I first ran into Howler monkeys in Costa Rica. I was riding through the jungle when we came upon perhaps 25 of them in the trees. They started throwing poop at us and we were trying to dodge it while laughing hysterically.
Roger Clemens, they are not, but they threw some pretty good fastballs. It was a Kodak Moment.
I hadn’t heard about the yacht situation, although that makes perfect sense. My older brother lives on one and he’s been anchored in Mexico for a couple of years. He’s talking about heading south to Panama. If he sells it there, I’ll let you know.
The thing about Panama and Costa Rica is that everyone thinks they are hot. Well, they are, along the coast or at sea level. But you don’t have to climb very high into the hills and mountains to get very mild conditions year around. In Panama, you can live 20 miles from the coast in some locations and it will never get above 80 degrees during the day.
There are some locations that seem more like Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, which is a little too cool for me. Just pick your altitude and you’ve picked your temperature range.
Panama has fresh pineapple that are two for a dollar, and sometimes three for a dollar.
I ate at a Bennigan’s in Panama City, not monkey on a stick from a sidewalk vendor (although that’s a pretty nifty experience to have had ONCE.)
North Carolina is pretty nice, so I can’t fault your preference. I kinda like the fact that Panama exempts folks who move there from any property tax for 20 years.
In fact, if you move to or purchase $200,000 of assets in the country, you’re granted full citizenship. And no, you don’t have to relinquish your American citizenship. You get to vote in both elections and have two passports.
The indelible impressions I have about Panama include the following:
#1 Jungle so dense that even night vision goggles won't work there.
#2 Temperatures that hovered at 110 degrees at 1400 (2 pm) with 98% humidity, on the jungle floor. The sweat wouldn't evaporate and so there was not much chance of getting any cooling effect from it.
#3 Howler Monkeys & Vampire Bats that land near you and crawl up to nibble at your ear with razor sharp teeth and saliva that acts as both an anticoagulant and a anesthetic. One of my nco's got tricky one night and felt the bite so he EASED his hand up to grab the bat -- the idea being that he would capture the critter for tests so he might not have to undergo the rabies shots. Too bad he grabbed the bat too low on the body and lost the tip of his thumb for all his efforts. He was soon howling in harmony with the monkeys.
#4 The downpours that used to leave us floating in freshly dug fighting positions.
#5 Black Palm that could send a spine thru a forearm with little reversed teeth to make it tougher to remove. Usually a medic would clip it from the other side and send you off to the Hospital with the spine still impaling your arm.