Retirees Have More Fun in Panama

Retirees in Panama enjoy discounts in most places including restaurants, so eating out is great value.

"She's a changed woman. She rides a bicycle—something she never felt inspired to do back home (maybe it was the months of bone-chilling weather)."

"He’s made lots of expat (and local) friends. He volunteers with a local charity and participates regularly in community outreach. We’ve never seen him busier...or happier!"

"The saying ‘blondes have more fun’ never held true for her back home. But in Panama, she certainly is having more fun than ever..."

As International Living’s Panama editor, I explore every inch of this country and get to know lots of the expats who are drawn here. For the past seven years, I’ve noticed one thing that retirees have in common: Since coming to Panama, their lives are busier than ever before.

Panama is well known for its friendly people...and that includes both expats and locals. It’s easier than ever to find like-minded people who are willing to make friends, include you in their activities, or support you in starting something new.

It also helps that Panama’s cost of living is low...for most North Americans, much lower than back home. And the nation’s Pensionado program has made it easy for thousands of Baby Boomers to take advantage of all the fun this tiny tropical powerhouse has to offer.

The program was originally developed to give local retirees or pensioners access to wide-ranging discounts, thus easing the transition to a fixed or pension income. But the country has a history of welcoming foreigners...and of according them many of the same rights that locals enjoy. So these days, Panamanian law extends the discounts to qualifying foreigners. And as an added bonus, the Pensionado program also grants them residence.

Colonial Highland Life in Guanajuato, Mexico

Sandra and Ron Ward are actively involved with the community in their highland town of Guanajuato in Mexico.

Sandra Ward was introduced to the idea of living in Mexico early. The love of the country followed her for 45 years…into retirement.

Sandra’s journey to Mexico began in 1952, when she was just a girl. Her two older sisters, who were art students in Cleveland, wanted to study art for a term in the newly-opened Instituto Allende, in San Miguel de Allende. So the whole family went to San Miguel—and loved it.

Fast forward to 1997 when Sandra and her husband Ron Mann were looking to retire. Though they considered Europe, Sandra’s early ties to Mexico won out.

Family considerations also played an important part in the move. For a start, both Sandra and Ron had elderly mothers and Sandra, especially, did not want to move too far away.

She had plenty of family ties in Mexico…a sister and brother-in-law, as well as an uncle, had all moved to Guanajuato, just 90 minutes from San Miguel in Mexico’s Colonial Highlands.

Still, Sandra and Ron didn’t necessarily plan to live in Mexico full-time. “We came down with the idea of renting for six months,” says Sandra.

But within a month they’d found and bought a property. “It had been abandoned,” says Ron. “It was a total wreck.”

The couple spent six months doing basic renovation, living in the house all the while. But by the time it was finished, about eight months into their Mexico adventure, Ron was ready to leave.

“I spent Christmas Eve alone on the property,” Ron recalls. It was cold that year, the electricity was out, and they still had plastic over the windows. He went to bed that night intending to work out exit strategies in the morning.

But when Christmas Day dawned, his mood had changed. He went outside into the bright day and arranged plants in a circle to form a garden. That was 16 years ago and the couple’s now well and truly found their feet in Guanajuato.

Today they still live in the same house (which has been transformed since its rough beginnings) and are heavily involved in local activities. Sandra has founded an animal rescue group. And Ron gardens (he grows most of their vegetables), cooks, and builds and sells small houses on land they’ve bought in the area.

What to See and What to Skip in the Dominican Republic

It may be easy for a destination like the Dominican Republic to get typecast. After all, what is one of the most visited spots in the Caribbean offers exactly what the area is famous for -- balmy weather, lush beaches, a bevy of water sports and spectacular golf. But to limit a visit to the Dominican Republic to resorts, cocktails and sun worship would mean missing out on a comprehensive and eclectic travel experience, where history, culture and a wonderful array of attractions make travel here memorable. Here are a few examples:

Go Native, Leave the Beach

Leaving your fellow beachgoers behind might take some motivation, but it can offer you a chance to go native. The Tainos settled in the Dominican Republic in the seventh century and developed its original culture; these are the people Christopher Columbus encountered when he arrived in 1492. Their lifestyle was simple enough: They hunted, fished and farmed; they lived in vine huts and slept on hammocks; they carved wood to pay homage to their gods; they passed the time with dance and song. The Taino influence is alive today in the names of many towns and the cuisine, and several museums throughout the Dominican Republic – such as the Museum of Taino Art in Puerto Plata and the Museum of Dominican Man in Santo Domingo – offer a glimpse into this important past.

