Monday, July 6, 2026
The Truth About Luxury High Rise Condominium Living in Las Vegas
This article is an attempt to dispel two misconceptions about high rise condominium (condo) living: first, that high rise condos can easily be compared to investing and living in other formats, most notably single family homes (e.g., how do you compare a high rise loaded with on-site amenities with a single family home with none?); and second, comparisons can be easily drawn between high rise management and managing other residential formats (e.g., how do you compare managing complicated high rises containing common area amenities and resident shared building systems (e.g., AC and plumbing) with stand alone single family communities with few shared facilities?). The first point addresses recent owner tendencies to second guess the wisdom of their condo purchases by comparing them with other residential formats, an acknowledgment that the Las Vegas high rise condo market has softened considerably during the past five years. The second point is particularly noteworthy as it has become apparent, at least in Las Vegas, that competent high rise management is becoming increasingly difficult to find, hire and retain.
The investment community always viewed residential high rise condos as second class investments relative to single family homes, but it’s not until you live there that you truly understand why. It was no surprise to me that most condo owners don’t fully appreciate the investment or the daily living differences, but I was shocked to recently discover that many professional HOA managers, at least in Las Vegas, either don’t understand or are unwilling to admit that there are many and profound challenges posed by managing high rises that just don’t exist elsewhere. Professional HOA managers who are skeptical of those differences should consult with mortgage lenders and other investors who routinely view high rise condos as more complicated, riskier and consequently worthy of scrutiny, conservative appraisals and, as a result, more restrictive underwriting.
High rise living is easy but not for everyone.
Don’t misunderstand me, high rise condo living is ecologically friendly, requires minimal effort on the part of condo owners to maintain (other than their own condos) and can provide very cost effective living, especially if owners and tenants take full advantage of amenities and common areas typically provided, such as pools, gyms, business centers, game and theater rooms, not to mention TV/internet service and 24 hour security and concierge services. However, living here means forfeiting some freedom and some privacy and as investments they are riskier than other residential formats.
High rise condos are typically managed by homeowner associations (HOAs) that govern according to a set of community rules and regulations called CC&Rs (which stand for covenants, conditions and restrictions) as well as statewide and local laws. HOAs are typically managed by a Board of Directors who are owners that have been elected to serve as fiduciaries for their communities. The Board in the best cases are honest, well-intentioned individuals with common business sense that stand ready to monitor their managers and guide the strategic vision of their communities. In Las Vegas, high rise HOAs typically contract with professional HOA/Property Managers who are experts able to handle routine daily operations and to navigate the many issues that inevitably arise in high rises where owners share many common elements with their neighbors. Owners are to some extent restricted in their use of their condos by those two governing bodies and that set of laws, rules and regulations. Single family homes, even as part of an HOA, have far fewer restrictions on their use.
High rises can be complicated investments
When you buy a high rise condo you become living and financial partners with all the owners in your community. You don’t know those other owners and ownership will change over time with sellers departing and new buyers coming into the mix. In addition to agreeing to comply with your high rise’s CC&Rs, you agree to pay a monthly HOA assessment that usually increases annually, and agree to pay into a reserve fund to make future disbursements to replace physical elements that will depreciate and wear out over time. Reserve funds in single family HOAs are much less significant and complicated.
Unlike single family homes where mortgage lenders inspect your home and assess your (the borrower’s) financial condition, mortgage lenders to prospective high rise condo buyers are compelled to consider you and your entire community. Lenders need to become comfortable with several factors related to your high rise’s physical and ownership attributes that they believe will affect their ability to get paid back at mortgage maturity, including your HOA’s budget and reserve fund, community-wide insurance premiums, pending owner litigation, delinquencies and bankruptcies. Lenders will also want to know the ratio of owner-occupants to renters, and may be concerned if there are too many renters.
All of those factors will bear on whether Federal government lending agencies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will back those mortgages, thereby making them willing to buy those mortgages from your lender. This is important to your lender who will then be able to redeploy that capital from the sale of those loans to make other loans. All of those factors will affect the value of your condo (i.e., the lender’s collateral for your loan). All of that means your high rise mortgage is likely to take longer to secure, require a larger down payment by you (20-30% of the purchase price as compared to 5-10% for single family homes) and incur a higher mortgage rate (at least 0.75 to 1.5% higher), all of which will weigh heavily against the value of your condo.
High rise management must be constant and tenacious
Modern high rises are complicated physical structures with mechanical systems that are shared by residents and common areas, including common plumbing, air conditioning, and shared parking structures, all of which have implications for fire and safety issues and security. Given that level of complexity and knowing how important the physical integrity of your high rise is to not only your living conditions but to your mortgage lender, you should expect your professional manager to be hands on and proactive in anticipating challenges that may arise.
