The beginning...

August 25, 2011  bgodiver


My main blog is at times pretty personal and I realize there are some who would rather just read about my trip to Panama and my search for my future home as an expat.  So I will be posting the same Panama-related material from the primary blog here, but in reverse order so you can read about my trip from the planning stages through the day-by-day account of my journey, complete with photos.

So… Let me start at the beginning.

I lost my wife of nineteen years, Andrea, in May of 2010.  August 31, 2011, would have been our 20th anniversary.  As I got older (I turn 57 in December) Andrea and I had talked frequently about what retirement would look like and where it would take place.  Andrea was Australian and spent the first eight years of her life growing up in Melbourne.  She spent the next six years in the Philippines (Manila) before moving to the United States, followed by studies in Spain and extensive travel throughout Europe.  I, on the other hand, had traveled little outside of American borders before meeting Andrea and had never lived anywhere outside the U.S.

Although we were fortunate to have traveled in many parts of the world before she died, we both had wanted to see and experience more.  Shortly after her 35th birthday Andrea was diagnosed with advanced malignant melanoma; the doctor said she had about even chances of of seeing her 40th birthday.  It took some time for us to recover from the shock of it all, but after her surgery we knew that time may be short and we wanted to make the most of it.  We also agreed that retiring "elsewhere" would give us the opportunity to continue exploring and get to know more people, places and cultures – we didn't want life to become a downward spiral with the delivery of the first Social Security check.

When Andrea died suddenly, I was devastated.  She was only 44.  During the first months after she passed, I had no real reason to even get up in the morning.  I substituted long hours at work for the purpose Andrea had provided.  As time went on and my heart began to heal, I realized that each and every day of the previous nine years had been a precious gift.  I also came to the realization that I still wanted to retire as an expat even if it was on my own.  I began a search for just the right place.  Every time I run into an awkward situation during my travels because I can't speak another language (Andrea spoke four), I always manage to muddle through and I am once again reminded that life goes on.  Will I someday find someone new to share my heart with?  God willing, I certainly hope so!  In the meantime I continue to learn more about myself and become more certain that I am also ready to do this solo.  

To make a long story short, I had read a lot about Belize and decided this would be my first country to explore.  I spent eight days exploring coastal Belize last February, which placed it firmly on my list of possible future homes.  Now I will do the same in Panama between November 3 and 13. 

As with my Belize trip my goal in Panama is to do a bit of sight-seeing but mainly just wander around through various coastal towns, see what the stores are like, check out some real estate, have a few beers with the locals and generally just get a feel for whether or not this is a place and culture I would feel comfortable living in for my remaining years.  If I like what I see I will come back in the future after doing more research on specific locales.

Over the next 11 weeks I will post information as I come across it and start to plan my trip.  I'll give you the links to important web sites and lay out my thought process as I finalize the details.  And finally, I will do a day-by-day posting of my trip along with many pictures.  I learned a lot when writing my Belize blog (Belize in Eight Days) and hopefully will do better this time.  I imagine my readers will be a handful of friends and others, like me, who are interested in eventually retiring in Panama or just going there for a vacation.  If you have been there and have some advice or want me to check something out while I am there, please leave a comment -- I would love to hear from you!

Cleared for take-off: Beginning the plans for my trip to Panama

August 28, 2011

As you begin thinking and planning about moving abroad for retirement, one of the big issues is health care.  Good bad or indifferent, we all have notions about the quality of health care where we are and what it might be like where ever we end up.  Anybody who is looking to live in another country and says they are not concerned about health care is nuts.  I happen to think that American health care is great… the delivery system via a hamstrung insurance system is horrible, but the quality of care is excellent.

My biggest gripe is that US doctors rarely spend enough time with you and that leads to future medical problems instead of fixing them before they become problematic.  For that reason I have three doctors; one for "everyday" concerns and my annual check-up; my neurologist because I have had a history of epilepsy since I was a child; and a third holistic practitioner that I go to a few times per year and pay through the nose for, but she keeps me on track and spends a minimum of thirty minutes with me to answer all of my questions and suggest alternative approaches to keeping me healthy.

Other than my epilepsy I have been pretty healthy my whole life -- I have never broken a bone and have yet to have any type of surgery.  When my cholesterol began creeping up my GP prescribed a statin drug that I immediately tossed in the garbage.  I instead ate oatmeal for every breakfast and lived on beans in various forms, fish, broccoli and salads for two months.  I dropped my cholesterol from 254 to 209 in eight weeks.

Well, three weeks ago, while volunteering at a back-to-school wellness event with a couple of colleagues, all was going well when I collapsed around 11:15 a.m.  I woke up to find two EMTs and my colleagues hovering over me and I was being wheeled out to an ambulance.  My colleagues informed the EMTs of my history of epilepsy (I had a seizure in November 1979 and a second one in February 2009) and coupled with the short-term memory loss I was experiencing, they naturally concluded that I had had another seizure.  As I was recovering on the way to the emergency room I came to the same conclusion.  The ER ran an EKG, did a CAT scan and did other routine tests and ultimately released me after a few hours.

Once I got home and the gravity of the matter began to sink in, I was absolutely devastated.  After my last seizure I couldn't drive for a year.  It was a total pain in the ass but having to go without driving now that I am living alone would be very difficult.  I admit it is an ego thing because I don't like having to depend on others… it makes me feel useless and lacking control over my life.  The next morning I noticed that the pill box I use to hold my collection of prescription medicines and supplements was missing my seizure medication.

I use two pill boxes (one for morning and one for evening) that hold two weeks of medications each and I was 11 days through the boxes -- 11 days without taking my anti-seizure pills.  So, not only was I exhausted from working hard and getting very little sleep, I had unwittingly gone cold turkey from my meds.  On the one hand this is good news, but on the other hand I still might have to quit driving depending on what the doc said.

Not only would this have a big impact on my November travel plans since I would have to use public transportation instead of driving -- this could be a total game changer.  What would the inability to drive do to my retirement plans?  Would I have to live in a city instead of on the water?  Would I have to give up my plans of moving abroad altogether?

