Back on the Road – Panama Day 3

My "Full" Size Rental Car

Today we went through the process of renting a car in Panama which was fairly interesting.  I had reserved an intermediate car over the internet and after filling out the paperwork I was told that I was being upgrading to a full size car free of charge.  I seldom get perks like this so I was mildly impressed with myself.  I was escorted out to my car and was presented with a Toyota Corolla – definitely not my idea of a full size car.  I’m just glad I got the upgrade because I can only imagine what an intermediate or God forbid a compact size car would have been.  Driving in Panama is in a word – an adventure.  The traffic moves but seems to follow its own set of rules – most of the time.  I drove around Panama all the time when I was a young lieutenant but this would be the first time since then.  I loved it and found the driving was much less scarier than I anticipated – being a passenger is a whole lot worse.  As I was leaving the rental agency there was a police station with a sign saying there had been 115 fatalities in the last seventy days – those rules are open to a wide interpretation and apparently violent disagreements.  My job – not becoming 116.  We went up to meet with the people who are selling us some land.  They are related by marriage to one of Maria’s cousins.  There was a small monkey wrench in our plans in that the government of Panama was now charging a tax on all real estate transactions.  They proposed selling us the land for $10 and paying the tax on that and then we passing them the agreed upon price under the table.  I thought about this but I could just imagine this coming to light in the middle of our construction and halting everything.  I told them that we would pay the tax in order to keep everything above board.  We then went up to visit the land we are buying and I was once again struck by the beauty of our future second home.  I will post photos when I get back to the US.  It’s a fairly level plot in a town called Dolega and what sold me was the view from the back of the lot.  The land slopes away and provides a dramatic view of the towering volcanic mountains of central Panama.  Dolega is about 15 minutes from my wife’s home town but its halfway up into those mountains and just high enough to freshen the temperatures – a lot.  This makes it close enough to be close to my Wife’s family (an extremely important point for both of us) but high enough that this gringo can enjoy the climate.  Tomorrow is our thirtieth anniversary party and the whole reason we came down here.

A Picture of the Area we Are Buying Land In