General managers need to be hands on and proactive
High rise HOA general managers need to be visible in the community, make regular on-site inspections and engage with owners and residents on a regular basis. In other words exceed the passive activities of monitoring and administering necessary paperwork. They need to be experienced managers of inter-owner issues, which can be numerous and confrontational due to the close proximity of neighbors in high rises. At the same time, these managers need to supervise cleaning staff, security personnel, landscaping contractors on a daily basis as well as elevator and other contractors as needed. Lastly, general managers need to seek ways to improve operational efficiency by using new technologies and to address the constantly evolving and encroaching regulatory environment. On that last point, high rises need to have emergency plans in place in the event of a fire or some other building-wide disaster, situations which obviously don’t exist in single family communities.
All of these tasks need to be done while managers watch the bottom line. Current HOA assessments in Las Vegas high rises have increased sharply during the past five years, approaching $1.00 per square foot annually on average spurred by malfunctioning supply chains that followed the Covid 19 epidemic and hastened by an increasing general inflation rate; huge increases in insurance premiums and electricity costs have led those increases in many cases.
High rise engineers need to be expert and vigilant
High rise building engineers need to be experienced with today’s sophisticated building systems (e.g., HVAC, plumbing, sprinklers and elevators) and should monitor building operations daily and stand ready to undertake small, minor repairs. They also must be advocates for their building when negotiating with third party contractors to ensure the hiring of the best and most cost effective contractors to undertake larger more complicated projects. Along with the general manager, building engineers need to focus on strategies to keep those cost increases in the future to a minimum.
Moreover, building engineers should periodically review reserve study requirements to make sure they accurately reflect the current needs of the property. Since the collapse of a residential high rise near Miami, Florida five years ago and the fact that dozens more high rises built there within the last two decades appear to be sinking, it should be a no-brainer that top quality engineers should be part of the management staff. (Sinking is probably less of an issue in Las Vegas, but earthquakes, which have increased in frequency here lately, should make engineering vigilance a top priority.)
The high rise management industry needs to improve
In conclusion, the high rise HOA professional management community needs to address the apparent dearth of management talent that exists in Las Vegas and nationally and needs to become proactive in retaining and training qualified personnel to serve that market. Future high rise condo buyers need to weigh the challenges, shortcomings and risks as well as the advantages of buying into this otherwise attractive lifestyle.
Thursday, February 19, 2026
Panama: Where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans Meet
Why Panama? Why now? I wish I had a more profound reason but the simple truth is it was time for our annual winter beach vacation and Panama offered a non-stop flight from Las Vegas which got us there in 6 hours, even if it did mean departing at 1am. We thought we were going to El Salvador but discovered at the last minute that its non-stop flights are active only in summer.
All I knew about Panama was its famous Canal, Panama hats (which are actually made in Ecuador), and that Panama is a global banking center, owing to its front row seat for global shipping and its favorable tax status.
We stayed at the 611-room Westin Playa Bonita which is on the beach facing the Pacific Ocean, a secluded resort 20 miles from the airport and 10 miles from Panama City. Upon arrival we realized we had added to our pantheon of tourist hoaxes; the “playa” or “beach” was barely and the “bonita” or “beautiful” descriptor was a bold faced lie!! In fact, at low tide, the entire ocean recedes several hundred yards leaving nothing but an unsightly rock-laden bog! Lucky the 4 enormous swimming pools compensate for that shortcoming, but this place now joins the company of Rome’s Circus Maximus (a flat ordinary lawn) and the ancient city ruins at Guatemala’s Tikal (which is basically a couple of man-made structures protruding above ground). I did manage to soak in the ocean at high tide so I made the best of the situation. To reach the hotel we crossed the Bridge of the Americas which passes over the Panama Canal and is part of the 20,000 mile Pan American Highway that runs from Alaska to Chile and across to Argentina. We were generally pleased with the quality of our accommodations at Westin, although we wished they lived up to their claim that Wifi was available throughout the hotel.
Panama's formation 10-15 million years ago is considered a pivotal event in earth history, creating a land barrier that enabled the gulf stream, enabled ice ages to form and changed ocean circulation patterns. The word “panama” is widely believed to be an indigenous peoples’ word that means an abundance of fish, although some believe it refers to an abundance of rain or butterflies. One fact is certain: the place does have an abundance of all of those things!
The first European to reach the Pacific Ocean was Vasco Nunez de Balboa who came through Panama in the early 1500s. That is why the local currency is called the Balboa, even though it is completely invisible except for small denomination coins that are less than a dollar. The Balboa is equal to the US dollar which is Panama’s currency. (Apparently, the only reason the Balboa was created in 1904 was to assert its independence from Colombia.)
From the 1500s to 1800s, Panama functioned as a transit point for wealth, particularly Inca gold and silver, which was transported from South America to Europe. That period saw the growth of colonial cities and intense pirate activity, most notably the sacking of old Panama by Captain Morgan in 1671. (Yes, that's the same Captain Morgan shown on the bottle of spiced rum!)
Today Panama is a unique blend of Central and South America; its history is mostly as part of Spain (until 1821) and thereafter part of Colombia until it declared independence in 1903. Its a culture that identifies more with other Central American and the Caribbean countries than it does with Colombia.
