Balä Beach: Panama Lifestyle
| When someone says Panama what do you think of immediately? The Panama Canal!..right, anything else?
Thats a pity because Panama is a great deal more than just a Canal which revolutionised modern shipping.
Panama is becoming one of the world's top retirement countries and also a world class tourist destination - particularly for adventure and ecotourism.
Panama has been relatively unknown to tourism except for those who specialise in fishing, birding, river rafting and rain forest experiences.
All these exciting opportunities together with gorgeous beaches and great surfing, kayaking and diving, ensure Panama has something for everyone. It has a fascinating cultural background, from stone age indigenous people, the history of conquistadors, the canal to a modern society with infrastructure that is first world. |  | Panama is a country full of natural untouched wonders, from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast, from rainforest to underwater reefs. Boquete, a flower filled mountain valley at the foot of the 10,500 ft. extinct volcano Volcan Baru, boosts a near perfect climate, panoramic mountain views , coffee farms, waterfalls, great hiking and a picturesque small town ambience. It is also one of the few places on the planet where you can view the Resplendent Quetzal with regularity; the rare and considered most beautiful bird in the Americas.
Boquete was recently chosen by the magazine Modern Maturity of the American Association of Retired Persons as the top place in the Western Hemisphere for retirement or a second home and as one of the top five places by Fortune Magazine. Boquete is just 40 minutes by car from the provincial capital city of David, 7 hours by car from Panama City and one hour by plane.
All this makes Panama and ideal location for retirement or a second home.
|  | In Panama you will spend much less than what you are accustomed to paying in North America or Europe for the same product or service. A newly released movie on the big screen in a comfortable movie theater goes for less than four dollars. A quality dinner in a nice restaurant can be enjoyed for less than 10 dollars. You can ride from one side of Panama City to the other in a taxi for only 2 dollars. Transportation, utilities, entertainment and services will give you more for your money in Panama than you could have ever imagined before. The cost of living in Panama is lower than the US and much lower than Western Europe. For example, electricity costs approximately 10 - 12 cents per kilowatt hour depending on the area, water and trash collection around $7 per month. Direct TV, telephone and internet services vary according to the plans chosen.
Direct TV with a wide choice of English language channels is approximately $50 per month. Locally produced vegetables, meat and fish are priced considerably lower than in the USA although imported items may be slightly higher. The minimum wage for housemaids or gardeners is 88 cents per hour. Local beer at the supermarket costs 30 cents per can, a coffee in a restaurant may be as little as 30 cents. |  | Panama currently has an undervalued real estate market; however as has happened in countries like Costa Rica, Mexico and Ireland, prices are beginning to rise as more people discover the advantages Panama has to offer.
Panama is home to many private hospitals with US trained doctors that provide first class healthcare in both English and Spanish.
The brand new Punta Pacifica Hospital is an affiliate of the world renowned Johns Hopkins Medical Center of the United States, and is one of many Panamanian hospitals attracting foreigners looking for quality medical treatment at only fraction of the price that they would pay back home. By air, Panama is a 5 hour flight from New York City, only 2 hours from Miami, and you don’t get any of the jet lag that comes from changing time zones. Daily direct flights link Panama City to most all major cities in North America, Europe, South America and the Caribbean. Panama is also an international banking center second only to Switzerland in terms of the number and quality of offshore banking options available to clients.
| "Panama is a dollar economy with a democratic
government. There's every kind of food, a modern
airport with about 54 flights a day, and the second-largest
free-trade zone in the world after Hong Kong," Btesh said
|
| The southernmost of the Central American nations, Panama is south of Costa Rica and north of Colombia. The Panama Canal bisects the isthmus at its narrowest and lowest point, allowing passage from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Panama is slightly smaller than South Carolina. It is marked by a chain of mountains in the west, moderate hills in the interior, and a low range on the east coast. |  |
Explored by Columbus in 1502 and by Balboa in 1513, Panama was the principal shipping point to and from South and Central America in colonial days. In 1821, when Central America revolted against Spain, Panama joined Colombia, which had already declared its independence.
For the next 82 years, Panama attempted unsuccessfully to break away from Colombia. After a U.S. proposal for canal rights over the narrow isthmus was rejected by Colombia, Panama proclaimed its independence with U.S. backing in 1903.
For canal rights in perpetuity, the U.S. paid Panama $10 million and agreed to pay $250,000 each year, which was increased to $430,000 in 1933 and to $1,930,000 in 1955. In exchange, the U.S. got the Canal Zone—a 10-mile-wide strip across the isthmus—and considerable influence in Panama's affairs. On Sept. 7, 1977, Gen. Omar Torrijos Herrera and President Jimmy Carter signed treaties giving Panama gradual control of the canal, phasing out U.S. military bases, and guaranteeing the canal's neutrality.
| "Kind of ruins the idea of fishing in the bay," he says. Still,
"I like the political climate, the lack of hurricanes,
the U.S. dollar as currency.". |
| Nicolas Ardito Barletta, Panama's first directly elected president in 16 years, was inaugurated on Oct. 11, 1984, for a five-year term.
He was a puppet of strongman Gen. Manuel Noriega, a former CIA operative and head of the secret police. Noriega replaced Barletta with vice president Eric Arturo Delvalle a year later. |  | In 1988, Noriega was indicted in the U.S. for drug trafficking, but when Delvalle attempted to fire him, Noriega forced the national assembly to replace Delvalle with Manuel Solis Palma. In Dec. 1989, the assembly named Noriega “maximum leader” and declared the U.S. and Panama to be in a state of war. In Dec. 1989, 24,000 U.S. troops seized control of Panama City in an attempt to capture Noriega after a U.S. soldier was killed in Panama.
On Jan. 3, 1990, Noriega surrendered himself to U.S. custody and was transported to Miami, where he was later convicted of drug trafficking. Guillermo Endara, who probably would have won an election suppressed earlier by Noriega, was installed as president.
On Dec. 31, 1999, the U.S. formally handed over control of the Panama Canal to Panama. In May 2004 presidential elections, Martín Torrijos Herrera, the son of former dictator Omar Torrijos, won 47.5% of the vote. He took office in September. Panamanians approved a plan to expand the Panama Canal in 2006. It will likely double the canal’s capacity and is expected to be completed in 2014-2015.
| | | | |
 |
|
contact us 