I found an article I wrote last year about the first time Andrew and I visited Panama.

I put it on my blog:
http://karmynmalone.com/?p=504

I’m finding a lot of articles about the time we were in Costa Rica as well–reading them is bringing back such FUN memories!

I experienced “the gringo tax” in both countries–this is when they charge you slightly more for an item just because you’re not a local.

Typically you will be charged a few cents (or colones) more for something, which is fine because it’s such a small amount and few would argue over a few cents.

I had an EXTREME experience with the gringo tax while in Costa Rica where a cabbie tried to charge me $225 for a taxi ride from the Alajuela aiport to Atenas–the ride should have only cost between $20-$25–that’s 10 TIMES the normal fare!

Needless to say that cabbie did not get the $225 he wanted–he got $25 and an “F-YOU”

Not to say this couldn’t happen in Panamá, but whatever country you choose just be aware of the gringo tax.

The easiest way to avoid this is to ask what the rates should be for various fares. You can ask the receptionist at your hotel, for example.

Also ask people you meet if they know of any drivers with reasonable rates–they will give you the cell phone numbers of honest drivers–I have a few contacts myself.

Just because the taxis in Costa Rica are supposed to use meters it doesn’t mean they work! Although sometimes they don’t work, just be aware that there are times when they do work and the driver refuses to use them.

I’ve had some interesting over charge stories from my adventures in San Jose (this is where the gringo tax is most likely to happen)

Once I got into a cab and the driver had no idea how to get where I needed to go. He took my directions and went to where he thought the place was. Once we realized that it was wrong we drove around asking local people where to find the place.

Ticos (Costa Ricans) don’t use the term “No sé” (I don’t know) very often so they will tell you anything even if they have no idea! (Panamanians are familiar with the term, though)

Needless to say we were led on a wild goose chase that ended up costing me around 4500 colones ($8)

The cab fare back was less than $1 (500 colones)

Pura vida! (What else can I say, lol)

I’ve found the tomatoes here to be better quality than Costa Rica. But they still aren’t as good as the tomatoes in the United States.

Also I find the greens here to be better quality and or more available on a regular basis. But I only have about 3 weeks of experience in Costa Rica. So who knows maybe that’s not true and maybe it depends where you are. Though the spinach is similarly as bad as in Costa Rica.

It did seem like there were more kinds of tropical fruits available in the big farmer’s markets of Costa Rica. But we’ve yet to explore the market in Boquete. Of course there are fruiterias all over the place and sometimes they have their own unique stuff. You’ve just got to know where to look.

We want to try this yellow kind of avocado that’s supposed to taste like butter. We learned about it while taking a trip to Volcan and just asking the woman what kind of fruit and produce she grew on her property.

I am also able to consistently get frozen strawberries and blueberries at the Price Smart. Not sure if you can get those in Costa Rica. Also many supermarkets at least carry frozen strawberries. I use these regularly in my smoothies.

We’ve also had a much better overall experience with taxis here than in Costa Rica. We now have a driver we’re friends with in which we can have his driving services for $10 an hour.

We go shopping and he waits for us if we know we’re going to be in and out quickly. Then he takes us to our next destination. If we plan to stay a long time we just call him to pick us up and or we just get another taxi.

In fact, yesterday we left our bags in his trunk while we went shopping in the mall and he picked us up over an hour later. We’ve become quite friendly with him and we trust him.

But otherwise they’re very honest here in our area and if we’ve been ripped off it may have been for an extra dollar at most. However a cabbie in San Jose, Costa Rica was trying to rip Karmyn off by charging her triple the normal fair for a long trip.

The taxis are plentiful and yes they don’t use meters but the rate is quite reasonable and once you start using the taxis regularly you know what the going rate is and you give the money to the driver before he even asks you about it.

Either place a little street savvy will take you a long way.

And one other thing.

The shopping here is incredible. So many great and really modern and well equipped stores. Anyone who’s been in Costa Rica’s supermarkets will be shocked when shopping at El Rey. I couldn’t believe how many of the brands I’m used to from the US they carry there. You can simply get way more stuff here than you can in Costa Rica and at great prices. Even the imported stuff is usually a similar price you’d pay for it in the United States.

Not only is the food a lot cheaper but much of the other stuff you can shop for is a lot cheaper as well. And Costa Rica doesn’t even come close in the shopping department (even non-supermarket) as far as my experience there.

Can get a nice queen size bed mattress for around $200. Not a cheap foam one.

The other night we were able to get a great fruit and vegetable cuber like the Vidalia Chop Wizard which sells on the infomercials. We got it at the Do It Center for about $7.50 (we were really surprised to find it there) and yet the same thing from Amazon.com will cost you about $25 plus shipping these days.

Great shopping and cheap prices for most things. And yet I haven’t even explored the shopping in Panama City which I heard is much cheaper and with better selection than in our area.

Finally the Internet. Seems to me not much better than in Costa Rica. But I believe in the Panama City area you can get much faster connections.

In this area 2megs per second seems to be around the tops unless you get a more expensive business account which can give you 4 megs.

Cheers,

Roger Haeske
The 42-Year Old Teenager

We’re looking forward to having you both here!

We’re coming up to Costa Rica sometime next month–we’re hoping to come up during the Orotina fruit festival. Do you have any idea when it is?

Anyway we’ll see ya next month!

Love, Karmyn

You’ve CLEARLY haven’t spent enough time in Panamá to give it a FAIR comparison to Costa Rica!