Waiting a week to get in to see my neurologist seemed an eternity as I dealt with various waves of emotions.  I went from just starting to feel good about my life again after losing Andrea to feeling depressed and full of self pity at the prospect of seeing the rest of my life altered -- again!  I did not want to put off my Panama trip so I asked the folks at International Living to suggest a reliable guide.  I provided a general outline of what I wanted to do and see, and received an estimate of approximately $2500.00 for ten days.  That may not be a bad price, but it is more than what I wanted to pay.

After describing my collapse and the week that led up to the event, my neurologist said he does not believe I had a seizure.  He is not exactly sure what happened and ordered up a series of tests to first rule out heart problems (an echocardiogram and a 24-hour ambulatory heart monitor) and to get a fresh reading on my brain (an ambulatory EEG).  Fortunately his admin was able to get these scheduled for the same time so I was able to complete the echocardiogram this past Monday morning and get wired up for 24 hours for the other two tests, and returned on Tuesday morning to get un-wired.

Hopefully all these tests will be revealing since I am sure I will still bear some significant cost even after what the insurance pays.  The most immediate and critical impact of my doctor's conclusion is that I can still drive.  I will go see my in-laws this weekend (they live about an hour or so south of me) and do some long-term shopping just in case he changes his mind.  I am convinced that the lack of medication and border-line exhaustion caused a collapse and I am not concerned about a relapse.

Anyway, that fact that I can continue to drive has put me back into Panama trip research mode.  I am now down to flying American via Miami for only 30,000 miles and will pick up a rental car at the Panama City airport.  I can get a Suzuki Jimmy from Thrifty for about $200 for the ten days and a bit less for a Toyota Yaris.  Gas prices are about the same I pay in Florida.  I am still placing flights on hold until I am 100% sure I want to move forward with this trip.  American allows you to place five-day holds so I have been leap frogging my holds with the intent of actually booking when I return from Key West.

The next task is to make up an itinerary and book hotels.  I may want a guide around the canal and in Panama City to make sure I get the most of it.  I have the names of a few real estate folks that I will ask to show me a few representative properties in several areas along both coasts.  I am really getting excited as I get closer to my trip.

Dealing with the details...

September 4, 2011

Well… August was a busy month. In addition to dealing with my health issues I had three weeks of continuing education at work so I was a bit off my usual routine.  I followed that up with a four day trip to Key West and I am now back on schedule and beginning to work on the details of my trip.

I picked up a bit of information from my friends Craig and Joyce, who used to live in Panama for a while as an interlude to their sailing.   We met up with a couple of their friends (ex-military) who also used to live there and continue to make occasional trips to Panama City.  Based on their collective feedback I gleaned the following general pointers:

Colon is a cess pit full of crime and other than some cool colonial architecture, there is not much to see.

• The canal and its workings are a must see.
• Since I am looking to see if I can live here, concentrate my time and efforts on the Pacific side.
• A guided trip to the Darien jungle and possibly a visit to the Embera tribes would be worth while.
• Bocas del Toro and environs is worth the trip.

Once I returned from KW, I finally booked my airline tickets (30,000 points on American) and will arrive at Tocumen airport outside of Panama City at about noon on November 3. I also made a car rental with Thrifty for $192.00 including taxes and fees for the 3rd through the 12th; I reserved the same vehicle I used in Belize... a 4-wheel drive Suzuki Jimmy.  I depart Tocumen at 8:00 a.m. the morning of the 13th.  I am thinking of spending the last few days in and around Panama City, so I may reduce the total time of the car rental since it may be more practical to rely on taxis and tour operators on those days instead of driving around a major city I am unfamiliar with.

I made the car reservation with my Citibank AAdvantage card that earns American Airline miles and covers the CDW.  I also bought travel insurance through American Airlines for a pittance (I think it is about $25.00); the insurance is through Access America, which is a reputable travel insurance company and has been around for a long time.

So now I just need to figure out what areas to visit, how much time to spend in each place and what side trips to take.  Once I have an itinerary, I can book hotels and research restaurants, etc.  I bought a couple of road maps on Amazon.com today and that should help in figuring out distances and time of travel.

I will also correspond with two or three realtors to set up half day property viewings to get a feel for what is available and at what price.

Plan # 1 to see Panama in 10 days...

September 11, 2011

I spent part of yesterday visiting my in-laws as I do every few weeks.  My father-in-law was an economist  with the World Bank and worked on some projects in Panama back in the 80s.  He confirmed that, at the time he was traveling there, Colon was considered fairly dangerous and that unless things had changed drastically, there probably is no reason to take one whole day of a 10 day trip just to go there.  Colon is a port city with lots of warehousing and related facilities; while it may be interesting to visit some day it just isn't worth going to on this trip.

My initial plan is to pick up the car at the airport and get on the Pan-American Highway heading southwest towards the Azuero Peninsula.  It is roughly 90 Kilometers to Playa Coronado, which is at the beginning of a series of beaches known for their good surfing.  While I am not a surfer, I do love the sound of crashing waves and have heard good things about some of these small towns, including the town right before Coronado, Nueva Gorgona.

Not knowing what the traffic will be like on a Thursday afternoon that just happens to be a national holiday (independence from Columbia) I don't know how long it will take me to get out of town and down the road to Coronado so I am thinking that will be my first stop.

Since I am just beginning the planning of my itinerary, I recognize that it will likely change a few times before it is finalized.  This is more complicated than Belize because there were so few highways and towns of any size in Belize that the plan fairly fell into place with hardly any thought. 

After Coronado, I will continue on to the Azuero Peninsula and follow coastal Highway 3 down to Pedasi, across the bottom of the peninsula and then back up to the Pan-American Highway on the way to the Las Palmas Peninsula.  Eventually I will end up at far western Panama in Chiriqui Province and check out the area around Puerto Armuelles before heading for the highlands and Boquete.  I don't intend to spend a lot of time around Boquete since I really don't want to live in the hill country, but will continue on to the northwest coast and take a trip out to Bocas del Toro.  There are a lot of towns up and down Highway 11 and from what I can tell, at least two ferries to Bocas del Toro.

