La Mano Dura, Real Estate and Luna’s Castle
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Dear Panama E-Letter Subscribers:
La Mano Dura, Real Estate and Luna’s CastleBy Matt Atlee President Martinelli´s crackdown on crime continues. This past Friday night while driving in Casco Viejo I was pulled over by the police who checked the car and all my documents. If you are going to be driving at night while in Panama be sure that all of your documents are in order. The police are really cracking down on all forms of crime. There is now a “no tolerance policy” towards crime in Panama. This is an attempt to contain the high crime wave that has passed through Central America since the crackdown on the drug cartels in Mexico. Mexicans have displaced Colombians as the major drug runners from the Andes to the U.S. border. Luna’s Castle Hostal
If you are looking for an inexpensive place to stay in Panama City and want to be in the French Quarter of Panama, then you should check out Luna’s Castle. Great place to meet fellow travelers. Visit their website. Property TaxesThe Minister of Economy and Finance Alberto Vallerino announced that the government plans to increase the collection of property taxes over the next five years. The new government estimates that tax revenues could be increased by $200 million if property taxes on properties worth more than $100,000 are collected. There is talk that the increase tax collection could help pay for a new metro system. There are rumors – which have been circulating for years – that a metro system is no longer a question of if but when. Panama City is a modern city with skyscrapers, highways and a modern financial sector, but its transit system is still stuck in the 1950s. A metro system would lessen traffic and pollution and put an end to the use of old American school buses as the main form of transport for the Panamanian workforce; it would also weaken the hold of the powerful transport union which is one of the strongest in Panama. Look for an expansion of metro train networks across the Central American region. Costa Rica is opening a new train line between San Jose and Heredia this week. This new cleaner form of transportation should help make Central American cities more livable. Real Estate In PanamaThe story in the Panamanian real estate market right now is rentals. In many of the neighborhoods in the former Canal Zone people are renting their homes to foreigners. The hope is that with the Canal expansion moving forward foreigners will want to rent homes in the old Canal Zone. The average price for a rental in the old Canal Zone is between $2500 and $3000 a month. Most people are renting; real estate sales have dropped since the global slowdown. Some projects are moving forward like Embassy Club, but most real estate projects are at a standstill. Prices for condos and houses have remained high and will probably stay that way. Trip To La Yeguada
Next to La Yeguada is a lake which was formed as part of the hydroelectric installation at La Yeguada. The hydroelectric installation provides most of the electricity for Veraguas Province. Around the lake is a large pine forest which was started back in the 1970s. The drive to La Yeguada was difficult and rain was falling so it was hard to drive up to La Yeguada and the lake. If you want to see the lake go in February or March. Start your trip in Santiago de Veraguas, from Santiago travel to Calobre, and then ask where the road to La Yeguada begins. The town near the lake has electricity and there are a few shops with bare necessities. The lake in the summer would be a good place to set up a tent and camp. You can walk from the lake to the high mountain town of Chitra or to the coffee and orange producing town of Santa Fe. From Santa Fe you can walk over the Continental Divide and down to the Atlantic coast, through the jungles of Veraguas and out on to the isolated beaches of Calovebra’. There you might have to wait a day or two for the supply boats to take you to Colon. You can sleep on the beach, but terrible mosquitoes. Written By Matt Atlee Panama 101 – E-Book – $69
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I had the opportunity to visit a hostel in Casco Viejo called Luna’s Castle. This is one of the most affordable places to stay in Panama City. The hostel also has a bar connected to it called Relic Bar which has an open courtyard as well as a ratskeller.
I wanted to visit the mountain town of La Yeguada which is located in a remote section of Veraguas province.