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Newsletter for those thinking
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Welcome to NEWSLETTER.
CHANGE IN FORMAT NEWSLETTER will now be sent out as the ONLINE edition of the monthly news magazine CHIRIQUI LIBRE. Still all the great stories and articles about life in Panama. ARCHIVES will now include articles from CHIRIQUI LIBRE.
Why not sign up for the monthly CHIRIQUI LIBRE NEWSLETTER. It’s free and if you plan to visit or retire in Panama, this is a great way to stay informed. Just click on the box to the left. Sylvia Peters |
The Shangri-La valley is the picturesque valley just north west of Volcan. It is home to the major vegetable growers of Panama and an idyliic orchid garden called Finca Dracula. This is a great place to spend a day enjoying some of the 2,600 varieties of orchids.
Orchid Finca Dracula
Finally, our favourite Iranian chef Bernard Bahary has opened up a late night restaurant in David. His amazing ability to make even the most bland of meals stand out always delights his regular clientele. Curried spaghetti, may be odd to some, but we found that this and other twists to the otherwise bland and boring, make a meal at Bernard’s something to savor.
Bernard's goodbye boring
Armuelles rising. This western Panamanian port city has seen its share of ups and down. With the building of a new multi-million dollar refinery the local economy is definitely headed for another boom time. This small, picturesque little town is Panama’s answer to Mexico’s Puerta Vallarta. The characters that passed through this town include Einstein, “Papillon” and various Hollywood stars.
Armuelles Rising
Blair house was built by the former head of the United Fruit Company. It is possibly the most historic house in Panama. Every president has been there as well as the dictators Somoza and Noriega. As the saying goes, if walls could only talk. Well the walls can’t but the man that looked after the walls and house, can – he talks to David Dell.
Blair House
Petro Terminal Panama is a facility that pumps oil along a 131 kilometer pipeline from the Pacific to the Atlantic. After the Exxon Valdez accident the facility went into decline but now is almost back to its former greatness. This terminal is another reason why we feel that the Puerto Armuelles area is heading for another boom period.
Petro Terminal Panama
David Dell, our raving reporter has a strong desire to become Panama’s Mark Twain. We sent him out on April the first to solve the mystery of Volcan’s magnetic hill. Not quite the jumping frogs of Calaveras county but darn close.
Many people want to know what Panama is really like. This article on a successful student protest here in Volcan, speaks volumes. As the Pope addressed the General Assembly of the United Nations a small handful of students (mainly girls) addressed the serious problems experienced in their local school.
Learning a new language is difficult (tell me about it) Here in Volcan close to a hundred young people are going to spend 5 hours a night, 5 days a week in an effort to learn English, and to hopefully better their lives.
Panama English Language school.
Shopping here in Panama can be an adventure. I went with friends Lydia Dell and Jeanie Friedman to see what we could buy and more importantly what we could discover. A promise, if you do decide to retire here, it will be fun and you will share that fun with many soul sisters.
Our hottest story is on local rare bird, named the Maria Vega. This albino, Rufous Collared Sparrow, is rare, extremely rare – in fact we have pictures of the only known bird to exist. This white sparrow will certainly have birders coming from all over Panama (the world) to photograph it.
Maria Vega, the white sparrow
Bocas Del Toro is Panama’s answer to Belize’s Ambergris Cay. The developments here have been mired in scams and failed developments for years. Fortunately, a new high-end development called Sunset Point is doing things right. This project will have the largest marina in the area and will become the standard to which all other project will hopefully aspire.
Doing it right in Bocas Del Toro