After checking out the northwest, it is back to the Pan-American Highway to return to Panama City for the last couple of days in order to tour the canal and take a day trip to the Darien area.

That's it.  Now I need to start finding lodging and get this down to a more definitive schedule so that I can ensure that I see all that I want to.

Airline options for intra-Panama flights...

September 13, 2011

As I come across new online resources for my Panama trip I will be sure to share them here.  My itinerary continues to develop and  it occurred to me that maybe flying in to Panama City and immediately catching a plane to Bocas del Toro would save some time if I could pick up a car in BT and then drive south to Chiriquí Province and from there follow the coast back to Panama City.

Is it possible?  I don't know yet but I did come across three local airlines that may make that an option.  First is Nature Air, which is a Costa Rican airline that seems to only have flights from CR to Bocas del Toro.  This won't work for me this time but could be an option for short hops to and from CR on future trips.

The second airline is Air Panama.  Air Panama has a varied fleet of 15 aircraft ranging from the 9-passenger Britten Norman Islander twin prop to the 50-seat De Havilland Dash.  They serve 22 locations throughout Panama.  The only drawback for my particular needs is that they fly in and out of Albrook airport, which is the commuter, general aviation airport of Panama City and I am not sure of how much time it takes to go from one to the other.

The third option is Aeroplas Regional airline and they fly through both Panama City airports.  Using my idea above of flying to Bocas del Toro, I would have a several hour layover in the airport before continuing on to Bocas del Toro and arrive around 5:15 pm.  Now if I can get a car there that might be worth the $116.00 for the flight.  This is definitely worth checking out.

Since most of the major car rental agencies operate in Panama along with some local groups I have never heard of, I would think that renting a car in Bocas del Toro would be an option.  Using this strategy could save me a couple of days travel and allow me to spend more time really looking at the areas I am most drawn to.

I'll let you know what I find out.  Either way it makes the most sense to spend the last few days in and around Panama City so that part of my initial plan remains in tact.

Have map, will travel...

September 17, 2011

One of the things you need when traveling in a foreign country is a good map... especially in the hinterlands.  If I am driving around the back roads of California, Florida or Minnesota and get lost I could just stop and ask some one for directions.  I can do the same in Panama but will they understand what I am asking for and will I understand the answer?  Even if I spoke fluent Spanish I think a good map would be wise.

On my trip to Belize I got a really great map made by the German map makers, Borch GmbH; it is heavy duty and small enough to use while driving yet big enough to show the details I needed.  Unfortunately, Borch doesn't make a map of Panama.  So I went to Amazon and ended up buying three maps.  Trust me, I didn't want three maps.  The first one I got is the National Geographic Adventure Map.  Sounds like just the thing for a trip that will take me to the four corners of Panama, right?  Well, it is a good map (waterproof and tear-resistant) but it is also big enough to keep a family of four totally dry in a Cat 5 hurricane.  I will use it extensively before going and bring it along, but it is not the kind of map I want sitting in the passenger seat of my Suzuki Jimmy as I head down the Pan-American highway.

So I went back to Amazon and bought two more maps:  The Panama International Travel Map and the Mapi: Panama map.  The second one is exactly what I was looking for -- complete yet handy and durable; this is the one that will be next to me in the car.  The International Travel Map is much like the National Geographic map, but not quite as good.  Fortunately the two maps together cost only about $15.00.

I have the National Geographic map spread out on the dining room table and I'm trying to figure out my route.  Now I just need to figure out if my initial plan is still a good one or if, now that I have the maps, I should use an alternative.   Until I finalize my itinerary I can't make lodging reservations or set up meetings with realtors.

"Map out your future - but do it in pencil.  The road ahead is as long as you make it.  Make it worth the trip." -- Bon Jovi

Bocas del Toro by air or by ground?

September 20, 2011

As I have worked on the itinerary for my Panama trip, I have tried to find ways to save time by flying between some towns or flying to a town in the west and picking up a rental car.  For instance, I thought if I could fly to Bocas del Toro and then pick up a rental car I could save quite a bit of time and still see the same territory.  One of my concerns is that I don't like the idea of leaving my rental car on the mainland while spending a couple of days on the islands.  There are flights to Bocas del Toro on the commuter airlines, but no rental cars in any of the nearby mainland towns so that idea is out.

OK… what about flying to Bocas del Toro and then on to David and pick up a car there?  That is doable, but the flight from Bocas to David is around $250.00 and there is a $180.00 drop-off fee to pick up the car in David and return it in Panama City.  $430.00 is a lot of additional cost just to save a few hours. Plus, if you add in the time waiting at airports to the flight time, you really don't save that much.  When all is said and done, the savings would cost me $75.00 to $100.00 per hour, which makes the decision pretty easy.

There is one other alternative.  I can fly round-trip from my arrival airport (Tocumen International in Panama City -- PTY) to Bocas on Aeroperlas Regional (a TACA affiliate) for $234.00.  If I were to arrive at Bocas late afternoon of the 3rd and go back to PTY the morning of the 5th or 6th I could pick up a car and still explore the area from roughly Coronado to Puerto Armuelles over the next several days before returning to Panama City to check out the canal and do a one-day trip to Darien Province. 

It looks like there are two reasonable choices for what I want to see and do:  fly to Bocas del Toro and back followed by car to explore the whole south coast or use the original plan of getting a car in Panama City and doing the whole trip on the ground.  At least my choices are getting narrowed down.  I've got less than seven weeks to get everything nailed down and I'm starting to get a bit nervous.

Choosing a hotel in Bocas del Toro...

September 22, 2011

I still don't have my itinerary locked down, but I did quite a bit of reading and research over the weekend to narrow down the possibilities and that included searching for hotels.  Actually, some of the places I looked at don't really fit the description of "hotel" as much as B&B or guest house.  A number of the homier, less expensive places are family owned or just down right funky.  Since I am not looking for luxury, a place to lay down that is clean and has at least tepid shower water will be good enough.  I'll have my netbook with me so I'm not quite ready to settle for a backpacker's hostel (for security reasons), but one step above that is fine with me.

