The Panama Adventure

“I’ve heard that Panama is great so I’m moving there. Where should I live?”  People ask this question in one form or another quite often. There is no answer that will fit everyone. Panama is a small country but very diverse. There is city living, country living, beaches, mountains, pretty much everything except winter climate.

When trying to figure this out, the first thing to ask yourself is what do you need? If you are working remotely, you need a good internet connection. If you have health issues, you need to be close to medical care. If you have children, you need to figure out school for them. If you need shopping and daily needs close by, you don’t want to be in a remote area. What you must have is going to determine what areas are possibilities.

Bob Adams is a very knowledgeable and sensible man who has made many videos. Here is a one on this subject.

A few other things to consider are, what is your budget? Panama City is expensive, especially the housing. Coronado, Boquete, and other areas with many expats also tend to be more expensive. Do you speak Spanish? If not, you may be more comfortable in an area where there are more English speakers. Do you want to be close to other expats, or do you want a Panamanian immersion kind of life? Do you like warm (hot) weather, or would you be more comfortable in the cooler mountains? Once you have taken a careful look at yourself and your needs, you should be able to narrow down your search to some areas that meet these needs.

Another question that comes up is – should I rent or buy? Everyone (at least everyone who isn’t trying to sell you something) will say rent first for at least 6-12 months. You need to spend time here living the daily life to be sure it is a good fit. You may find that one season is great, but another is too windy, wet, hot, cold, or other problems. Maybe you want to be closer to something, or farther away from something. It’s hard to know what your new life is going to be like until you have lived it for a while. I know if we were going to buy, our choices and priorities would be different now after four years than they were even after living here for a year. Once you buy, it may not be that easy to change your mind and sell so proceed carefully.

Then, after location and housing, the question is – what should I bring? Again, this is an individual choice. People ship whole containers, and others come with only a suitcase. It is hard to know what you will need until you have lived your life here for a while. Will your furniture hold up in this humid climate? Will you wear those good clothes when you live in shorts and t-shirts? The general opinion is, if something is hard to impossible to replace here, bring it (like my husband’s guitars and musical equipment). Many find it worth it to bring their good quality tools or kitchen equipment, and other recommend bringing sheets and towels because they can’t find the quality they want here. I’ve known people who have shipped containers, partial containers, come with stuffed suitcases, made multiple trips to bring things here, and even a relocation cruise is a possibility if you can find one.

That’s all the words I have on the subject for today. Many people are happy to offer opinions, but only you can decide what will work for you. Oh, and I highly recommend you never, ever even think about buying anything under development or pre-construction. The reality is likely to be quite different from the glossy sales brochure and the sweet words of the salesman. I’ve heard stories from people who have done that, and you don’t want to be the next story.

I guess I did have a few more words 😉

What do we need as human beings to survive? food, shelter, reproduction, connection. We are social beings. Babies literally die without human touch and connection. Adults don’t do well either, mentally or physically, without human connection.

I saw this video recently HERE. Amnesty International conducted an experiment. They put refugees from Somalia and Syria in front of individuals from Europe and the instructions were to just look into each others eyes for four minutes. They were hoping that this looking at each other would be the start of a connection and a realization of shared humanity. As you will see, it worked.

I have said many times that I am so happy here in Panama, and the main reason is the people. I feel like they really SEE me. When they look at me, talk with me, and smile at me I feel that connection. Of course I had friends in the US but people you don’t know, they don’t see you in the same way. The checkout person at the supermarket says “have a nice day” but you know it isn’t for you, really. It’s just what they have been trained to say. Here though, even people I don’t know, they look me in the eyes. They are curious about who I am. They want to make a connection and it’s a really nice feeling.

The US has been so terribly divided and it seems to be getting worse and worse. We are losing our realization that we are all humans, we are all people. We are losing compassion for our brothers and sisters suffering within and without our borders. A Syrian refugee may be just a drain on our resources, a problem to be avoided. But, when you make eye contact with a refugee, see who they are as a person, hear their story, understand their journey, how can you not feel their humanity.

I try to stay away from the news and politics, but it’s impossible to not know what is going on. It affects my family, my friends, and the entire world. Now more than ever we need to see the humanity in each other. We need to stand by and support each other, especially those who may feel pushed aside and disrespected. I hope that where there are negative forces gaining strength, there will be positive forces gaining even more strength. I see that happening already.

I saw a bit of news about this in my favorite Facebook group (Expats in Panama). There are bus stops now in Panama City with free WiFi. How cool is that!

This basically says on Monday, they started “Smart City” to connect people with internet for free at 50 bus stops around the city.

These are bus stops that will have internet.

