Title: In Panama, a taste of the tropics and a new state of mind

Finally! Panama has not had an tourism article in a major US publication  for over two years.

A delightful Los Angeles Times article with a focus on Boquete and Boca Chica.

Check it out here:

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-panama-20100228,0,5687559.story?page=1

Note that a highlight of the authors trip was a rafting trip on the Chiriqui Viejo which may soon not be possible if the hydroelectric companies cannot be convinced to practice water release as is commonly done in other countries.

Enjoy,

Nancy

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Panama is such a great place that a lot of people would love to live and do business here.

To prevent too many foreigners from living here and to promote investment, the Panama government does not make it easy to live here.

1. Tourist visa: The tourist visa you get when you come into Panama gives you 90 days in the country. This visa is for Americans, Canadians and citizens of the European Community and some other counties.  After 90 days, you must leave Panama and go to another country for three days and then you can come back and get another 90 days. There is no cost to this visa.

2 Retiree Visa or “Pensionado Visa” This is called a retiree visa but you don’t actually have to be retired to get it-you just have to be over 18. All you need to do is to prove you have a lifetime pension of at least $1000 per month.  If you buy 100,000 worth of property in Panama, then the minimum is just $750.

The pensionado visa comes with many benefits and discounts including 25% discount on all flights both international and domestic and major discounts at restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, certain medical services, prescription drugs and utility bills.

3. Economic Solvency Visa: To qualify for this visa you need to deposit $300.000 in a bank account in a three year time deposit or purchase real estate for the same amount.
4. Panama Bank CD Pension Visa: For this visa, you just need to create CD in  one of the national banks that earns a monthly minimum income of $850.00
5. Reforestation Visa I: The least inexpensive visa, you need to invest $60.000 in a government certified reforestation project.
6. Reforestation Visa II: You invest $80,000 in a government certified reforestation project and after a few years you have the right to permanent residence and citizenship.
7. Business Investor Visa: Requires investing at least $160,000 in a Panamanian business that employs at least 5 Panamanians. Permanent residency is included.
8. Agricultural Investor: Just make a $60,000 investment in agriculture or aquaculture but you only get a six year visa
9. Tax Free Processing Zone Visa: You need to rent land, an office or building in one of the Free Trade Zones.

Others basics  you’ll need for a visa are a police certificate from the town you most recently lived in  your country of origin, a health exam and an AIDS test.

You must hire a lawyer for your visa and at the present time it takes a very long time to go through. It is very important you hire a lawyer from a well known firm or that comes with excellent referrals from people you know well.  See our Law Firm in our Business and Services section page for a good lawyer.

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Every year our family goes to Boquete after Christmas. One of our favorite activities while there is rafting. In the last two years we been privileged to go  rafting with Boquete Outdoor Adventures. (BOA)  Their staff  really outdo themselves to make sure you  have a really fun and perfectly enjoyable trip. As we ride those rapids laughing all the way, taking in all the natural scenery I often think how this excursion beats any family experience Disney can offer.

The Boquete area is one of the best areas in the Americas  for both rafting and kakaking. The rivers are close and  the scenery is beautiful all along the way.  BOA  picks you up at your hotel at 7 am and get  you back around 4 pm.

Many people ask me “Isn’t rafting dangerous?” The answer is that there are different levels of rafting.  BOA offers rafting trips for the whole family and also for experts. Kids from age 10 can go. Also it is important you go with a company with an impeccable reputation for safety.  BOA, like that other good company, Chiriqui Rafting,  has a perfect safety record.

BOA is fully booked lots of the time, so we recommend you make a reservation before you arrive. Find them at

boqueteoutdooradventures.com

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It is a cliche that no one likes to go to the dentist. However,  the Richard Ford Dental Spa makes going to the dentist as pleasant as can be.

I needed a root canal and I had been putting it off- dreading it based on one previous miserable experience.   I understood the English expression that something is just about “as fun as having a root canal.”   Time to change that expression.  I just had a root canal  at the Richard Ford Dental Spa- and it was painless and an  anazingly a good  experience.  The procedure was done by their  a “root canal specialist” - Dr. Kathy Turner. I could not be happier with this dentist.

Visiting Dr. Fords clinic for any dental procedure is a pleasure. The clinic uses  up-to-date technologies for  nearly painless dentistry..  Dr. Ford is  one of those very charming Panamanian professionals. He  speaks impeccable English and  is American trained . If he is not attending you directly he often  checks  in to say Hi,  with interest in what is going on with your procedure.

