Panama Living Newsletter

Flood relief project in Panama needs more help

Last week I sent out a request to my readers in Panama for help with flood  victims in Soloy, a region of the Ngobe Buble Comarca, who are displaced after a catastrophic flood occurred on September 3rd. Many responded and I received a letter from the organizers thanking everyone for the help. They are still working on relief efforts and could use additional help, so I'm sending this out to my entire readership in the hope that you may want to participate in this worthy humanitarian effort.

For more information please go to http://boqueteoutdooradventures.com/soloy

Colliers Int'l Pushing 167 Acres on Panama Canal

Globe St.com
PANAMA-One of the world’s greatest engineering feats is now yielding a humongous commercial real estate opportunity. The 167-acre Isla Margarita is considered the last remaining developable waterfront parcel on the Atlantic side of the Panama Canal, according to officials at Colliers Multimodal Services Group, which has been retained as brokers for the property.

Port and terminal operators and similar firms involved in maritime industries are among those expected to pursue the one-time US naval installation, says John Carver of Colliers, executive director for the multimodal services division. “Furthermore,” he adds, “the Isla Margarita has more than 2,000 meters of pristine coastline offering the potential for other forms of development, such as beachfront hotel, restaurants, retail or entertainment.”

Cross the Panama Canal in just 2 minutes

I stumbled on this interesting video on UTUBE that is a 2 minute time laps of a ship passing through the canal from the Pacific to the Atlantic ocean. Very cool.

Direct flights to Cali announced

Passengers Will Be Able to Connect With 36 Destinations and 21 Countries Through Copa Airlines' Hub of the Americas in Panama City

BOGOTA, Colombia, and PANAMA CITY, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AeroRepublica, subsidiary of Copa Holdings S.A. (NYSE: CPA) , began direct daily service from Cali to Panama City on February 14, 2006. This new route is served with one of AeroRepublica's brand new EMBRAER-190 aircraft with a 106 all-leather seat, single-class configuration.

YouTube Panama Video

Here is something to make you feel good. A catchy tune, great lyrics, vocals and video work You will be singing this all day.

Go'in down to Panama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzr_fJVYbg0

For more traditional Panamanian music and culture go here:

Music of Panama

My apartment in the city

As many of you know, I believe Panama City is being overbuilt and much of the building boom is being driven by speculators rather than end users. Even so, many people are buying for their own use and I am one of them. I have to travel to Panama City regularly for business and my wife likes to come to the city to shop and visit her family. We decided it was time to buy an apartment rather than staying in hotels as we have done for the last 5 years.  Even with all the speculation, I believe if I buy the right place at the right price it will be a good long term investment.

I wanted a small apartment in a good location away from the noise of the city streets. I had rented an apartment in the city when I first came to Panama in 1997 and I could hear the noise even up on the 17th floor. After a lot of research we decided on the Allure.  With all of the buildings being offered, why this one? Location, view and value. This building is to be located on the park on Balboa avenue near the Hotel Intercontinental.  It is within walking distance of dozens of great restaurants  and on the easier side of town for my travel to and from the regional airport. Along with the location it has great views that will never be blocked. The beautiful  "Central Park" cannot be sold and built on and it acts a a 500 meter wide buffer from the traffic noise on Balboa. They also include the air conditioners, stainless steel appliances and a huge list of amenities. I know this sounds like a commercial, but I can't help but sell something I am sold on. If you are considering an apartment in the city, you should look at this one and become my neighbor.

Sam is on the radio

If you are looking for great information about living and investing in Panama, you may want to visit Window2Panama, a web radio program. They have interesting stories and interviews with people who live and work here in Panama. This week, I did an hour long interview about the Boquete area specifically and Panama in general. You can go to this website to hear it.

Promo: Window  2 Panama  This week                 we have

Sam Taliaferro,

 the                 creator of Valle Escondito and the person                 credited with starting the mass retirement movement to Panama.                  This is an information rich show and you wont want to miss it.                

Panama, a shady place for shady people.

The U.S. consulate warden in Chiriqui  sent out a notice today regarding a sex offender from the U.S. that apparently is hiding out in the Boquete area. I have reported on several other individuals that have been picked up in the area and extradited back to the U.S., but this is the first time an official from the Embassy has sent out an email notice of this type. I shows that the governments are working together and through the expat community to catch these bad guys.
Boquete residents will find the following websites of interest regarding Mr. Frederick  (Ozzie) Osburn.

http://www.lvrj.com/cgi-bin/printable.cgi?/lvrj_home/2000/Jun-16-Fri-2000/news/13787417.html 
http://www.cityofhenderson.com/police/php/osburn_7242.php
This message will be posted in boquete.org so if anyone has additional information or comments, please post your information there.

Leader of the Year: Martin Torrijos

Congratulations goes to Panama's President for being selected by the Latin Business Chronicle as the Leader of the Year in Latin America.

As a result of strong economic growth and pro-business policies, President Martin Torrijos has been selected by Latin Business Chronicle as Leader of the Year. "We believe that Panama is in the initial stages of a multi-year investment boom that should be positive for asset prices," U.S.-based consultancy Global Insight says in a report on Panama.

Read the story here...

Panama News, English speaking news and views

Eric Jackson produces the Panama News, an English news journal about the goings on in Panama. Eric has been beating the streets for many years here and has some interesting views on Panama politics and culture. Always fighting for the underdog, he brings a breath of reality to the surreal world here in Panama. Click here for the latest headlines.