We don’t have this in David, but we do have many places with free internet such as schools, the bus terminal, and Cervantes Park, to name a few. http://internetparatodos.gob.pa/  If you get within range you will see internetparatodos on your list of possible connections. Connect, sign in on the browser page that comes up, and you’re good to go.

Panama can be backwards in some ways, but also very forward in many other important ways.

Panama immigration issued a decree a week ago that resulted in a lot of confusion. I posted about it here. It said quite clearly that tourists will now have visas for 90 days, instead of the previous 180 days and we all got nervous. What does this mean for people here as tourists?

There was confusion everywhere. US and Canadian citizens were being told that they still had 180 days. But, there were also stories about people boarding planes to Panama being told to change their return tickets to a date less than 90 days out. There were discussions on the usual forums and Facebook groups as people tried to figure out what is going on, but nobody had any definitive answers from the authorities.

Immigration must have gotten too many calls because yesterday a link was shared to this TV program where the director of immigration was explaining the recent changes.
Director de Migración aclara decreto sobre visas para turistas extranjeros

Any of you native Spanish speakers who have the time, please check this out and make sure I understood it correctly.

First, he talks about the part where people who have submitted applications for residency get 6 months instead of the previous 1 year. He said this puts the responsibility on immigration to process and respond to the applications in less than 6 months. I think they are already doing this, but this is a guarantee that they will continue to get it done quickly.

Then, the more important part. Panama has reciprocal agreements with many countries such as USA, Canada, UK, and Latin American countries. Their citizens can visit Panama for 180 days, and Panamanians can visit those countries for 180 days. Nothing has changed with this. Other countries who don’t have an agreement, those citizens must apply for a visa before they can come to Panama. These visas will now be only 90 days, not the 180 days they were before the decree. This is the only thing that is changed by the recent degree.

There is a Wikipedia page HERE that list the countries with reciprocal agreements. I noticed that on this page also, they mention that visas are now 90 days, not 180. But, below, they list the countries that do not require a visa. I think there is where we all got so confused! If we aren’t required to get a visa, then the length of the visa doesn’t affect us.

Whew! I think we have it straight now. But, TIP (this is Panama), and Spanish is not my first language so I give no guarantees that these are the absolute facts. Even if they are, everything is subject to change at any time.

This is not an unknown state for me, especially living in another country and culture, and especially as disorganized as I can be at times.

Recently I posted about the decree decreasing tourist visas from 180 to 90 days. This is being discussed a lot in the usual forums and Facebook groups, and there are a lot of unanswered questions. One of my readers said a response from the US embassy indicated that we still get 180 days. Our embassy warden also asked for clarification and will post information on his blog at chiriquichatter.net I went to immigration on Saturday, but they are only open Mon-Fri so I wasn’t able to talk with anyone.

The decree sounds quite clear. Tourists get a 90 day visa. But, does this apply to all of us? Are tourists still able to do “border runs”, come back into Panama with a fresh stamp in their passport and get another 90 days? People who came in before the decree, are they still allowed 180 days or are they also limited to 90 days from their passport stamp? I try to only post official written information, not rumors, and it may take a while to get all this sorted out but I’ll post answers if and when they become available.

Then, there is me. Sometimes I leave interesting but unimportant email for “later”. You all know how that goes. It piles up, gets pushed further down in the mailbox, and sometimes important stuff gets lost along with it. Or, I want to give something more thought or write when I have more time, and I get distracted and it gets buried. I try to be good about answering emails within a day or two so if you write me and don’t hear back, please poke me and remind me.

I also correspond with quite a few people on line, and often it’s hard to keep everyone straight. If I meet someone and have a face to go with the name, that helps a lot but usually I only have black words on a white screen. I save correspondence in a folder, but sometimes even with that I can’t remember what we talked about. And, if you change email addresses, then in my mind you are an entirely new person.

Not everyone is a good candidate for moving to another country. Often it’s hard for me to determine what is going on with a person after only one or two emails. If it sounds like you have believed those “come live in paradise” publications, have never spent time here, don’t speak any Spanish, don’t realize the differences and challenges you will face, but are packing and buying plane tickets then I will definitely rain all over your dreams and try to slap you upside the head with reality. Sometimes I do this unnecessarily and I’m thankful that people have responded positively anyway. But, I’d much rather discourage someone early than have them move and find out it isn’t want they thought or can live with.

But, sometimes I meet with people who have come to Panama to check it out, and almost always it’s a really nice experience and many have developed into lasting friendships. This is one of the things I really enjoy about the blog. We have met so many interesting people!

UPDATE! This information turned out to be incorrect. The change is only for people from countries that have to apply for a visa before being allowed in Panama. It does not apply to people from the US, Canada, and the many other countries who have a reciprocal agreement with Panama. See the later post here. 

