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  • Welcome to Panama!!

    Thought I would pick some WABbers brains here. My wife and I are considering a move. A big one. I spent almost a year in Panama back in the late 80's(longer than that all over central Am). I found Panama very hospitable, beautiful, temperate and friendly regardless of the govt leader at the time, Manuel Noreiga. All the people I met where very pro "NorteAmericano"(North American). We didn't refer to ourselves as Americans because they consider themselves the same way, they are simply "CentroAmericano"(guess?).

    I have been checking job and business opportunities, cost of living, gun laws(which are awesome btw, literally everything is legal). I have heard and seen on google earth that much has improved infrastructurally, in the last twenty years or so. Crime is very low as well, probably since most all that can afford it is packin a roscoe or a mini-machete.

    Any recent first hand accounts or helpful info would be appreciated. I'm not deadset on Panama btw. I have just a few prerequisites. Tropical climate, English or Spanish speaking. Must be able to own personal protection in the form of a firearm. Stable govt and not a huge hassle to move there or gain employment or start a business venture. Doesn't sound picky at all huh?:)) I have an American friend that moved to Peru years ago but takes contractor jobs in the states for a few months at a time and then lives for several months back in Peru. He thinks we should move there.

    Any advice, questions or opinions welcome.

  • #2
    I'd live in Panama. I was there in the 80's too and fell for it. Always thought I'd like to go back and maybe plant roots. Have you considered living in Puerto Rico? Still US territory but a whole lot cheaper than California. People in PR at least understand English. San Juan is pretty cosmopolitan, the interior is more shall we say, tropical.;)
    Reddite igitur quae sunt Caesaris Caesari et quae sunt Dei Deo
    (Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's)

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    • #3
      Originally posted by sappersgt View Post
      I'd live in Panama. I was there in the 80's too and fell for it. Always thought I'd like to go back and maybe plant roots. Have you considered living in Puerto Rico? Still US territory but a whole lot cheaper than California. People in PR at least understand English. San Juan is pretty cosmopolitan, the interior is more shall we say, tropical.;)
      Hadn't given much thought to PR. My dad was just there on a cruise a few months ago. He spent some time in San Juan back in the early 60s and wanted to see it again. He would probably go as well if he ever got up the guts to throw a bucket of water on that witch he is married to.(long but familiar story). :))

      I'll do some research on it. Thanks Sarge!

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      • #4
        Panama is not too bad spent some time in 80's down that way however as sappersgt pointed out PR is very nice and is also a US Territory.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by 7thsfsniper View Post
          Hadn't given much thought to PR. My dad was just there on a cruise a few months ago. He spent some time in San Juan back in the early 60s and wanted to see it again. He would probably go as well if he ever got up the guts to throw a bucket of water on that witch he is married to.(long but familiar story). :))

          I'll do some research on it. Thanks Sarge!
          No carry guns allowed in PR, though, and all guns are frowned on.
          I handled a transfer from a PR gun dealer last year (there are a few), and it didn't sound like a very friendly place: no guns, and rising personal crime.

          Added: It seems they do issue the occasional carry license, along with a license to possess guns. With such a possession license, you may own a maximum of two guns.
          http://www.atf.gov/firearms/statelaw...uerto_rico.pdf

          I have a funny story about Panama that happened to a friend of mine when he was there for Jungle School. I will have to tell it some time.
          Last edited by GraniteForge; 26 Dec 08,, 02:23. Reason: add link

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          • #6
            I've heard alot of good things about Costa Rica. Large American expat community. Never been there, but it may be an option you want to look into.
            "Every man has his weakness. Mine was always just cigarettes."

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Ironduke View Post
              I've heard alot of good things about Costa Rica. Large American expat community. Never been there, but it may be an option you want to look into.
              THL spent time down there as an exchange student, you could ask her.
              “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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              • #8
                Originally posted by GraniteForge View Post
                No carry guns allowed in PR, though, and all guns are frowned on.
                I handled a transfer from a PR gun dealer last year (there are a few), and it didn't sound like a very friendly place: no guns, and rising personal crime.

