Buenas dias from Panama,
Check out the tabs above for the new pages I’ve added to this site. I’ll be adding a number of pages over the next week or so, that will showcase some of the areas in Panama we’ve visited.
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Now is a busy time for us settling in and looking at opportunities that arise. Some of the things we’re tackling at this time are applying for health insurance at the Chiriqui hospital in David, opening a bank account at a different bank in Boquete, picking up our visa cards at immigration in Panama City and looking around for a used car to purchase here. We are also beginning to look for events happening in our area such as a photography club, open-mic night at Amigos Restaurant and some other sight-seeing adventures like zip-lining, hiking, and golf. It should be an exciting few weeks ahead.
We took a trip into the city of David last week and inquired at the Hospital Chiriqui about health insurance. We were given an overall view of the plan and since then have been executing the necessary steps to acquire basic health coverage. The first step was finding a health lab/clinic here in Boquete to complete a blood test and urine analysis. We’ve made an appointment at the hospital to get an EKG and a chest x-ray. On the same day, if all goes well, we will answer a few general health questions in front of a panel of doctors associated with the program. Rates are much cheaper here in comparison to Blue Cross, for example, in Canada, so we’re happy to do this.
In a previous blog, I had mentioned that we were going through a number of steps to open a bank account here in Boquete. We had gone to Multibank a number of times to provide the necessary documents, be validated and to acquire ATM cards.
We were validated this past Monday morning after about one and a half weeks. Yay! However we were speaking to some expats earlier on the weekend and found out that this particular bank had exorbitant fees and required a $1000 minimum to open an account. If your account drops below $1000, you are charged a 7% fee and each ATM transaction thereafter would cost an additional $25 per transaction as long as the account remained under $1000.
So in we went on Monday morning to confirm what we had heard with the banking officer we had been dealing with. After confirmation, we chalked it up to a lack of communication. At the beginning of our interviews, I was sure I made myself very clear that I only wanted the account to pay for our living expenses here such as rent, utilities, cable TV and internet, and of course, groceries. Obviously, our account would be below $1000 for the majority of the month unless it was topped up continually or a larger amount would need to be wired into the account, both of which would benefit the bank and not us. We would be paying more fees both here and in Canada for these extra transactions. I wasn’t prepared to do this so we bid a kind farewell, much to the dismay of their three bank employees.
Instead, we’ve started the process over again, this time at Banco General, which has only a $300 minimum and a lot less requirements to be fulfilled. The only negative we’ve encountered is that the one document we need must be an original so I’m not able to fax or scan and email this from my Canadian bank as I did with the previous bank. They will need to put this reference letter in the mail. Happily, I have to say that our accounts will be opened soon but sadly by relying on snail mail.
A young girl we met in Panama City once told us that everything in Panama is a s___-show. She was beautiful inside if you know what I mean, so this came as a surprise. In all of our settling-in activities, unfortunately, we’re finding out that she was right. I did sign up for an adventure though.
Also, we’ve been going through the long drawn out process of acquiring Jubilado visas related to my pension since soon after we arrived here on April 3rd. We will become residents of Panama and will be allowed to stay longer than ninety days in this country.
We received news this morning that our visa application has been accepted and that we can travel to Panama City at anytime over the next week to visit our lawyer. With her guidance, we will pick up our Cedula cards at the immigration department. These cards will allow us discounts on many items in Panama including plane fares, restaurants, theatres, utilities, etc.
Needless to say, I would gladly jump over the moon in order to acquire these cards. Gail is so excited about this, as am I. The drawback is that we will need to prepare yet again by renting a car, taking the dogs to a kennel in Potrerillos (Po-ter-rios), booking a hotel and fulfilling another appointment with our lawyer for our three-day trip to Panama City.
And finally, we will be searching for a used car to purchase as soon as we can. This will allow us more freedom to visit some great locations in Panama such as Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast, Vulcan, which is a little higher up the mountain from us and attractions closer to Boquete such as the Tree Trek Zip-line Adventure, La Jungla Wildlife Refuge and various coffee plantation tours. We’re also getting anxious to start swinging our golf clubs!
Until next time, buenas noches from Panama, Don
Related articles
- The Drive from David to Panama (panamaretireewannabes.wordpress.com)
Update from Panama 