See Colonial, Skip the Sand

The history of colonial expansion in this part of the Caribbean is not without controversy. But from an experiential aspect, leaving the beach for the city streets of Santo Domingo, this nation's capital, is a step back in time. The sector known as the Colonial City, replete with cobblestone streets, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1990 and is a study in juxtapositions: modern buildings next to 15th century houses and new cars next to horse-drawn carriages. It's considered the oldest city in the New World and boasts its very first street, its first hospital and its first university; the Cathedral de Santa Maria la Menor, the oldest church in the Americas, features a golden façade made of coral limestone. And if you want your Christopher Columbus fix, Santo Domingo is home to the Alcazar de Colon, a palace holding Columbus family artifacts, the Ozama Fort, where he was once imprisoned, and the Faro a Colon lighthouse, which houses the explorer's remains.

Get High, Get Low

The Dominican Republic is home to both the highest and lowest elevations in the Caribbean; both can make for fascinating visits, especially for the experienced adventurer. At more than 10,000 feet, the Pico Duarte peak is part of a mountain range that cuts across the Dominican Republic from east to west. Guided tours are most prevalent when the weather is best – January through March – and five trails will get you there; the shortest, La Cienega, runs about 15 miles from the city of Santiago and reaches Duarte's zenith in about two days. If getting low is more your style, consider Lago Enriquillo, the Caribbean's largest lake and lowest elevation. Plan ahead for this trek; located 12 miles from the Haitian border, it's intermittently attended by park personnel. But getting here will reward you with a plethora of reptilian life and a rustic wooden pier that jets more than 60 feet across the lake. 

Smell the Flowers, Not the Sunscreen

Trade the scent of suntan lotion for the waft of native flora. The National Botanical Garden in Santo Domingo takes up just one square mile but is replete with trails that lead you to many of the plants indigenous to the Dominican Republic, such as orchids, palms and aquatic flowers. There's also a lovely Japanese garden.

Go Underground, Visit a Cave

Its lush tropical topography affords the Dominican Republic myriad parks that can range from natural habitats to zoological reserves; many are home to ancient caves. At Caberete, a resort town near Puerto Plata, you can ride a horse through El Choco National Park and then swim inside its many caves. West of La Romana, the Maravillas National Park houses the "Cave of Miracles," which holds old Taino paintings. Nearby, the caves at Fun Fun Cave – the largest in the Caribbean – lure adventurers with their dark corridors and the four-mile underground river that runs through them. And don't miss Los Tres Ojos, near Santo Domingo, named for the three lakes nestled inside three caves; bats and turtles abound, and you'll find a series of stalagmites.

Go for Fine Dining, Skip the Resort Food

Your all-inclusive might tempt you to stay put; there's plenty to fill your plate. But because many resort towns are at the epicenter of the country's burgeoning cuisine scene, that other hotel down the beach might be serving up something worth exploring. Take Punta Cana, where destination eateries include the Blue Marlin inside the Secrets Sanctuary Cap Cana Resort; this eatery exudes South Pacific charm and runs its own fleet of fishing boats to nab the freshest catch of the day. The quiet, upscale Sivory Resort is home to three distinguished eateries; Gourmand Restaurant gets marks for quintessential French fare and an awesome wine list. Captain Cook Restaurant is not in a resort; it's got a prime setting right on the beach. But this casual eatery is worth mentioning for the high marks it gets. It draws diners with a value price point and wows with the Creole-style langostinos.

Skip the Crowds, See the Peninsula

The Saona Peninsula misses out on the crowds that flock, instead, to spots like Punta Cana and La Romana. So this can be a real haven, with its towering mangroves, sandy beaches and intense biodiversity. The Los Haitises National Park is here, with its Taino petroglyphs, lush rain forest and plethora of parrots. The village of Las Terrenas is home to many European descendants, and several quality pastry shops. And the shores of the town of Samana offer prime viewing, especially January through March, when humpback whales come here by the pod-loads to mate.

Build Splurge Money Into Your Shoestring Travel Budget

I’m currently in Santa Catalina, Panama, a surfer magnet on the Pacific Coast. I’ve got Panama listed as an “honorable mention” in my book because some things are a bargain, especially outside the capital, but this is a country with a booming economy—as in 10.5 percent growth last year. Most people aren’t rich here, especially outside the capital business district, but the middle class is large and getting bigger each year. Plus half the wealth of pre-Chavez Venezuela has seemingly landed in Panama City.