President Varela published a decree on January 10th that stated the tourist visa would be 90 days (it used to be 180 days). If you are applying for residency you can get permission to be here for 6 months (it used to be a year).

What does this mean? TIP (this is Panama) and no one knows exactly. But it looks like Panama is trying to discourage the permanent tourist thing.

Up until now, it has been possible to stay in Panama for 180 days, leave for a while, then return and get another 180 days. “A while” is ambiguous. It used to be that it could be done in a day, checking out of Panama and into Costa Rica, and then immediately reversing the process and checking out of Costa Rica and back into Panama. Now it is usually at least overnight, or sometimes 72 hours before the officials will let you back into Panama. 72 hours is said to be the official rule but nobody can find where this rule is written down.

Now, however, tourists get a visa for 90 days. What happens after 90 days? Can you make a “border run” and get another 90 days? (not a change for many since your foreign drivers license is only good for 90 days) At first it looked like $50 would get you an extension for 6 months but on careful reading, it looks like this only applies to people waiting to get their residency application processed so it wouldn’t apply to tourists.

The decree is here.

Article 1, in my best attempt to translate says –

The immigration authorities of the National Immigration service will issue a tourist visa valid for a term of no more than ninety days, if the foreigner complies with the requirements (loosely translated) of international agreements with Panama and reciprocal principals.

The National Immigration Service will issue a card of transit for 6 months for foreigners who have presented a request in the categories and subcategories of temporary residents and permanent residents. (article 2 says this costs $50)

There is a news article in English here.

Is this a good thing? There have been a lot of people coming here from Colombia and Venezuela and Panamanians are afraid of that effect on the country, especially if they are poor and don’t have means to take care of themselves of they get into trouble. A tourist also isn’t subjected to any background checks. Even expats from the US have gotten sick without the means to pay and then became a drain on the health care system, or there have been criminals, or people running from creditors.

I’m glad we are legal residents here. I know the process is tedious and costs money, but now we don’t have to worry about any of this. I feel good that we have made this commitment to the country we love. If you plan to live here as a permanent tourist, it is probably a very good idea to have a Plan B in case this becomes no longer possible.

This is summer in Panama and the trade winds are blowing, and blowing, and blowing! This is the third very windy day in a row. Up in the mountains the winds are even stronger, and some areas have also been getting rain. Trees have been blown down everywhere taking power lines down with them. Late yesterday there were people in the mountains still waiting for their power to be restored. Thankfully we were only out for a few hours on Monday.

I don’t mind the wind too much but it sure makes biking more challenging. I can sail down the road with little effort but coming home into that head wind is a different story. Monday I was in my lowest mountain climbing gears and still fighting. Yesterday was better but still a workout. Today I’m sitting on the terrace listening to the wind roar, and the racket as leaves and sticks hit the metal roof. The house has a drop ceiling and I wondered why they glued the panels to the framework. Then I realized that in the windy season, anything that isn’t glued is lifted right out of the framework.

The banana leaves are already quite shredded

The days have been beautiful though, blue sunny skies with wonderful, interesting clouds, and we aren’t far enough into summer for plants to be turning brown. Trees and plants are starting to bud, flower, and fruit and I know there will be more coming.

The clouds yesterday made it look like Volcan Baru was erupting

It isn’t always rainbows and unicorns in Panama. Though, if you are in the mountains in the mist and rain, there’s probably a lot of rainbows. People who don’t like the wind though are definitely not happy at the moment. I’ll take this any day over ice, snow, and cold. These summer nights also tend to be a bit cooler, and the full moon and stars are gorgeous in the clear night sky.

It seems odd talking about summer when so many of you are freezing and shoveling snow up north, but even though we are slightly north of the equator we tend to have more southern hemisphere weather patterns.

The temperature may not vary much here in Panama, but on the Pacific side we definitely have seasons. We have been easing into summer for the last couple weeks and even though we had some rain last night, today definitely feels like summer. It’s clear and sunny, and the trade winds are really blowing hard. The power was even out for a few hours, I imagine because of the wind.

The trees and plants reflect the new season as well. Many trees that are usually green are bursting out with flowers, and some seasonal fruits will become available soon.

I went out riding my bike this morning, which is another story. Whew! Riding against that wind is like climbing a steep hill so even though I didn’t ride many miles, I felt like I got quite a workout. I figure it would be a good day to stay closer to home though, and to see what is going on in the neighborhood.

People are talking about the avocado trees this year because they seem especially full of flowers. Some even have fruit when they aren’t supposed to at this time of year. We may have a bumper crop this June!

Mango trees are covered with flowers now. They look almost like they have sprouted crazy hair!

Some mango flowers are on red stems giving the flowers a different color.