The facilities are all  designed to help you relax- a  beautiful, restful  decor, peaceful music and aromatherapy.   The staff are very attentive and you can feel they work as a team to make your dentist experience closer to a spa, than a dreaded  dental appointment.

The clinic is conveniently located in Marbella, in the Royal Center,  Call them at 223-4742

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Panama’s Tourism Ministry has established a tourism hotline for all  tourists in Panama.  Now tourists  have somewhere to call for tourist information and  for any special problems- for example  if they are lost, been robbed or are having a problem with police etc.  Hotline operators speak four languages: English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.  The number to call is 178.

Congrats to the new Tourism Ministry for this important initiative to help  tourists.

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Every year our family spends a few days  in Boquete during the Christmas break and we usually stay at Villa Marita. We love Villa Marita for a number of reasons- starting with it’s location-  a few minutes from downtown Boquete up  on a mountainside plateau with spectacular views  of Volcan Baru.  I so look forward to every  morning there as  we enjoy a delicious  buffet breakfast and look up at views of the volcano. That terrace has beautiful views  throughout the day rain or shine and usually ends with a  beautiful sunset.

If this is your first trip to Boquete, Villa Marita is a good place to stay because its owner and host is Rodrigo Marciaq is  a very knowledgeable  who is always generous with his time in orienting gueets.   He  is up early  attending to  guests with questions about the anything and connecting them to where they want to go and what they want to see.

Villa Marita has reasonably priced individual chalets  with sitting rooms and a  private terrace  with a view. The grounds are  beautifully landscaped grounds with many flowers and trees. The large social area is comfy, with free wifi and internet, views and free coffee, hot chocolate and teas 24 hours a day.This is the perfect place for families with kids of all ages.

Rodrigo, a Panamanian with impeccable English is a graduate of Texas A & M. He epitomizes the many Panamanians who understand and truly enjoy foreigners. He has also has  a hydroponic farm next door and is  happy to show guests this revolutionary kind of agriculture- so you can throw in  some agro-tourism here as well.

Nancy

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Congrats to Canopy Tower proprietor Raul Arias de Para for putting Panama on the map for ecotourism and world-class birding. Selected again and again as one of the top ecolodges in the world, and praised in the New York Times, National Geographic, the Wall Street Journal and Travel and Leisure,  Canopy Tower is celebrating it’s 10th anniversary.

Canopy Tower has to be the easiest-to-get-to top ecolodge-   just over an hour by car from Panama’s international airport. If you love nature, I highly recommend a stay. Even if you’re a local- Canopy Tower will transform the way you think about the attractions of Panama.

Below are Raul’s own words about his groundbreaking work for the last 10 years.

It is often said that time flies. Indeed, it does! We are close to the end of 2009 and my memory goes back to those days in January of 1999, more than ten years ago, when the first guests arrived at the Canopy Tower. I remember the thrill of seeing the visitors walk up to the Observation Deck for the first time to observe the virgin rainforests of Soberanía National Park, extending for miles in every direction around the Tower. “WOW! Incredible! Amazing!” were the first sounds and words visitors exclaimed. They still do. Nothing has changed in this regard. I remember the immense satisfaction, pride and gratitude I felt when pictures of the Canopy Tower appeared in the National Geographic Magazine (April 2000) and on the front page of the Wall Street Journal (January 11, 2000), including a “dot” picture of me with my red Tilley hat—the only Panamanian, other than the infamous General Noriega, to have received such a distinction! My wife, Denise, was at the Paris airport that day waiting for a flight to Panama, and you can imagine her surprise when she picked up the newspaper and saw my picture on the front page!

I also remember the curious combination of exhaustion and exhilaration I felt after the first birders, a VENT group led by Dr. Robert S. Ridgely, departed the Canopy Tower on January 20, 1999, after a hugely successful 7-night tour. I had done everything for that group, from going to the airport and helping in the kitchen, to carrying a scope on the outings, checking the towels in the bathrooms, having breakfast, lunch and dinner with the guests and answering the increasing number of emails coming through that wonderful invention, the internet. I had slept on the living room couch that entire week, as the Tower only had seven bedrooms at the time and all were occupied. Thus, I was the last to retire and the first to be up in the kitchen helping with breakfast. Then, I went immediately up to the Observation Deck, identifying birds with the guests and listening to the “dawn chorus.” When the group finally departed, I fell in bed with a bad cold and slept for 2 0 hours straight—this time in my own bed!