                Added: It seems they do issue the occasional carry license, along with a license to possess guns. With such a possession license, you may own a maximum of two guns.
                http://www.atf.gov/firearms/statelaw...uerto_rico.pdf

                I have a funny story about Panama that happened to a friend of mine when he was there for Jungle School. I will have to tell it some time.
                Well that does it for PR. I just am not giving up my toys.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by GraniteForge View Post
                  I have a funny story about Panama that happened to a friend of mine when he was there for Jungle School. I will have to tell it some time.
                  Well this is would be as good a place as any. I went through JOTC. Interesting to say the least. I just want to know what they did with big Anaconda they had in the pool? Since the schools gone now.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by 7thsfsniper View Post
                    Well this is would be as good a place as any. I went through JOTC. Interesting to say the least. I just want to know what they did with big Anaconda they had in the pool? Since the schools gone now.
                    Maybe they made it part of the canal deal ;)

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by BadKharma View Post
                      Maybe they made it part of the canal deal ;)
                      IIRC, the thing would have been a world record had it been more well known. I could swear the instructor told us it was well over 30ft! They used to feed it those little deer lookin critters they had down there(ICR what they where called). Probably the best fed snake in cent America.

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                      • #12
                        Where in Panama were you thinking about living? City, urban, rural? Flat in the city, hacienda in the mountains, villa on the beach? The dollar goes a long way there. A modest amount of wealth (comparatively) could allow one to live in the manner in which one could become accustomed.

                        My little brother bought land in Costa Rica as an investment a while back, it hasn't done so well. When thinking tropical and retirement I've also thought about Belize.
                        Reddite igitur quae sunt Caesaris Caesari et quae sunt Dei Deo
                        (Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's and unto God the things which are God's)

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by 7thsfsniper View Post
                          Well this is would be as good a place as any. I went through JOTC. Interesting to say the least.
                          Fair enough.

                          So my buddy was a Ranger, an M60 gunner, and like I said, he was in Panana going through Jungle School. Towards the end of school he was on a night exercise, fast roping from a helo, when things went wrong. He wound up crashing down through a tree head first. He blacked out before the end of his fall.

                          He woke up lying on an old steel exam table, in a lot of pain, naked. His gear was neatly piled on the floor, including his '60. He determined that he was in some sort of small medical clinic, and he was alone. He didn't know where he was, and couldn't find a phone. He knew it was night, but not what night. He didn't want to blow the exercise and have to recycle through the school, so he got dressed, grabbed all of his gear, and wandered out into the Panamanian night. Eventually he found some people, and learned that he was on the other side of the country from his unit's base. He figured that his best bet was to rejoin his unit asap. So he took an early morning train across the country, still with all of his gear, including the '60. At the station, he was able to call his unit and they picked him up.

                          Turns out that not only had he suffered trauma from the fall, he had also been bitten by a poisonous snake on his way down through the tree. The docs figured he would be unconscious for quite a while, so his unit was supposed to send someone over to sit with him later the next day, but he surprised everyone by waking up early and discharging himself. He didn't have to recycle, but he did suffer some permanent damage to both his back and teeth. He says the craziest part was when he was on the train, riding it with all his gear including a machine gun, and none of the Panamanians seemed the least bit surprised, or bothered him at all.

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                          • #14
                            Must be able to own personal protection in the form of a firearm.
                            From what I understand most Latin American nations don't allow/severely restrict private ownership of firearms.

                            I too suggest Puerto Rico; 1) it's a US territory 2) the total taxes on our vacation house are $45/year and 3) There is a significant and growing White non Hispanic population especially around San Juan and the West coast area of Aguadilla, Rincon and Mayaguez 4) They have everything we have here in the states - same stores, same fast food places, same education system (though Spanish is the language of instruction, all school books are in English and all assignments are done in English).

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by 7thsfsniper View Post
                              They used to feed it those little deer lookin critters they had down there(ICR what they where called).
                              Probably the mazama nana or commonly called the pygmy brocket , but there is another candidate odocoileus virginianus or the white tailed deer another species of Brocket;)
                              Last edited by tankie; 27 Dec 08,, 15:26.

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