I'll start with Bocas del Toro.  There are a lot of really cool and funky places on the island and at reasonable rates.  Trip Advisor provided me with a list of lodging establishments to look at  and after reading through a lot of reviews and taking a look at their web sites I narrowed my choices down to three:  Hotel Olas, CalaLuna Hotel and Hotel Angela.

Hotel Olas is a colorful place (literally… the paint job is amazing) and is right on the water.  The rooms all have AC and include internet access as well as breakfast.  They keep their costs down by accepting cash only -- $40.00 per night for a standard room, $60.00 for ocean front.  From what I can tell, Hotel Olas is close to everything in town.

My other pick that is on the ocean is Hotel Angela.  With only thirteen rooms,   Angela also offers free breakfast, a restaurant on site, AC in every room, internet and decent prices:  $50.00 to $80.00 per night.  Trip Advisor includes them in the list of establishments with internet but I didn't see it mentioned on their web site.  I sent them an email and got a response within about 30 minutes (a good sign in itself) assuring me that wi-fi is available throughout the property.

My last choice is not on the water, but still in the heart of town and only a block or so away from the ocean.  CalaLuna Hotel is an Italian owned property with a restaurant on site (they reportedly have excellent, authentic pizza), internet access and have rooms for as little as $45.00 per night.  They also have a small bar and a ping pong table.  One of the things about CalaLuna that may appeal to folks who don't sleep well with noise in the background is that the AC is a mini-split system instead of the through-the-wall units found in many inexpensive properties.  The advantage of the mini-split system is that they are quieter and probably more reliable than wall units.  Although, if they break down you can't just pop a new one in the wall -- they require an HVAC technician to fix them.

I am leaning towards Hotel Angela or Hotel Olas.  Both are really cool properties and appear to be clean and well maintained.  All of the properties offer to help with booking activities.  When I owned my B&B in Key West, all of the boats and dive shops paid an incentive for booking them.  I am not sure if that is the case here, but I know that most guest house owners took a lot of pride in booking the best activities in town and wouldn't let their guests go out on just any boat.  After all, their recommendation reflects back on them and they want every guest to be a return guest.

One of the curious things I found in many lodging web sites throughout Panama  is that they proudly proclaim that they have orthopedic mattresses.  Apparently Panamanians place a high value on a good night's sleep!

A few of the other web sites I used to read up on Bocas del Toro as well are Panama Info,  Extreme Panama and what touts itself as "the official Bocas del Toro web site, bocas.com.  Panama Info covers all of Panama and includes information on hotels, restaurants, activities and has regional descriptions of the country and much more.  Two other websites that include information on Panama but are really geared towards future expats like myself are Escape from America Magazine and The Escape Artist.

Next up will be the information I found on lodging establishments on the Azuero Peninsula including Chitre, Las Tablas and Pedasi.

Finally! A plan for my Panama travels...

September 30, 2011

I finally decided on my itinerary for Panama.

There is a flight on Aeroperlas Regional airline (the TACA affiliate) from Tocumen International airport in Panama City at 3:39 pm that puts me in Bocas del Toro at 5:14 pm. I will have roughly three and one half hours to get through immigration and customs before the flight to Bocas. That is probably way more time than I will need, but I would rather waste an hour on arrival than spend too much time driving over the next several days.

Arriving in Bocas del Toro late afternoon/early evening leaves plenty of time to get settled into my hotel, wander around town, grab dinner and have a few beers before enjoying a good nights rest at my hotel on the shore of the Caribbean. I will stay in Bocas for three nights and catch the 8:45 am flight on the 6th back to Panama City and arrive at 10:20 am. There are similar flights from the Albrook commuter airport on Air Panama at roughly the same cost, but I would have to pay $30 to $50 for a cab to get from one airport to the other and would gain nothing.

Once I am back in Panama City I will pick up my rental car and head west on the Pan-American highway towards Azuero Peninsula with stops in Coronado, San Carlos and Santa Clara along the way. While I haven't yet figured out where in the Azuero Peninsula I will stay (Chitre, Las Tablas and Pedasi are all good candidates), it will be for at least three nights. I'm leaving myself one day of flexibility so I could spend that roaming around David and Boquete, drive up to the Costa Rica border and make a side trip to Puerto Armuelles, spend another day in the peninsula or go back and take a closer look at Coronado and environs. How I will use that "flex" day will be made once I am on the ground and have a better feel for things.

Finally, I will drive back to Panama City on Thursday the 10th and then spend the last two days seeing the Panama Canal and Darien before leaving at 8:00 am on Sunday the 13th to go home. Arriving home in Florida around mid-afternoon will leave plenty of time to do the laundry and sort through the mail.

This plan feels good and appeals to my peripatetic soul; enough time to accomplish the goal of my trip while allotting enough time to just wander around and play tourist. My next installment will address where to stay. In the meantime I need to change my car reservations and book my Aeroperlas flights.

More planning...

October 2, 2011

OK… So I got my Thrifty car reservations changed and I booked my Aeroperlas flights. The first task was easy -- I just logged into their website, entered my confirmation number and went through the "change reservation" process. In a matter of minutes I received a new confirmation number and had the details of my new reservation in my email in-box.

The Aeroperlas ticketing was a little more interesting. The website is in both Spanish and English… until you get to the actual reservation part. I speak just enough Spanish to order a café con leche or cerveza and to ask where the baño is to eliminate them both; beyond that I have zero Spanish language skills. So now I am trying to fill out the form that will let me choose the flights I want and pay for my tickets while simultaneously making good use of the Spanish-English dictionary I bought a month ago. I was tempted to call one of my Latin American friends but decided that if I am taking a trip there, I will have to learn to figure it out. Many words are familiar enough to make an educated guess or you could figure out what they were asking by the context or where they were on the form.

Anyway, I got it done but what is hilarious is that the confirmation and itinerary are in both English and Spanish. At least I was able to determine immediately that I had done it right.

