rolling, showing their massive tails and occasionally a huge side fin as they disappeared beneath the surface of the water.
All of a sudden there were Dolphins, one, two, four, ten and many many more. They seemed to be everywhere - all around us. They were swimming beneath the boat so close, that with a little effort, Donna, Liane and Jerry could have reached down and stroked them as they easily kept pace with the boat while on the surface of the ocean.
When there are Dolphin in the water, there is very likely to be Tuna which is the Dolphin's staple diet. The local fisherman suggested we retool the lines and throw out a couple of lures for Tuna. Quickly, he let out the lines and not five minutes later, bingo, one of the rods bent. Abbeydale handed it to me as I was the closest.
There was something powerful on the end. I wound it in, and in a few minutes, I saw a gorgeous Tuna approaching the boat, glistening as it changed direction on me. Definitely a keeper I thought to myself.
It was now past the time we had booked for the trip, so Craig, looked at Marine Garmin Navigation system on board and pointed it along a red line, the route he had programmed in for the journey out. We headed down the line in the reverse direction. Slowly, the coastline re-appeared in the distance.
None of us had a clue which way the land was without that wonderful device. Having taught advanced navigation in whiteout conditions and in the darkness on high mountains for years, I appreciated the fact that we were totally disorientated. I would have been completely stumped if that system had gone down, then I remembered we also had a gyroscopic compass on board, so I would have not been as stumped as I first thought, just follow a line on a NE tack and we would eventually have made land.
Back on Terra Firma, we went back to the hotel Casa Lajagua where the local fisherman Filleted the fish for us. Below is a picture of the proud drowned owners of the fish we caught.
On the way back, we had promised ourselves that we would call in to the Mercado de Pescado (Fish Market) at Rio Hato. There we quickly honed in on some Lagostino's (Giant Shrimp) so we could cook up a curried shrimp supper that night.
We also purchased a very nice looking whole Red Snapper weighing in at 8 lbs. The fellow behind the counter skinned and filleted the fish for us giving us two massive fillets in a bag. He also suggested we take the remainder of the fish to make Sopa Pescado de Marisco (fish soup of the ocean). We agreed, so he deftly cut up the fish, de-finned it, cut the head down the middle and smiled as he handed us a bag and told us to enjoy.......
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| The Fish Market at Rio Hato has all sorts of wonderful Fish and Camarones, Lagostinos, Crayfish etc. |
It was as if they had planned it all along. "when you have fish soup, WE are going to the Casino" they said. It was like they were both waiting for the "perfect storm". We were dead in the water. There WAS NO COMEBACK. Oh well, can't win em all I thought as I drove towards home.
We have had a ton of fun together here. We have been very lucky to have had two people as easy to get on with for five weeks as Jerry and Liane. They have been great company. Would we do it again. In a heartbeat. Thank you both, and we also include those of you who visited us in Costa Rica - Kathy and Brad. and Carol and Ib. We had a riot with you all.
While we have been away, We have had some ups and downs. Tragically, I lost my dad while in Costa Rica May 25th. He remains in my mind every day. On a more positive side, we have celebrated our 21st. wedding anniversary and my 66th birthday here in Panama.
For those who have been reading my blogs, I gave a full summation of what it was like for us and how we felt about the Costa Rica part of this four month journey so I will leave that part out. You can always read them as the links to those blogs are posted on the right side of the page towards the beginning.
Have we decided what we are going to do. Yes! but before we tell you that part, here are some honest facts about our take on Panama. Remember, this is not an authoritative guide on Panama, it's how WE saw it. Some people may differ with our viewpoint and that's just fine, but only we know what we saw or how we viewed our trip to Panama. So here it is.
- First and foremost, Panama is a wonderful country and the people are very nice.
- Is Panama dangerous? We have NEVER felt threatened once. Yes there are places in every city where one should not venture.
- In our opinion, property prices in and around the Coronado area are inflated. We think they are like this because potential buyers coming here aren't properly prepared, don't know how to or cannot be bothered doing their own due diligence regarding what they are buying and the prevailing prices in the area. While you have that situation, buyers will continue to pay inflated prices. Yes! Market Value IS the price a willing knowledgable and informed buyer and seller agree upon in terms of price, but there are two elements of this equation that seem to be missing here in our view and those are the words "knowledgable and informed". Most buyers purchasing here are not informed nor are they knowledgable. How can they be with no MLS statistics or historical values to go on. We all need to be careful.