The cashew trees are also budding and getting ready to flower. This fruit grows rather quickly so we should have some in 2-3 months.

Papayas give fruit all year around, but I saw this one today that was really loaded.

The star fruit also fruits multiple times a year.

It’s easier to spot the fruit if you go under the tree. This one always seems to be dropping fruit so if I want to bring some home, I know where to go.

Our guanabana (soursop) tree may give some fruit in the rainy season, but dry season is when it’s really productive. We have already gotten quite a few fruits, and it has many of these smaller ones growing everywhere. If you look towards the bottom of the photo you can see one of the flowers. They are odd looking and grow right on the branches and trunk of the tree, as well as out among the leaves.

I love mangoes! I had my first trees in Florida and it was fascinating to watch them flower and fruit. I had beehives there too. The bees loved the mango flowers and gave me the best honey of the year at that time. It’s better here in Panama though because we don’t have to worry about frost when the trees are blooming, and you can count on fruit at the end of our summer. The trees thrive too, and many of them are huge and decades old.

I love bananas also. Nothing says tropical living like bananas in the yard, and the flowers still look odd and exotic to me. They flower and fruit at any time of year, but right now we have one beginning to flower in our yard.

The flower bud is coming from the center of the tree and going off to the right

The bougainvillea are also at their best in the summer, full of flowers and color. I spotted this one that is already blooming.

This type has both pink and white flowers on the same plant

I couldn’t resist taking a couple photos of my favorite things, Volcan Baru and the huge tree.

When I first came out the mountain was hidden clouds, but after a while they cleared enough to give us this beautiful view.

I never get tired of visiting this huge tree. That house that looks so small is a large, two story house.

So, that is pretty much what is going on in the neighborhood these days. I know there will be more interesting flowers coming, and some trees that are going to be spectacular when they bloom. Summer is not my favorite season, especially when it gets so dry that everything turns brown and brush fires are common, but I will enjoy the good things it brings as well.

Another good thing is the iguanas tend to roam and look for water so you see them more often. This young one has been visiting our yard and hanging out in the guanabana tree.

Panama has so many birds, and most of them are new to me. It is said that there are more different species of birds here than in all of North America! My bird books have a permanent home right by my desk (actually the table on the terrace) because I’m frequently trying to identify another bird.

We also have a guanabana tree (soursop) next to the terrace. For me the fruit has a rather odd smell and flavor that I had to get used to, but the Panamanians absolutely love it. The tree often fruits a lot in summer so I’m pretty popular when I have lots to give away.

A female crimson backed tanager is perched on the fruit

Her male partner waits nearby

Usually the fruit falls to the ground when it is ready, but Wednesday I noticed a fruit directly in front of the terrace that was being pecked at by the birds. On Thursday the birds were lined up to eat the fruit. The squirrels were also very interested, and finally later in the afternoon one managed to knock the fruit off the tree. What fell to the ground was probably 1/3 of the fruit because the birds and squirrels had eaten all the rest!

I think this might be a clay colored thrush. We have a lot of them around here and they love splashing in the bird bath. They also love eating guanabana.

A squirrel comes in for some fruit.

This one chased the first squirrel away and then used an approach from above to get to the fruit.

The squirrel runs off with a piece of fruit in his mouth

It seems like almost everything here eats fruit. When I first arrived I bought some peanuts for the squirrels. They totally ignored them. Put out some fruit though, especially papaya or banana and the squirrels will be very interested, as will most of the birds. That makes sense though since fruit is abundant here and nuts are not.

We also have a lot of doves. One pair has made a nest in the bushes in front of our house.

We get quite a few of these larger doves visiting the bird bath, but they don’t seem interested in the fruit.

These ruddy ground doves visit the birdbath a lot to drink, but they rarely get in the water

Here are some random pictures, some wildlife and some scenery.

That fence post in the bottom center of the photo has a mall hole in the top, and apparently little tiny bees living inside. All those gray spots in the photo are bees flying around. I saw them swarm before and they just flew maybe 2-3 yards away from the post, but eventually all went back inside. I didn’t watch closely this time but just a few minutes later, all was quiet again.

This very interesting and unusual moth was on the wall one night

I spotted our largest iguana buddy on the compost pile.

In January the flowers were looking pretty faded

This hawk grabbed something out of the bushes and went up here to eat it.

Just some scenery outside of town, cow pastures bordered by living fences

Hey there, Mr Cow

There is no ripe fruit in the tree today so the yard is much quieter. The doves have visited though, and a motmot, the chattering wrens, a few thrushes, hummingbirds, the oropendula male was doing his thing in favorite tree beyond the yard, and there are enough bird calls in the area that it is never silent. I love being able to spend the majority of my time outside so close to nature.