The last two tasks left before I really feel settled on my plans is to book hotel rooms and tours of the canal and Darien Province. I have researched lodging in Bocas del Toro, Azuero Peninsula and Boquete but still need to find a place to stay in Panama City. Do I choose a hotel close to the airport or something in the heart of the city? If the city, what part? I will probably go to TripAdvisor and other sites to read about the experiences others have had to help in my research. I suspect at least part of my decision will be influenced by the details of the tours I take.

Medical planning is important too...

October 7, 2011

I have had the good fortune to be able to travel a fair amount over the years. I have been places that require a certain amount of preparation and caution when it comes to disease avoidance and health care. Prior to spending a week in the bush along the border of South Africa and Mozambique, my guide insisted on knowing my blood type ahead of time "just in case." He also carried anti-venom for two different types of deadly snakes with us at all times. This was the first trip I recall that required taking an anti-malarial medicine.

Since that trip I have been to other parts of the world where Hepatitis A and Yellow Fever are a concern so being medically prepared for Panama was just a part of my normal planning. Those who have had to get special inoculations prior to traveling are probably familiar with the yellow WHO International Certificate of Vaccination. Some countries are quite insistent on knowing the status of your inoculations, while others are far more lax on this issue. Since you can't know for sure ahead of time, it is a good idea to keep it up-to-date and bring your Certificate with you.

Last week I went to get the last of my Hepatitis B shots (once you have had all three, you're good for life) and was advised that if I will be in the deep countryside or jungle areas of Panama I would need a Yellow Fever shot as well. I also found out that the Certificate itself has been updated, so I got a new one and the nurse recorded all of my current immunizations in it and pointed out that there are pages for other medications that I take on a regular basis. I filled that section out and had my doctor sign it; this provides me with an official record of my regular medicines so that it would be less likely that I would be questioned when traveling. There is also a place to list any medicines you may be allergic to. All of this information would be important if you had an accident, were bitten by something or became seriously ill while abroad.

As a part of my preparation, I went to the CDC web site to read up on malaria prevention. I have usually taken Malarone but it is expensive and I hoped to find an alternative. There are actually many anti-malarial medications and the one you use depends in part on what section of the world you are traveling to because there are two main types of malaria. Mosquitoes are the main carrier no matter where you go so a strong mosquito repellent is a part of a good prevention strategy. Since I won't be spending much time in and around Panama City, an anti-malarial is a necessity.

You take most anti-malarials a couple days before traveling, daily while on your trip and during the week after your return. In parts of Panama certain strains of the bug have developed a resistance to chloroquine and the various forms of it, which reduces your alternatives to Malarone. I learned that because of my history of seizures I should not take Mefloquine so I was left with Malarone or Doxycycline. The Doxycycline is a bit of a bother because in addition to taking it before and during the trip, you have to take it for 4 weeks after the trip. The big advantage of Doxycycline is the cost. I figured out that I need 44 doses for this trip. The grand total at CVS was $3.74.

My hotel choices in Bocas del Toro, Azuero Peninsula and Panama City...

October 12, 2011

My apologies to those of you who have been following my plans for the Panama trip. I have been so consumed by work that I haven't had time to keep you up-to-date let alone have the time to breathe.

Anyway, I have made quite a bit of headway. I have made my booking at Hotel Olas in Bocas del Toro, confirmed my reservation on Aeroperlas Regional airline, and I re-confirmed my Thrifty car rental to be picked up at Tocumen International airport. I had to wire my first night's payment to Hotel Olas via Western Union. I am paying $70.00 per night but the international wire fee was $15.00!!!


I still don't have a hotel picked out for my days in the Azuero Peninsula, but I have narrowed my choices to just a few. I decided against staying in Chitre on the northern end of the Peninsula and instead I have been looking at lodging establishments in Las Tablas or Pedasi. All the Las Tablas and Pedasi establishments have AC, wi-fi, etc. I am waiting on two more emails confirming rates and then will make a decision.

Hotel CalaLuna and Posada del Mar near Las Tablas are both attractive properties at about the same rate. Posada del Mar is a small B&B right on Uverito beach and is offering rooms at $66.00 per night. While not directly on the beach, Hotel Cala Luna is close by, has a pool and is a whopping $1.00 per night cheaper. Cala Luna's rates includes the 10% hotel tax but does not currently take credit cards.

In Pedasi, further to the South, El Sitio Hotel is right on Playa Venao and has a restaurant on site; they even have a surf report on the website. I may have to take surfing lessons! Rooms at El Sitio start at $90.00. Casita Margarita looks like a charming B&B with room rates starting at $99.00 and comes highly recommended on Trip Advisor. Casita Margarita claims to be in walking distance of most everything in Pedasi. Hotel Villa Romana is another boutique B&B with their Junior Suite at $99.00 and includes a continental breakfast. The one that really interests me in Pedasi is the Hostal Dona Maria. Located on the main street of Pedasi, this is a cute, six-room place with rooms at $40.00 or $50.00 including tax and breakfast. While the others in Pedasi look nicer, I think Hostal Dona Maria is more likely to attract my kind of people… the kind of folks I would go out to dinner with and set out to determine the best beer in Panama.

In Panama City, I made a reservation at the Country Inn & Suites in Amador to the west of Panama City proper.  Country Inn is not particularly quaint and it is a little more than I wanted to pay, but the location is incredible -- right on the canal and I will have an ocean front room from which I will be able to see not only the canal but also the Bridge of the America's.   A couple of other hotels I considered are Balboa Inn and Las Vegas Hotel.  Both of these would have been less expensive and had their own advantages, but I just couldn't give up being right at the beginning of the Panama Canal.  Since I won't be spending much time exploring  Panama City, I didn't see much point in staying in the city.

The only items left on my planning list are choosing a hotel should I decide to spend a night in the area of David or Boquete and selecting the tours I will go on to see the canal and hopefully to visit an indigenous village in the jungle.

Crossing the t's and dotting the i's for my trip to Panama...

The only items left on my planning list  were choosing a hotel in the Azuero Peninsula, a place to stay should I decide to spend a night in the area of David or Boquete, and selecting the tours I will go on to see the canal and hopefully to visit an indigenous village in the jungle. 

I'm running short of time with only a few days left before I leave, but I promise to list lots of tour sites to help you with your own trip to Panama once I return! 