It has been a wonderful decade, in many more ways than one! The Canopy Tower has become an icon in the birding world, a “mecca for bird enthusiasts” (New York Times, April 21, 2002). It is now the core of an ecotourism organization, comprising two very different experiences at two unique eco-lodges (The Canopy Tower and The Canopy Lodge, with a tree-top adventure adjacent)—both employing 47 Panamanians. Additionally, a third lodge is in the dream stage! The wonderful birding at these locales has drawn many thousands of birders to Panama, providing much-needed job opportunities to other ventures. And, most importantly, it has given me the time and resources to invest in conservation causes throughout Panama. In short, it has been a rousing success, thanks to the Almighty God who directs all our actions, to our staff of loyal and dedicated employees and to you, our friends and customers who have chosen the Canopy Tower for your birding vacation.

Come to Panama. We will all be on the lookout for you.

All the best,

Contact Raul: birding@canopytower.com

P.S. The birds are all over the place!

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In their Oct. 2  issue, Forbes Magazine rated Panama in the top 10 for retirement.

Below are excerpts from the article.

Panama: If you’re a sun-worshiper determined to protect your assets from overreaching Western governments, consider countries like Panama or Malaysia.

Exotic Panama, that sunny nation in Central America, gateway between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, has adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency. Move there and your assets and liabilities are matched.

Panama has almost everything: year-round sun, low taxes, massive discounts for seniors, first-world amenities, quality private hospitals, bird-filled rainforests, a dollar economy and easy flights from the U.S. Panama City is considered safest of all Central American cities, with worldly buzz because of the canal, and a World Heritage Site.

Downside: pockets of corruption.

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Oct. 13th representing Amcham I was invited to hear Minister Salomon Shamah’s presentation about what Panama’s tourism ministry ( ATP)  accomplished  in the first 100 days. It is quite impressive. These are my unofficial notes:

1. No one has to pass through migration when you leave Panama! As of mid-November, Panama will be the first country in Latin America to use the same system as the USA and Europe- when you leave Panama you will no longer go through immigration, just a baggage security check.  The extra immigration officers will now all be used to shorten lines for immigration for  incoming passengers.

2. A tourism hotline has been set up to give info, advise and emergency help.  Tourists call 178 . Operators speak English, Spanish, French and Portuguese If a tourist is in an emergency situation, ATP will send a person from ATP to help the tourist.

3.  . The tourist card has been eliminated.  It was a hassle for airlines and tourists alike- the $5 will now be charged when a air ticket is bought..

4. The “Panama 25% Off” low season campaign which brought hundreds of tourist to Panama through a discount program organized with the private sector and promoted by ATP.

5  The “Casco Viejos” in the provincial cities will be restored and made into tourism attractions beginning with David’s Casco Viejo which includes the church and a museum

6. A tourism signage project has started beginning with Boquete and Bocas which will help tourists get around town and to the main sights.

7. With the help of ATP, Google maps of the country are being set up to help tourist find their way around the country. 
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9. Four new charter flights will begin in November from Canada.

10. A top tourism security expert has been hired by ATP who is holding meeting with hotels and other tourism groups to educate them on how to provide safety to tourists.

11. ATP is using a new slogan in their ads: “Panama Sorprende”. The great thing is that this slogan translates extremely well into English: A catchy: “Panama Surprises”.Minister Shamah explained that Panama is not branded and that we are not a mature destination where things run smoothly. But Panama does surprise, usually in a  good way but sometimes the surprise won’t be good. But Panama is certainly a surprising country as a tourism destination.

Nancy Hanna. President and Founder Panamainfo.com/The Panama Planner

Chair of the Tourism Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce

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Business Week recently published an article on Panama for Retirement. It recommends Panama for professionals  on a moderate retirement income. Some years ago, Panama was attracting retirees on low budgets, but Panama today is no longer a low budget retirement destination. and one could argue it never was. Panama also works well for professionals as it takes a certain degree of sophistication to navigate and enjoy the waters of a country like Panama.

Panama’s new president has declared his intention to make things easier for retirees who plan to move here, but we don’t know yet what that means practically. One thing that is clear,  Pres.  Martinelli, one of the countries foremost businessmen, is on the ball making many long overdue changes in a myriad of areas. Therefore Panama will soon be on the radar not only for retirees but also for investors and businesses looking for a home office in the region.

It is significant that in this article, Business Week does  not mention neighboring Costa Rica that was the first country to successfully attract foreign retirees.  Panama stands out by itself these days.

Check it out on the article link:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_28/b4139054352321.htm

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