You could come to Panama and do nothing but kick back and party on the cheap. This is, after all, one of the cheapest places in the world to knock down some drinks. Almost nothing is taxed heavily here, including booze. But if you want to do the things most leisure travelers come here to do, you have to splurge a little now and then.

Back to Santa Catalina, where you can get a hostel bunk for $10 or less a block from the beach or get a private room for $15-$25. The thing is, if you want to get out to Coiba Island, where all these photos were taken, you’ll pay $50 a person for a boat of six people. It’s not that they’re ripping you off: it’s 37 miles to the island and gasoline is a tad more here than it is in the U.S. You need a few guys along as well, including at least one who can speak English. Plus park permits.

So if you want to get the full experience, you need to pay more than the proverbial $50 a day that Nomadic Matt lays out in his book I reviewed a while back. As he admits, sometimes you’ll go over for a good reason, so you need to make up for it later (or, I would add, have a splurge budget in addition to start with).

Being here brought me back to an experience I had as a round-the-world backpacker in the late 1990s. My wife and I had spent nearly six disappointing, sometimes grueling weeks in the Philippines, with only flashes of good memories to show for it. Overall, we were dejected and ready to high-tail it out of there to somewhere more attractive. When we finally got to El Nido in Palawan though, our moods brightened considerably. Beauty, better food, a decent cheap hotel. But the price for a boat tour of the islands and lagoons—$40 each in late 90′s dollars—was really going to thrash our budget for the week.

We debated, we hesitated, but in the end we threw down the cash and went out on our boat tour. It was by far the highlight of our last month in the country. A day of unsurpassed beauty and one postcard-perfect stop after another. Thankfully we had the sense to step up and go.

You won’t remember what you did with the $40 or $50 you saved once by skipping something when you’re 80 and looking back on your life. Or probably even what you spent for the splurge. You will remember the great times you had.

Can You Really Travel on the Cheap in Africa? Let’s Ask HoboTraveler Andy Graham

Each time I put out a new edition of The World’s Cheapest Destinations, I always try to find a way to get another African country in there and always come up short when I start digging into the research. So I only have Morocco and Egypt and always get some swipes from reviewers or blog readers for devoting so little space to Africa.

The problem is, that flack usually comes from people who have never tried to travel overland on a budget. Every time I interview someone who has spent weeks or months backpacking in Africa, they inevitably say some version of these two sentences. “Unless you sleep and eat like a local, you’re going to spend far more than you expected” and “for such poor countries, prices for travelers are really high.”

These two similar statements derive from a whole litany of reasons related to economics, infrastructure, and history. It doesn’t help that three of the last four years the $5 million Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance in Africa has gone to…nobody.

The one Africa traveler who hasn’t given me this usual negative litany is ultra-savvy budget traveler Andy Graham, better known as the Hobo Traveler. He’s been on the road non-stop for 14 years and has spent a fair chunk of that in Africa.

I caught up with him via Skype while he was hanging out in Lome, Togo, a faded bohemian French Colonial town on the Atlantic coast. He describes it as “like 1920s Paris, the cultural whorehouse of West Africa.”

We talked about the need to avoid the big tourist draws and agreed that you probably need a Western Europe sized budget if you’re going to the safari destinations of Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, or Namibia. Here’s my quote from him on the most popular destination though: “I have no desire to go to South Africa, partly because it’s got three times the cost of living of any other country on the continent and partly because it has the highest rate of crime and AIDS. Yet that’s where all the travelers go at some piont.”

That still leaves 40-some countries out there though. Here are his opinionated tips for traveling the continent on a budget.

Know your mission and stick to the mission.
“The media has pummeled Africa with this perception that it is such a poor mess. So most of the white people here are missionaries, state-sponsored aid workers, or are working for non-governmental agencies. There aren’t a whole lot of real travelers. Most people seem to travel so they can have good memories they can explain to their friends. I tell people I’m going to Africa they say, Who are you trying to save?’

So the first question is, why are you coming? The average traveler hates Africa. He or she has a list of things to see and do. Most of Africa is not for that, it’s a place for a cultural trip, for learning about people, languages, customs. There are very few animals in Western Africa because they ate them all or poached them. The British saved them in Kenya and elsewhere for hunting preserves. Only a few spots have a lot of them. On most of the continent it’s about connecting with people—black people of course—-which is not why most people travel. ”

Don’t come for the same reasons you went to Peru or Egypt
“Don’t come to Africa to find things to brag about with your friends back home. If you’re looking to do that the whole time, your options are limited and you’ll spend a load of money no matter how frugally you try to do it.