As I suspected I would, I ended up making a reservation at Hostal Dona Maria in Pedasi.  Arriving on Sunday is good timing because they are completely booked over the weekend.  With only six rooms, Hostal Dona Maria reminds me of the B&B I owned in Key West. 

As far as a tour of the canal goes, I looked over a lot of web sites, sent a few emails and finally ended up booking a tour through the American Airlines website.  It is just a Grey Line excursion, but I didn't think that a simple viewing of the canal requires anything really special like a one-on-one escorted tour.  I was amazed that American had so many offers on their website, but for what I was looking for this turned out to be the best deal.  By the way, the car I rented through Thrifty was also done through the American site.  While I did not get a better price than that offered on the Thrifty web site, I did earn extra AAdvantage frequent flier miles.

For my trip to visit the Embera tribe, I chose Embera Village Tours.  This group is not the cheapest, but they came highly recommended by Trip Advisor and looked the best of the tour companies I looked at.  This is an all-day tour.  We'll drive about an hour or so to a boat ramp where the Embera will meet us and then go up river about 45 minutes in a dugout canoe. There will be presentations on the Embera culture, tradition and crafts followed by a traditional lunch, and a hike in the jungle with one of the village elders to learn about medicinal plants. There will also be a show of their traditional shamanic and celebratory dances and music (I hope this is not hokey… like the luau shows in Hawaii) before heading back down the river and returning to the city.

And finally, I booked my usual car service for my trip to and from the airport here in Florida.  For short trips I just park in long-term parking because it is quick and easy.  For longer trips, like this one, it is cheaper to use a car service and it is nice to know that a friendly face will be there to pick me up on my return.  If you are in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area, I highly recommend Jack -- you can reach him at World Corp Travel.  If Jack can't take care of you personally he will get you set up with another service.

Given my schedule before I leave, this will likely be my last post before the trip.  I would like to say that I will make blog entries as I travel, but my Belize trip proved that it is difficult to do and still get the most of my trip.  I'll post a few times while on the go and do a day-by-day accounting of my trip once I return.  

Panama Day 1: Getting to Panama City

November 3, 2011

Although I will try to blog daily, I doubt that will happen.  Instead, I will post when I can and do a day-by-day account of my trip and add pictures when I have the opportunity.  Once I get home I will update everything and add a full photo journal.

**************************************************************************

Of all the airports I have been through around the world, I still think that Tampa International is one of the nicest and most convenient.  Ticketing is on one level, departures and arrivals on another level and baggage claim on yet another… all functions separated from each other.  A tram takes you to the gates and parking is a convenient, short walk away.  The airport is always clean and presentable.  I arrived at about 5:30 am for my 7:15 am flight and there was absolutely no line for security.  One of the things I really appreciate about TPA is the free wi-fi.  Miami charges for internet access as does Atlanta, the other two airports I go through most often.

I usually print my boarding pass at home but for some reason could not on this trip.  I was dreading having to go through the ticketing area even though I have had few problems with American Airlines in the past.  Although these self check-in terminals are supposed to be intuitive, I can never seem to figure them out.   I needn’t have been concerned as I was met by an agent as I walked up to the kiosk and she walked me through the process.

Once I got to my gate I realized that I was not wearing the long-sleeve T-shirt I had planned on wearing.  Planes can often get cold and I usually wear a long-sleeve shirt over another shirt just in case.  Tampa was fine and even the flight was OK, but Miami airport was freezing.  Idiot.  On this trip the long-sleeve shirt was intended to do double-duty – keep me warm on the airplane and to be worn at night to protect against mosquitoes.

Even though I have been through Miami airport a million times, I always forget how huge Terminal D is, the main American Airlines terminal.  This terminal is so large that there is a skytrain with 4 stops between the various sections and 2 Admirals Clubs.  On this trip the timing between flights was perfect.  I had about an hour’s wait before boarding so I had plenty of time to get to my gate, stop in the men’s room and re-arrange a few things in my carry-ons.  I checked my email on my Blackberry (again, no free wi-fi in Miami) and checked the weather in Panama City (90^o with a chance of thunderstorms).  For some reason I could not pull up Bocas on Weather Underground.

Coming into Panama City

Once on board and en route to Panama City, the two and one-half hour flight was uneventful.  I did, however, remember one of the other reasons I like flying American over Delta.  American seats have a handy adjustable headrest.  I brought my blow-up neck pillow since I figured I would want to catch an hour or so of sleep (and did) but the pillow was unnecessary.  Fortunately the temperature on the airplane was considerably higher than in the Miami airport.

So far on this trip my only gripe with American is that although I checked seating about twice a week before flying, I could not get a seat more forward in the plane.  I figured that the plane must be fairly full – not even close.  I would guess that only 25% of the seats were filled, so why couldn’t I choose another seat prior to departure?  The only thing I can think of is that there were large blocks of seats set aside for consolidators and were just not made available.  Anyway, the flight was better than expected because I had three seats all to myself and was able to stretch out and be comfy.

Panama Day 1: Arrived in Bocas del Toro

November 3, 2011

The Panama City airport (Tocumen International) is easy to negotiate… sort of.  I got through immigration with no problem and I waited maybe 10 minutes in line; they added more agents as the line got longer behind me.  Since I had no checked bags I walked past the luggage carousel and right through customs where I had to wait all of 30 seconds before a security officer could see me.  Once she examined my form she gestured to have me send my bags through the scanner and I was done.  Once into the arrivals hall I just needed to find the check-in for Aeroperlas Regional – this is when the fun began.

More of Panama City from our puddle jumper

Nowhere could I find a ticket counter for Aeroperlas.  Remembering that this is a TACA-run airline, I ventured over to TACA, which has many counters on the second level of the airport.  After several of the agents conferred I was finally directed to “the little white house” that is outside the main terminal to the left past the taxi queue, which is the domestic terminal.  That makes sense that there would be a separate terminal for regional airlines, but there are no signs anywhere.  So I walked the three minutes over to “the little white house” and there is indeed signage indicating that it is for domestic aviation.  In the domestic flight building there is a security check point for airport employees and another room that looks like a waiting room for security with a scanner.