Comparing all the years you’ve spent in Costa Rica to a few weeks you’ve spent in Panamá City is like someone comparing their time spent in the beautiful Chiriquí Province of Panamá to spending a few days in yucky San José, Costa Rica–it’s simply not fair.

I really wished that you two came to visit us in Chiriquí last month–we could have showed you some places that would have COMPLETELY blown your mind!

Here’s a few videos for you to check out:

Boca Chica, Panama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWkYsc-CJRA

Raw Food Family In Panama By River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8RxTCJwS5Q

Side by Side Comparison of Panamá and Costa Rica (border towns):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32ffica9evU

I’m currently on week 6 here in Panamá (not including the 5 days I spent in Bocas del Toro last year) but I will be happy to submit to you my thoughts comparing the 6 months I lived in Costa Rica to the 6 months I’m currently living in Panamá (I can have it ready for you this summer).

I also have some more videos to share with you that were shot in Boquete and I got some videos shot at Playa La Barqueta and Volcán–I just need to upload them to youtube!

I have some pictures of Bocas Del Toro somewhere that I can send you that will AMAZE you!

We will take a trip there soon and I will shoot some videos for you!

I agree that Costa Rica is a BEAUTIFUL place, but you know what? Panamá is just as BEAUTIFUL, with better roads and services. There’s also LESS taxes (5% vs 16% in Costa Rica).

Now how can a place that charges TRIPLE the taxes that Panamá charges have roads in such POOR condition?

To be fair Panamá does have some bad roads (whenever I’m on them it reminds me of Costa Rica, lol) just as Costa Rica has some roads in GREAT condition (which will make me think of Panamá, lol).

Also home rentals are less in Panamá than in Costa Rica. For instance did you know that the place in Boca Chica rents for $1,000/month? How much do you think a similar place would rent in Costa Rica? My guess: $1300/month.

I really think that once you two return to Central America in 2011 you really should give Panamá a fair shot–by spending half a year here instead of half a month you will have enough information to write a FAIR article comparing the two countries–hey you can live near us so at least you will know some people who can show you around!

I’m sure in the next few months we are here we will learn about even MORE beautiful treasures that we can share with you.

Here’s a few places that we plan on visiting and things we want to do:

Rio Serreno (we drove on the mountain road towards Serreno and it was INCREDIBLE)

Chiriqui National Park

Bocas Del Toro

Whale Watching

Dolphin Watching

Visiting the ISLAND part of Boca Chica

Visiting other ISLANDS here in Panamá

Checking out the jungle in Darien

Visiting Cerro Azul

Well the list goes on and on!

Also in regards to transportation it’s EASY to get to all the great destinations.

Depending on one’s budget there are plenty of planes that can fly you to different destinations (just like Costa Rica) such as Air Panamá (www.flyairpanama.com) and Aeroperlas (www.aeroperlas.com).

There are also buses as well as some ferries or you can simply rent a car!

As for places that cater to tourists there are plenty here in Panamá.

If you want an EXPERT that can steer you to where all of Panama’s treasures are, simply contact Arturo:

Panama Horizons Tourism Agency
Apartado 0426-00829
David, Chiriquí
República de Panamá

Telefax (507) 774-4588
Celular 6578-9772

panamahorizons (at) hotmail (dot) com
http://www.panamahorizons.com

As for the number of North American expats here, there are PLENTY! We’ve met so many.

A great way to connect with some expats is through “Noticias” which is an e-mail list that notifies you of things to do in and around Boquete.

For instance, this Friday there’s a group that meeting to go bird watching in Boquete.

To subscribe send an e-mail to newslady (at) noticiasdeboquete (dot) org

As for FOOD variety I’ve been able to find almost every fruit and vegetable I found in Costa Rica (with the exception of sapodilla, but I don’t think they’re in season yet–they didn’t show up in Costa Rica until March when I was there last year and I expect that I’ll be able to find them next month here)

Also the supermarkets here in Panamá actually have more variety than the ones in Costa Rica. For instance you can buy raw medjool dates in the supermarket, Rey.

The only dates that are in Costa Rica are the cooked variety (pitted dates have been steamed).

Also I’ve found honeydew melons in Rey (never saw honeydews in Costa Rica) as well as cherries (don’t recall seeing cherries in Costa Rica) and there are a few other fruits I never saw.

A recent green that Rey now carries is Baby Spinach from California as opposed to that strange “espinaca” that’s grown in Costa Rica and Panamá! Also Rey has Baby Romaine and California Spring Mix.

Fortunately Cerro Punta grows similar greens to make Spring Mix so there’s no need to pay extra for the imported variety.

The Persian Cucumber is grown here at it’s one of Andrew’s favorite snacks.

Now there is something that Costa Rica has that is better than Panamá–the government schools are better in Costa Rica. This is a non issue for us since we’re homeschooling Andrew.

If I’m not mistaken the PRIVATE schools are equal in both countries.

Well I can go on and on …

To sum things up although I enjoyed living in Costa Rica (I really did) I feel that Panamá is a better fit especially since both countries are equally beautiful, the cost of living in Panamá is less (and you get better services, too), I don’t have to deal with those pesky colones and I don’t have to hear “Pura Vida!” dozens of time a day (sorry, but it got old QUICK for me)

So will we be seeing you both in Panamá next year?

Your future neighbor,

Karmyn
http://karmynmalone.com
“Team Panamá”