2 Retire In Panama? NEWSLETTER
Volume 17 January 18, 2021
This weeks featured photo...
...is from our recent travel to the States. Our friends,Ray and Diane, are taking a stab at being snowbirds. I took this awsome sunrise shot from the balcony of their condo on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico at Orange Beach, Alabama. They hosted us for a few days over New Years. It was a wonderful time to catch up and explore their new second home. We absolutely loved their new place.
This weeks COVID...
...update is how I am helping to keep readers updated on how "under control" COVID-19 is in Panama. This is the update as of January 15th from Karyn Saunders.Thank you so much Karyn for continuing to keep ex-pats aware of the statistics:
Panama has 2307 new cases, 34 new deaths (1.6% death rate), 233 in ICU, 3593 newly recovered (active cases have decreased by over 2,000 in the previous 2 days).
Here are a few additional observations:
1) The first batch of the vaccine, developed by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, will be arriving in Panama between January 18th and 25th.
2) Those interested in receiving the vaccine have been encouraged to register at the government website. Register for the vaccine here. Jen and I registered to receive the vaccine. The website is in Spanish and the translation is difficult to navigate. I would suggest that you keep the form in Spanish while completing it. If you need to translate it, use a separate browser for the translation. The website will tell you if your registration went through. The registration may further be confusing because only phase 4 are being registered. We believe that that is the general population, but questions in the registration will identify individuals who may qualify to be vaccinated in an earlier phase.
3) On Tuesday last week the Ministry of Health announced further restrictions. We are frustrated by the restrictions, however they have loosened them a bit from the previous few weeks. We remain under total lockdown on weekends and from 9pm - 4am during the week. We are allowed out on gender specific days (women M,W,F and men T, Th) for shopping and basic errands. All non-essential business are to remain closed until February 1st when they will again phase in the opening of the business sector. During the week the beaches will be open for walking and exercise, but the government has red flagged swimming until March 15th. This decision has had a lot of controversy and has been changed numerous times. Do not quote me on this as it may change again between completing this newsletter and it being published. I suspect all of this has something to do with Carnival. It further discourages the public from gathering and partying.
On the upside, we feel like we are safe from the virus here in our tropical paradise. The incidence of death and suffering from the virus are less here than practically any place else on earth.
My special offer this week...
...is all about something that I am passionate about, reading. Amazon best sellers of 2020 My book did not make the list but in a recent check of sales I discovered that it was trending at #9 in Panama Travel Guides, #17 in Central American Travel, and #18 in Caribbean Travel of the top 100 in the Kindle Store.
My book is full of great information and adventures in Panama. If this interests you, pick up a copy to read more about our awsome journey. You can get a copy of my book by clicking the link here, or the link on the blog. It is exclusively available on Amazon or Kindle. Kindle Unlimited subscribers read it free.
Remember the Smart Bracelet that I featured before Christmas? Well mine came, and even after paying for extra shipping to Panama it cost me less than $15. The important take away from this offer is that we should expect what we pay for. I had a difficult time syncing mine with my IPhone, but eventually with a little research on Google it happened. If you got one of these Smart Bracelets, and are having a hard time syncing it, let me know and I will share the blog where I got instructions. The instructions that came with the device were very vague. It is also difficult to figure out how to charge. I am hopeful that it will help me get in touch with my healthy self.
Over Christmas...
...we spent time with family in Punta Gorda, Florida. We were hosted by my parents and sister who are firmly planted permanently in the warmth of sunny Southwest Florida.
One of the reasons we chose to retire in Panama is the proximity to the States. From Panama City it is an easy flight to Miami where we rented a car for our Florida adventure. We had expected to travel more in 2020, but the worldwide pandemic had something to say about that. We were happy, despite travel concerns, to be able to make the journey to spend the holidays with family and friends.
While we were in Florida we were able to explore some great places like Fisherman Village in Punta Gorda and eat out at some great restaurants with family. We also enjoyed a great family dinner on Christmas, and the girls all got matching Santa shirts for a photo opportunity. I had to give my dad a lesson in Cribbage...he would say that he gave me a lesson. We were pretty evenly matched for the whole stay, but I managed to eek out more wins.
On last Wednesday I published a blog post. I hope you are all getting an e-mail notification when I make a post, however if you aren't and would like to see it click the link above.
Another of my readers...
...who was kind enough to send me a picture is Cory Spicer. Cory is a great friend going back to my days at Pfizer. He is reading my book in preparation for his visit. He wants to come down this Spring to play a little golf and get some sunshine while it is still cold in Michigan. We are hoping to be able to entertain him in the next few weeks. Travel has been such a challenge, that we have had almost no visitors from home. His visit is something we are looking forward to with great anticipation.
Blessings from paradise,
Greg 