I approached the only desk in the room and a young woman came over to me to ask what I wanted.  It turns out she is part of airport security and does a pat down of all the airport employees as they come in from the tarmac.  I observed that she did a somewhat more aggressive pat down of young men her own age and they seemed to enjoy it… joking back and forth and engaging in mutual flirting.  I thought it odd that a security person would be dressed in attire quite that tight and wearing four-inch heels but what the heck, this is Panama.  After a certain amount of gesturing and showing her my ticket information (printed in both English and Spanish) she pronounced that Aeroperlas was “no here” and I returned to the TACA counter in the main terminal.  This time the TACA agent, who appeared to be a supervisor, assured me that I was to just wait in the domestic terminal until my flight was ready.

This still did not feel right since there is absolutely no signage in the domestic terminal to indicate that any airline, regional or otherwise, would be leaving from that location.  I still had a couple of hours before my flight was supposed to depart, so as long as I was in the main terminal I grabbed something to eat for lunch.  As I was eating the whole situation was gnawing at me and I finally decided to find someone with more authority.

The Tocumen to Albrook 9-seater

Instead, I ran into Doug, a retired cop from Kansas City, Missouri who was supposed to be on the same flight.  Doug had the same mistrust of the "just sit and wait" instructions and was more aggressive than I.  He found the TACA office and went in to find out what was going on.  It was there that he found out that our plane had been cancelled due to the bad weather.  True, the weather had turned nasty since I had landed and we experienced some pretty dramatic thunder and lightning.  Bear in mind that I live in the Tampa area, which is the lightning capital of the US; it is no coincidence that our hockey team is called the Lightning!  So when a couple of thunder claps caused car alarms to go off all over the parking lot out front, I knew this was a significant storm.

OK... so our flight is cancelled.  Now what?  The TACA lady said she would arrange for transportation to Albrook Airport to catch another flight to Bocas del Toro.  Now the pieces of the puzzle were beginning to come together.  I thought that two hours-plus was a long time to fly from PTY to Bocas… that’s because, contrary to what the Aeroperlas website inferred, there are no flights from Tocumen to Bocas; you have to go to Albrook first.  After making a phone call, and with a little pressure applied, she decided to send a plane for us instead.  We were to remain at  the domestic terminal and we would be met there about an hour before the plane was to take off.

Doug and I had time to swap stories and it turns out we were on the same flight originating in Tampa.  He has his 37’ Endeavor sailboat in St. Petersburg and is planning to go back and get it after Thanksgiving and sail it to Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.  He is meeting his wife in Bocas to sail a friend’s boat to Tortola in the meantime.

Our new TACA friend showed up a little later than we expected but got us checked in and through security.  While we were waiting another passenger showed up, Brittany from Maine, who is returning to Bocas to continue her dive instructor education at Starfleet Scuba.  The flight to Albrook took all of 10 minutes and took us up the coast past all the Panama City high rise buildings that make up the coastal skyline and very near the Bridge of the Americas.  I am fairly certain we flew right over the Country Inn & Suites, where I will be staying for my final few nights in the country.  Fortunately we had a co-pilot on the short trip as Doug confirmed my suspicion about the pilot after we landed… he was quite inebriated.  Considering his condition he made a pillow soft landing in heavy cross winds.  It was kind of fun being the only three passengers on the plane.

Hotel Olas from the street

We were ushered from our plane to a holding room and sometime later our bags arrived followed by two guys in military fatigues and a dog that sniffed our luggage.  This was getting pretty comical.  Our flight left about 20 minutes late but even with all the adventure we ended up making it to Bocas only 8 minutes past our scheduled landing time.  The flight to Bocas was on a much larger plane, an ATR 42 twin turbo-prop, that held probably 40 – 50 people.  The Bocas terminal is a lot like the old terminal when I first arrived in Key West – very small but functional.  The luggage was plopped on the ground outside while the ground crew checked the luggage tags for some, but not all, and we eventually collected our bags.  Doug met his wife out front and together we walked the 6 or 7 blocks to Hotel Olas and they continued down the road to where their dinghy was tied up so they could go to their boat in the marina a short distance away.

While the Bocas airport lacked amenities and glitz, I noticed that the tarmac was new and, according to Doug, the terminal is in the midst of a make-over.  On our walk to my hotel I noticed, in stark contrast to San Pedro, Belize, the streets are all paved and there is a concrete ditch system along the roads to collect the large amount of rain this island receives.  The ditches were chock full of minnows, which I am sure eat a lot of mosquito larvae. 

Once getting settled in at Hotel Olas and being welcomed by Nairobi (a rather interesting name) I headed into town to walk around and grab some dinner.  Bocas Town was hopping.  I arrived on a Thursday night and there were quite a few people in town strolling up and down the main street and going to the bars and restaurants.  I also noticed that there is also a lot of active construction going on.

View of Caribbean and the mainland from the hotel

Nairobi suggested I try the Reef Restaurant, which turned out to be a good recommendation.  I sat at the bar and had a couple of Balboas (one of several Panamanian beers) before deciding to try the ceviche made with shrimp, squid and langostino.  The Reef is right on the water and a couple of times during the night water taxis stopped to drop off folks coming in from nearby islands or perhaps boats anchored in the bay.  The bar tender and server, Joel and Marie, kept me entertained and the Balboas coming.  For four cervecas and a great dish of ceviche served with freshly made banana chips, the bill came to only $10.50.  I like this place.  I met the owner/chef Derek on the way out and let him know how much I enjoyed the food and atmosphere.

As I walked back to Hotel Olas it hit me that I had not seen a single mosquito even though I did not apply insect repellant.  I guess those minnows in the ditches are doing their job.  I had heard that Bocas is one of the few places in the country where you need to be careful about drinking  the water and meant to pick up a big bottle in town but forgot.  Nairobi got me fixed up with a bottle of water and I spent some time sitting out on the second floor balcony enjoying the sound of the rain on the tin roof and just taking it all in.  Not a bad first day.