- If you are buying real estate you should be aware that some real estate representatives here have no formal real estate training, but that having been said, if you are comfortable with that, then it's fine. just be aware. Ultimately it is our own responsibility to asses the level of expertise we each require. We must say, we were happy with our real estate representative Sarah. She was a great help.
- There is no doubt, the real estate representatives have a difficult job under sometimes stressful circumstances. They call for appointments days ahead and wait for calls to be returned that sometimes never even get returned even though they have buyers in tow and they are waiting to show property to.
- The real estate representatives are asked to price property without having good statistics to work with. Not a good position to be in when asked to perform a market analysis. This is certainly not organized real estate as we North Americans know it.
- So why be in a rush to buy? You could save many thousands of dollars by doing your homework before making an offer when moving here.
- I read a very interesting statement written by an American who lives in Costa Rica and who has lived there for many years. He offered some advice on his blog. This is what he wrote. "When you first move to Central America or Costa Rica, it would be very wise that for the first two years, you do nothing that cannot be undone in a half hour or less". It's certainly advice worth considering if nothing more. How do we know that in two years time we will still like the prospect of living here? Many people do, but a lot don't. Those are the people who eventually end up packing up and leaving. Many end up taking large losses on their homes because they purchased without doing any due diligence on price, paid too much and purchased to soon. This is definitely worth thinking about especially if you have not lived outside your native country before.
- Everyone should also be aware that anyone legally entitled to work here, can hang out a shingle and call themselves a real estate representative. Some even do who are not entitled to work here period. These people are living right on the edge, but they do it nevertheless. Is it wrong? Well, the powers that be aren't enforcing rules so I suppose it is not. Let's say it's a grey area.
- Can you buy a property in Coronado in the $300,000's Yes, but be prepared to do lots of work. Good properties at that price are few and far between, so it's important not to come to Panama with rose tinted glasses thinking you are going to pick up a property for a song. It likely will not happen. Leastways not in Coronado.
- What you can find in and around Coronado are some very nice spacious condo apartment units as previously indicated. You can also find apartments in the 200's too but they are smaller.
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| This is a gorgeous home. |
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| Just a small portion of the land |
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| Another part of the Lot |
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| And still more - Heaven on Earth |
The Above Home Offered For Sale at
$249,900
- Property prices are a different story the further away you go from the Coronado area. You can find reasonably priced property but still have to hunt it out. During the last ten days, we took a ride up to Altos Del Maria (pictures above). It seemed a bit out of the way for us but, we did view a property that was being sold privately and it was a good deal, so good prices do exist. You just have to look for them.
- MEAT. We did not find the meat in Panama to be as good a quality or as tasty as that in North America. A beef tenderloin is nothing like you will find in Canada or the US. They are a lot smaller, thinner and tougher and all too often, they are missing the Chateaubriand part of the tenderloin. What you have left is the Filet Mignon part and the end cut.
- Chicken and of course fish are at the other end of the scale. Very tasty and fresh as you can get it.
- You would think vegetables and fruit here would be less expensive. Well, some are if you know your prices and buy from the roadside places but the freshness and quality of some of these items are suspect. They also don't look as nice as the stuff in the supermarkets which is more expensive as a result.
- Cilantro is harder to come by here. the Panamanians have a substitute they love called Cylantro. It is different and not as tasty but they seem to really like it.
- Electrical items are expensive but if you get a Price Smart card (Price Smart is Costco just under a different name). It carries a lot of the brand names Costco in North America carries i.e. Kirkland. You can find TV's, computers and the like at reasonable prices. Maybe slightly higher than in the US and Canada.
- Can you get US and Canadian TV here? absolutely as indicated above.
- Taxis and buses are inexpensive here too.
- As a Pensionado, you can avail yourselves of many discounts which by law you are entitled too and must be offered.
- The government here really does hold out a welcome mat for us foreigners but with the recent change in government, who knows how long this will last.
- if you qualify as one of the friendly nations or Pensionado or Investor Visa's it is fairly easy to obtain residence here as long as you don't have a criminal record.
- The most disappointing issue about this lovely country is the amount of garbage lying around. The lack of consistent regular services to pick up trash and dispose of it is very noticeable and quite honestly it is frustrating. This is compounded by the lack of garbage containers into which to place garbage. As a result, litter is very apparent. Unfortunately, throwing garbage by the roadside is ingrained in some of the people. We believe that the only way to change that picture is to educate the youth to pick up after them right from their early schooldays. The older people are not about to change so this will take time to change people's view of garbage.