Know what you’re here for and don’t come to be entertained—unless you’re a sex tourist. And don’t come to Africa just to hang out with other white people. Sitting around drinking with white people is quite expensive in Africa. A flashpacker coming to Africa is going to get killed money-wise. To sit around in a huddle drinking beer and going online to post photos on Facebook is going to cost you a fortune.

Negotiate Hard for Everything
“Africa has a reputation for trying to rip off foreigners, especially West Africa. I had a much harder time before I learned to speak French. In Ghana and parts of East Africa they speak English and don’t’ make everything such a hassle, so it’s easier.

Whether we admit it or not, we white travelers have these preconceived notion of black people. We expect people to act a certain way and look for ways to support that expectation. But they’re mostly Just normal people trying to make a living. On one hand it’s so safe here in Tome you practically have to leave money on the table overnight to get physically robbed. But they’ll try to rob you blind in every transaction all day long because they’re used to white people being idiots. All these NGO and project workers have practically unlimited budgets. Lots of them will stay in the best hotels, drink beer every night, and go out to the best restaurants. So business owners become accustomed to charging ever white person five times as much as a local because they truly think we’re all rich and stupid with our money.

You have to keep money in perspective and prove you’re not an idiot. A guy tried to charge me $8 today for wire ties at a store. I told him ‘You’re crazy. You’re probably living on $2 a day, right?’

‘No,” he tells me, ‘Just $1 a day.’

Much of Africa earning that $1 to $2 a day. Treat $20 like it’s nothing and people will keep charging you accordingly.

It’s hard for us to look at a black person and say, ‘You’re f%cking ripping me off!’ We’re so conditioned to think that’s racist. We think we’re supposed to treat them with extra respect because their life sucks. But their life doesn’t suck. You’re not dissing them to argue or criticize. You have to argue constantly. It’s normal. If you don’t they think you’re another rich idiot working for Oxfam just to fill out the resume.

There’s no political correctness here. In the market people will yell, ‘Hey white guy! Hey fatso! Sexy blondie!’ Learn to talk like they do to get things done.”

Spend the time to get a good hotel deal.
“Anyone charging you $30 a night for a basic hotel room in most of Africa is ripping you off. The tourism industry here is probably the worst on the planet: they try to gouge every white person, assuming they’re all idiots. Many of them are idiots. Outside of big cities and resort areas, paying more than $10 or $15 a night for a basic hotel is absolutely getting ripped off. In

Arrive before noon to have time to find a hotel. Walk in and tell them how much you want to pay. You say $5, they say $30, eventually to your real budget. But you have to have a real budget and stick to it. Be willing to walk out and keep looking.

When I walk into a hotel, they always take me to the best room in the hotel. They can’t believe I don’t want that room, they’re aghast. They slowly work their way down until I’m leaving and they finally show me the $5 room. You have to assume anyone who takes you anywhere is taking you to the most expensive option. Continually refuse and stay on budget, on mission. A basic room with a bulb and bath starts at $5, a table adds a dollar, hot water adds a dollar, and each other thing keeps adding up. But I can go to the best hotel in town and use the pool for a dollar, so why do I need the hotel with a pool? You can rent a room here for a whole month for $50 if you work on it.

You also have to get over the stigma of the ‘chamber de passage.’ Probably 90% of the hotels in Africa are love hotels. There are just not enough traveling salesmen or domestic tourists to support many cheap hotels. So hotel customers are mostly NGO workers at the high end and locals getting some privacy on the low end. Every hotel I go into I assume someone’s going to bring in a girl and go at it next door. But at least there’s always a maid around. They’re private, comfortable, and cheap.

Also understand that nothing is ever cleaned like an American would clean it. It’s cleaner than India maybe, but not to the standards of say, Thailand or Vietnam. I’ll get the $8 or $10 room and pay the maid a few bucks to truly clean the bathroom. She’s thrilled and I get a room that’s up to the cleanliness level of one you’d get in Southeast Asia. Otherwise that would be $40 here. But we’re so used to convenience. ‘Why should I have to clean the sink? Or fix the toilet myself?’ Because you’re in a $5 room, that’s why. If you want convenience, get a $50 room.