Panama Day 2: Exploring Bocas Town

November 4, 2011

Being fairly exhausted from the last few weeks at work and getting up at 4:15 AM to catch my flight out of town, I slept in until 9:00 AM my first morning of the trip and felt no guilt whatsoever.  I had a pastry and a great café con leche downstairs at the hotel and then headed out to see the town in daylight.

The marina as seen from Hotel Olas

A word about Hotel Olas. It has 24 rooms on three floors, is right on the water and while the rooms are quite simple, they are  comfortable and convenient; it takes all of five minutes to walk into the main part of town.  My only gripe is that the Wi-Fi does not work in my room and I think it may be because I am at the front of the hotel.  In the restaurant area downstairs and on the second floor porch overlooking the water, the connection is good to excellent.  I think I can put up with checking my email while overlooking the beautiful Caribbean!

My room had a simple full sized bed with a TV, refrigerator, shelving units and private bath.  The room might be a skosh crowded with two people especially since there are no chairs in the room, although I also had a small porch with a table and chairs overlooking the street.  The view of the neighborhood isn’t the greatest, but remember that the housing for regular folks here is still better than some of the hovels I saw in San Pedro and other parts of Belize.  Another great thing about the Olas is its location; close to the action but away from the noise.  The town electrical generator is about a block away and you can hear the humm when in the restaurant area but I can’t hear it in my room.

As I rounded the corner by the Reef Restaurant on my way into the central town area I heard a cheery “hola” as Joel called out to me.  He was waiting for the restaurant to open up and begin his work day. I had seen groups of folks lining up for a parade and found out from Joel that it was Flag Day in Panama.  Joel remarked that this is a very proud day for Panama.

The beginning of the Flag Day parade

I discovered the last time I used my snorkel gear that I needed a new snorkel keeper because the one that come with the mask had broken.  I tried using a zip-tie when I was diving for lobster with my buddy Craig in Key West, but it pulled on the snorkel in a way that caused the mask to leak around the edge – I just couldn’t get a decent seal.  Naturally I didn’t get around to getting a new snorkel keeper before the trip and was more or less depending on finding one at one of the three dive shops in Bocas.

I had asked Brittany if her shop, Starfleet Scuba, might have one and she doubted it since their merchandise selection is fairly limited.  I checked with the other two shops in town, La Buga dive center and Bocas Water Sports, but neither of them had what I needed.  So, despite what Brittany had said I wandered a bit further down the main street and the woman who helped me at Starfleet disappeared into another room and emerged with a snorkel keeper for $4.95.  Now, I remember that South Point Divers in Key West had a jar of them on the counter for $1.00 including tax, but when you gotta have it, you gotta have it!

When I checked in with La Buga about the snorkel keeper, I also asked about surfing lessons.   Unfortunately, the seas are flat so with no waves, no surfing.  As long as I am on the topic of dive shops, Brittany assured me that all three are very professional and reasonably priced.  As I discovered, all three are PADI-affiliated and right on the main street and easy to find.

One of several Bocas Town marching bands

Back to the parade.  I was really impressed by the number of participants and their enthusiasm.  I remember going to parades as a kid growing up in a relatively small town in central Montana.  This was the kind of parade I remembered; not the glitzy Thanksgiving Day parades shown on TV.  It looked as though all the schools and churches were represented and, it appeared, various civic associations.  Lots of young men beating on drums and majorettes-in-training.  Flags and red, white and blue bunting were everywhere you looked.  It was fun to see moms running into the street to take pictures of their 10-year old boy beating a drum or 7-year old girl going through a dance step and it looked like the whole town turned out.

In the shops that were open there were TVs with local TV coverage of the parade.   The central park was packed with onlookers along with vendors selling icees and ice cream.  The guys at a construction site moving huge steel beams with levers stopped to respect the flag every time it went by (which was a lot!).  I stopped at the Lavazza coffee shop for an espresso and to watch the parade for a while.  Lavazza is a cute place that serves coffee, pastries and ice cream; the windows had curtains made of burlap coffee bean bags.   I sipped on my espresso as the various segments of the parade went by and quickly concluded that this is much better than anything I have ever gotten at Starbucks and I only paid $1.25.

... and marching girls, too

I went for a walk along the main street past the Angela hotel (my other top choice for lodging) and past the sailing club.  Bocas Town is not that big and I walked through most of the town in no time.  While many buildings were in a bit of disrepair and some homes had junk strewn about the yard I had to remind myself that this is not an antiseptic American suburb; the standards are different.

I called Brittany and we agreed to meet at Casa Verde for dinner where a friend of hers was having her opening night as the chef of her own restaurant.  Jess had been at other restaurants and is leasing the facilities at Casa Verde.  The menu is pretty basic, but she serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and the food I had was done perfectly.  A couple of items on the menu I had never seen before were fried green beans and ñame fries.

Over dinner Brittany remarked on the number of Panamanians on vacation.  I admit I was surprised by the number of “locals” here for the holidays.  The bartender for the night turned out to be a woman from Bozeman, Montana.  It isn’t every day I run into someone from my home state and even less likely in such an out of the way location!   I noticed that night that I got bit by a few no seeums, but still not what I was anticipating and not much to get excited about.

After dinner Brittany and I went for a walk down the main street and had one last beer at the Book Bar; a book store (the only one in town) run by American expats who eventually turned it into a bar.  I met one of the owners, Nancy, and we chatted a bit about the business climate in Bocas Town.  She said that the most important thing to realize is that if you are catering to tourists and even expats, volume is more important than quality; this is such a big backpacker destination that there just is not money to be made (yet) in high quality merchandise or services.   I ran into another woman who had a restaurant in Bocas but gave up trying to do business there because the local government was just too difficult to deal with; she now leases out the property and does not have the headaches of running a restaurant.  I would not take this as a sign that it is difficult to do business here – after all, I have no idea what her patience or competence level is.

All in all, it was another good day and I wandered home in the fairly dark streets without a care for my safety. At no time did I feel uncomfortable while in Bocas. The people are very friendly and accommodating, even to a Gringo who speaks barely a dozen words of their language.