- I have said before in previous Facebook group blogs, that if the Panamanian leadership would realize that they would enhance the value of all Panamanian's properties if they cleaned up the place by picking up and disposing of garbage efficiently, it would result in more tourists which would bring more business and wealth for the locals as demand for everything increases as more tourists come such as food, haircuts, taxies, gas, homes etc. Eventually, everyone would win in the end.
- One thing we saw that we liked was the fact that every school has a uniform and all students wear it. It is great to see all the kids at school all dressed the same. The kids take great pride in wearing their uniforms which I believe are mandatory here. I am not completely sure about that fact but it seems that way. I wish it were that way in North America.
To summarize. We have decided to move to Panama. We will move to somewhere on the southern coast, probably about an hour or so west of Panama City. We have a pretty good idea where, but who knows - nothing is settled yet. We have to find the right fit in a home or Apartment. We are very comfortable with that decision as we would be within striking distance from the City and the airlines leading back home.
Thank You
Finally, we would like to say thank you to the people of Panama for allowing us into your wonderful colourful country. We have enjoyed our stay as we have also enjoyed the people. We also thank the myriad of people we have met who made our stay more comfortable and who in many ways shortened the learning curve for us. We say thanks to Frank and Dilcia - owners of La Ruina Pub/Restaurant in Gorgona, who were so friendly towards us and who looked after our every need and answered any questions we had if or when they arose.
Thank you to Sarah Booth our real estate representative who showed us around the Coronado real estate scene so diligently (all is not lost Sarah). We never intended to buy this time around.
Thanks also To Craig and April - Owners and hosts for our stay at the Casa Lajagua in Pedasi who provided accommodation and the boat for our fishing trip and who gave us a great opportunity to see the many Humpback Whales and their babies breaching in the waters off the coast. And of course Craig again, for Skippering his boat so efficiently so we could catch the Mahi-Mahi and Tuna.
Thanks also go to Carlos Caballero, Tour Organizer and budding comedian, who gave us a great tour of Panama City, Casco Viejo and the Canal and who introduced us to the history of this wonderful place. He kept us laughing all day long speaking excellent English.
And thank you to Carlos's Cousin Ricardo Caballero and his wife, Esmerelda both Canadian and Panamanian Citizens and both Abogados (Lawyers) who took the time to come to our apartment in Panama City to introduce themselves and who spent well over an hour of their time explaining in great detail how they will manage our application for our Pensionado Visa's and how they will diligently check everything when we buy a property here.
To Chris and Richard Durose who befriended us through Facebook, who came here the same day as us and whom we have visited with on a couple of occasions at our home and theirs since we arrived. We have enjoyed your company and our chats on Facebook. We feel we will see much more of you in the future.
Thank you to Dave Filing. A real character who is a prolific poster on Facebook and who opened our eyes a lot about all sorts of facts about this country. Dave is prominent on the Ex Pats Panama Facebook page. He contributes a lot to those of us who want to learn. I am pleased to have met him personally and I look forward to getting back to meet him again. Dave, we simply ran out of time this time around, but we will get together when we return. We value your opinions and we respect them.
It would be wrong to leave without saying thank you to the literally hundreds of Facebook contributors and group members and the organizer of Ex Pats Panama, Canadians in Panama and Tropical Cowboys who have provided us with the medium from which to learn about this country and from whom we have learned so much from over the past year and in our run up to this fact finding trip.
Thank you also to Panama Road Runner for picking us up and dropping us off on our arrival and departure from Panama. We will use you again. It's a great service. You have Sarah to thank for that referral.
And last but not least, to Brian and Judy Ham, back in Canada, the owners of the Casa we rented in Panama. Thank you again Brian for putting us in contact with Ricardo and Esmerelda. We will use them when we apply for our Pensionado Visas in April and of course, thank you so much for allowing us to use your home. We really appreciated it.
Thank you, thank you and thank you all again.
So as we prepare to head off to the hotel Aeropuerto Riande in a few days time for our last evening here, we can say we have thoroughly enjoyed everything we have seen, and, almost everyone we have met during our time here.
We will see you all again soon. Now, it is time to pack up and head back to our home in Nevada and back up to Canada where we will enjoy Canadian Thanksgiving there, then US thanksgiving in Nevada, Christmas and New Year in Nevada then prepare to hand over our treasured home to the new owners come February.
Adios Amigos. We will see you again soon.
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| Donna and Ken enjoying Ken's 66th birthday in Panama. |
Donna and Ken Carter
Retired Canadian Real Estate Brokers
The views expressed above are entirely our own, written from our own perspective, in good faith and not prompted or influenced by any other person, persons or entity. Copyright by © Ken Carter.
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