One important point: traveling with someone else is far cheaper. The room price is the room price-one person pays the same as two. ”

Your guidebook is probably useless.
You won’t find most love hotels listed in your guidebook because the majority of Africa guidebook writers are current or former aid workers. Most of the hotels they recommend have parking because the writers are driving everywhere in a car. The cheaper love hotels people walk to. The outside space is just a shady tree people can sit under and drink a beer. ‘No parking’ means it’s for Africans and will be cheap.

The LP and Rough Guides are both terrible. Many of the writers are completely clueless and have grilled me for hours to get the most basic information. They’re written for people driving a car and staying at hotels that can be reached by car.

Whatever you do don’t rely on TripAdvisor. That’s even worse.

Avoid the Clingons
“When you get off a plane or bus there will be a boy or young man following you around and speaking your language. Often you can spot them before you even get off because they’re the only people in Africa with dreadlocks. They’re aggressive touts pure and simple and I promise you none are ever there to do you a favor. If you’re a woman they’re probably looking for a sugar mama and if you’re a man they’re trying to soak you for whatever they can to be your ‘helper.’ ?

Planning is a waste of time in Africa.
“The more you plan, the more you’re going to screw up. Everything is going to go wrong. It’s much better to just wing it as you go. In any city under 150,000 people I take a taxi tour of the city and say ‘Show me the $10 hotels.’ He’ll take me to the most expensive places first of course no matter what I say. Finally he gets frustrated and takes me to the cheap ones. I’m going to have to invest an hour or two of work to save $10, but I’m going to stay there a week so that’s $70 for two hours of work.

Don’t travel more than 4 hours a day, do it in the morning so you arrive before noon. It’s tiresome and you can run into all sorts of problems. If things go wrong, you’ve got a cushion. An 8-hour trip can easily become 12. The torture of travel often comes from trying to do too much.

Start out in a cheap country like Ghana or Malawi to get your bearings and get over the culture shock. Then you’ll be ready to take on the tougher places.”

Don’t be a bum.
“Being a bum is accepting less than what you deserve in life. Stand your ground and be a king instead. Refuse to get in a vehicle that already has 25 people in it. Just wait for the next one. Someone will say, ‘There are no more cars today.’

‘Bullshit. You’re lying,’ I’ll reply.

Every single time a new empty car or bus shows up soon after.

If you’re not trying to race across vast distances in a hurry, you’ve got more leverage to wait, to negotiate. If you’re willing to walk out of the hotel because they won’t budge, you’ll get a room you like for the right price. Being in a hurry will cost you.

In Ethiopia you have to take a truck overland for more than a day to head out of this one spot. A guy wanted me to ride on the canvas roof of a cattle truck for 27 hours, with cattle horns below me. ‘I’d rather live in this city for the rest of my life than ride on top of that truck for 27 hours,’ I said. I waited around and got on a grain truck where we could sleep on top of the grain sacks. Backpackers go to Africa thinking they have to be a bum. I have back problems so I’ll pay someone a dollar to carry my bag. I require a nice room for $10. What I expect is what I get.”

Get out of the big cities.
“NGO and Peace Corp workers love big cities with their big offices, so there are lots of cafes and bars for white expatriates. That makes many people feel comfortable. But prices for everything are three times more than they’ll be once you get 50 miles out of town. So don’t come all this way just to hang out in Accra, Nairobi, or Dakar.

Budgets don’t get killed by one thing. They get killed by a lot of little things. And every little thing is more in the big cities.

If your mission is to hang around a city and socialize online with your friends back home, why leave home?”

Don’t eat every meal at restaurants.
“African food is generally kind of bland, meant to be filling and fattening. There are far more fat people here than you would expect. It’s hard to get vegetables when you eat out, so I always cook vegetables in the room from a market or store and buy fruit to eat. I used to use a hot plate. You can buy one for $5 a lot of times. But hotel owners don’t like you to use them. So now I use a cheap homemade alcohol cooker.

When looking for a restaurant, don’t eat where white people are. Then study the menu and figure out what you can eat on a budget. Or just tell them what you want and agree on a price. They’ll usually make it for you if they have the ingredients. ”

***

To see what Andy is up to right now, see the Hobo Traveler blog.

If I did include a country in the next edition, it would probably be Ghana or Malawi. This BootsnAll article on traveling in Malawi for $25 a day is encouraging, though it does say you need to sleep in dorm beds and eat what the locals eat. Fortunately eating what the local eat here does not mean bland gruel for three meals a day.