Weekly Newsletter
April 25, 2005

So you want to retire to Panama.
Paradise Services
Newsletter #5 Volume #1

Tourist Visas and Traveling Around Panama

Tourist Visas

The recent change in tourist visas caused quite a bit of consternation among people who make their living from tourism and catering to the crowds of people who want to find out if Panama is everything they've heard it is. Apparently, the decision to reduce the basic length of stay from 90 to 30 days (or less) was made by the director of immigration without consulting anyone outside immigration, and by the time the tourist industry found out about it, a lot of damage had already been done. The internet discussion groups were all abuzz, and some who had come here expecting to stay for more than one month had to cut their vacations short, and in at least one case, lose some not inconsequential deposits made to secure reservations at a beach resort. For old time ex-pats in Panama, such a major change, affecting the well-being of an entire industry, came as no surprise. It was simply business as usual from a government composed of many near-autonomous ministries which don't always play well together.

The manner in which the change was reversed also came as no surprise to old-timers. A lot of folks screamed bloody murder, some folks in government realised the extent of potential damage to a tourist industry still in its infancy, and the order was rescinded. All is well again in Paradise.

The whole flap should be taken as an object lesson for those contemplating a move here. The touted 'stable government' goes through an almost top-to-bottom overhaul every five years, with wholesale replacement of people in elected and appointed positions. The president is constitutionally limited to one five year term, and he/she rewards those who help him/her get elected with positions in government. There is basically nothing wrong with that, indeed the same thing happens in the US when a new president takes office, but in Panama there is no competitive civil service system, so entire ministries undergo complete personnel changes with a resulting loss of expertise and a period of near chaos as the new guys try to learn (or not) the job. This lack of continuity is one reason why you so often get conflicting information from government offices.

That is not to say that you should forget about Panama as a place to live. After a while you will learn the ropes and how to roll with the punches, and almost any of us old hands will tell you the good far outweighs the bad. Just don't expect anything, including the law, to be written in stone.

Altos del Maria

The entrance to Melo's Altos del Maria project is in Bejuco, 68 kilometers (42.5 miles) from the top of the Bridge of the Americas. Watch for the sign, and Melo's store, on the right side of the road, and if you pass the Texaco gas station, you went too far. The Altos del Maria visitor's center is 19 kilometers from Bejuco, past the town of Sora. There are frequent signs along the way, so you are highly unlikely to get lost. If you go on a weekend, there will be guides there to show you around, but during the week there may not be, so it's best to make an appointment. You can check out the development and make contact through their website at http://www.altosdelmaria.com/.

To call Altos del Maria beautiful is an understatement. Varying in altitude from over 2000 to slightly less than 3000 feet, it is refreshingly cool, compared to the heat of Panama City. Lot size ranges from 1200 square meters to 4000 plus, with most of the ones we looked at about 1800 square meters. Melo has so far opened up 600 lots for sale, most of which are already sold, and has plans to develop 2,000 more. All the lots we looked at have paved road access with electricity available. Water lines have been laid, but we neglected to ask if water is available. Currently, prices of available lots start at about $36,000. There are even a few finished houses available, and the one we toured was very attractive and seemed well-built and sat on 1800 square meters. Its price was in the $110,000 range.

Melo makes it very easy to purchase a lot, since they do their own financing. All you need is identification (passport), 10% down payment, and some arrangements for how you plan to make the payments. One way is by automatic payment by credit card. There is no credit check, no residency requirement, no need for a local bank account. You can even pay a deposit of $100.00 and they will hold the lot for 30 days to give you time to think it over or transfer money. The period of finance is 15 years, and although they have a requirement for some sort of structure to be built on lots within a specified time (3 years to 11 years, depending on location), the salesman was vague on what provisions exist to enforce that provision. Purchasing a lot is almost too easy, and if you visit, you may find yourself paying the $100.00 deposit without carefully considering whether Altos del Maria is where you really want to live. I caution against doing that. Despite its breathtaking beauty, comfortable climate, and well-planned layout, there are some negatives.

The one big negative is access. There is only one paved road into the area, and it has recently suffered a serious landslide 11 kilometers from Bejuco which took about 50 meters of road down the side of the mountain. There is also a one lane bridge over a river. The only other way in and out of Altos del Maria is a dirt road over the mountains into El Valle de Anton, which is passable only by 4 wheel drive vehicles, and could become impassable during heavy rains. So if you are considering buying property in Altos del Maria you should take into account the fact that you could find yourself unable to get into or out of it on occasion. If you intend to live there, a good off-road 4X4 should be considered mandatory.

Another negatives is the distance from services. The small town of Sora is a short drive, but you will find only the basics there. The nearest American style supermarket is in Coronado at the El Rey Supermarket, about a 45 minute drive. The nearest full-service hospital is in Panama City, about one and a half hours away. We were told, and saw the ground being cleared for it, that a mini-mall and clinic were being built inside the development. We were also told that sometime in the future, the road from Bejuco would be improved, but since that road is maintained by the government of Panama, those improvements could be a long time coming.

For now, we rate Altos del Maria as an absolutely marvelous place for a vacation home, and believe the value of property there will increase, but have some reservations about it as a potential retirement home location. To be fair, some of the same shortcomings exist in many of the more popular areas of Panama, including Boquete, Cerro Punta, and El Valle de Anton, though none of them to the extent of Altos del Maria.

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Our website at http://www.panamaretire.net is still unfinished, and is being given a complete makeover, so far now, it's mostly a placeholder, though you can find our contact information there, and some nice pictures. I plan to put the pictures we took in Altos del Maria up by Tuesday..

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