Azuero - Day 1

On Sunday, February 12th, Nora, Henry IV and I were up at 3:30 AM to get an early start. We made sandwiches and loaded up the Jeep and were on the road by 4:30. Traffic was light and we crossed over the Puente Centenario before 5:00. The highway is four lane all the way to Aguadulce, where it becomes two lane with the second two lanes under construction. We turned left at Divisa and drove on excellent condition two lane roads to Chitre, arriving at 08:10. We had reservations at Hotel Hong Kong, and though check in was at 1:00 PM they let us check in early and we met our Azuero agent, Berta Gonzales, at 09:15 and were off to see the first property in Mariabe.

Awaiting our contact just outside Los Santos, we had time to observe a much more relaxed way of life than one sees in the cities. A number of folks were waiting for a bus to take them into Chitre or to Macaracas. We exchanged friendly greetings and they chatted about the weather and baseball and grandchildren. No one seemed impatient, so we decided not to be impatient either. A leisurely half hour after the appointed time our contact showed up and we were off to Mariabe.

Mariabe

Mariabe is a small farming community and we met our land owner and drove to his 40 hectare (100 acres) working farm, which was planted in corn. Isla Iguana is located directly in front about two miles off shore and the land slopes from an altitude of about 150 feet down to the beach. There is about 400 meters of unspoiled gently sloping beach and the potential tourism appeal is high for this property. Nora and Berta walked down to the beach and back, while I stayed with Henry IV and we had a great time throwing stones and watching small herds of cattle pass by.

We then drove to the public beach about 2 kilometers down the road back towards Mariabe where we found a small settlement on ROP land, perhaps 10 houses. Our landowner has a small cabin there, and just up the hill, on the cliff above the beach, a US expat is constructing a new home, which has a spectacular view. Three men were on the beach, getting a pickup load of sand, either to sell or to use in construction. No one seemed disturbed by this open theft of beach sand, in fact I doubt that anyone but me even considered it theft.

Back at the landowner's home, Nora and Berta collected the necessary information for the listing while Henry IV and I amused ourselves by taking pictures of him sitting on a John Deere tractor and a large yellow Combine. Everyone we met was friendly and seemed happy to see us.

Lunch

We had a late lunch at the 'Los Faroles' restaurant on the outskirts of Los Santos. The food was excellent, and four of us had shrimp ceviche as appetizers. With four adults (Berta's mother was with us) and a hungry kid, the bill came to $36.00. This is not your typical country eating place, but you can eat for considerably less money here than we spent. We all treated ourselves to the good stuff. One of the waitresses was immensely amused at Henry IV's attempts to photograph her without her seeing him.

Chitre

We went to Berta's home and visited for a bit with her and Gonzalo, her husband. They showed us their neighbor's backyard, which was populated by dozens of birds in cages, with parakeets, parrots, assorted tropical birds and a few dozen chickens.

From there we went to the 99 Supermarket, just down the street from our hotel. This is a large, clean, well-stocked store which rivals any of the 99 stores in Panama City.

Hotel Hong Kong

We arrived back at the hotel at 6:00 PM, and since no one was hungry, and we were all very tired, we elected to take a nap before supper. The shower was the first real negative we encountered. There was just a trickle of water and it was impossible to properly adjust the hot/cold water. What little water came through was either too hot or too cold. Our 'nap' turned into 8 solid hours of sleep, and when we woke up it was in the wee hours of the morning. Next week, day two.

New Panama Investment Tip Sheet

I will be sending out the first Panama Investment Tip Sheet soon. It will feature property and other opportunities for investment in Panama. I will send one to everyone on the Newsletter list, but unless you write me back and say you want to continue to receive it, I will not send another. Look for it later this month.

Upcoming Events

The American Society in Panama has its 3rd Annual St. Patrick’s Picnic slated for Saturday 18^th March 2005 and again it will be held at "Los Capitanes Hotel" grounds in El Valle de Anton. Please reserve the 18th of March for a fun filled day in El Valle de Anton. Please come join the American Society at its annual St. Patrick's picnic in El Valle. From past experience it is recommended you make your Hotel reservations early as this is a busy time for El Valle and this is a popular event. We will have a cut off date of 15 March to make reservations and pick up your tickets for the event.

For full details, see the 'AMSOC St.Patrick's Day' link under 'Living in Panama' on the website.

The Website

I've added a page to the Pictures section and will be adding more this week. These are some of the pictures we took on our short Azuero trip.

Service and Assistance for Retirees Who Want to Live in Panama