Panama's population grew greatly during mass immigration, first in the 1850s to build a railroad and again in 1904 to build the Canal. Upon completion, the Canal became known as the eighth wonder of the man-made world. Our guide was quick to point out that, before the Canal, Panama had still been the hub of Atlantic-Pacific commercial activity, which used its transcontinental railroad to move freight across its narrow isthmus.
Panama's climate is tropical with year round temperatures ranging 70s and 90s, with slightly higher temperatures and greater humidity in summer months. Its annual rainfall is nearly 14 feet, the second most in the world after neighboring Colombia.
We visited Panama City and the Canal, which are musts if you visit this country; the former to appreciate its rich history and the latter to observe today's substantial economy here. The highlight of the Canal visit was an IMAX film narrated by Morgan Freeman. The construction of the Canal was first attempted by a Frenchman named Lessup because of his success in building the Suez Canal decades earlier, but he was unsuccessful here. In 1904, the US. took control of the project and after 10 years the Canal was completed in 1914. A recent upgrade and expansion occurred earlier this century and was completed in 2016. It's hard to overstate the scale and scope of this project or the shipping activity it enables, but know that skyscraper-sized ships reserve their place 2 years in advance and take 36 hours to gain access to the Canal and 11 hours to actually navigate the 50 mile stretch. From our hotel looking out to the horizon we saw ships queuing as far as we could see. (Worth noting, especially for my Las Vegas neighbors, more than 100 years ago this engineering marvel and ultimate plumbing project succeeded, but getting hot water in our recently built brand name high-rise hotel was an issue during our stay!)
Before our trip we became aware that Panama had become a retirement destination for some retiring Americans, and we noted a luxury high-rise condominium (Casa Bonita) adjacent to our hotel and renderings for additional high-rise residences that are planned for construction nearby within the next couple of years.
Part of the attraction is apparently the fact that Panama is known as a long-standing tax haven with strict banking secrecy and a territorial tax system, exempting from tax all income generated outside the country. The country also offers attractive tax efficient visa options for retirees and expatriates.
25,000 Americans currently live in Panama where it reportedly costs $1,500 to $3,000 per month to live, including rent. Americans with a lifetime pension of at least $1,000 per month are eligible for residency and significant discounts on utilities, entertainment and healthcare. Those same reports also claim that it is impossible for hurricanes to strike Panama, because of its proximity to the equator, but recent history shows that to be a false claim, so anyone considering a move here needs to do a lot of due diligence!!
Panama has a population of 4.5 million, with approximately 40 percent living in Panama City. 80 percent of this service-based economy consists of logistics and shipping (the Canal), international banking and tourism. Even though the Canal directly accounts for only 5 percent of Panama's GDP, the Canal is clearly the driving force for the rest of the economy due to local services required to maintain canal activity. The result is an economy among the wealthiest in Latin America.
Panama City has a very impressive skyline mostly of international bank buildings, especially for such a small city. More surprising, given its international business and close relationship with the US and our dollar, is that only 15% of the population speaks English. Everyone speaks Spanish, and 4% speak French.
The future expansion of this economy is likely to depend on the construction of pipeline infrastructure to enable the transport of oil and natural gas to Central America and South America.
Panamanians eat lots of fish from both the Atlantic and Pacific, especially sea bass, red snapper, tuna and ceviche. I ate fish every day and except for our “day trip from hell” you will read about later it was all the freshest I have ever eaten. Chicken, rice, corn, plantains, yucca and coconut are also prevalent in their diets and the cuisine blends Spanish, African, Amerindian and Afro-Antillean flavors; generally more savory than spicy relying on garlic, onion and cilantro for flavor. By the way, there wasn't a taco or burrito insight!
It seems everywhere we go we find countries touting the quality of their coffee and Panama is no exception. We’ve all heard about the great coffees from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Hawaii, Guatemala, Vietnam and so forth. But did you know that Panama’s Geisha-brand coffee is among the most expensive in the world and was priced at auction last year at nearly $14,000 per pound for the best grade? Lesser grades sell for up to $250 per pound and single cups in specialty cafes can cost $100. We tried their lesser priced variety and it seemed lighter and tastier than most, but probably not worth the stated premium price. Other good Panamanian brands are Palo Alto and Duran.
We took a daylong trip to San Blas, which is a collection of islands on the Caribbean (Atlantic) side of Panama to visit the autochthonous (ie, fancy word for indigenous you’re unlikely to ever hear again!) Guna people and to swim. Imagine that, a chance to swim in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on the same day! By the way, Panama is also the only place on earth where you can see the sun rise over the Pacific and set in the Atlantic (Caribbean), and all in the same day!!
Traveling through the San Blas mountains was an hour long roller-coaster ride in a 4×4 along a steep, narrow, winding road with ups and downs I estimate exceeded 30 degrees in many cases. Our driver was superb and made the trip in half the time less familiar and less skilled drivers might take. Unsurprisingly, to say Panamanian drivers are aggressive is an understatement. We experienced several near accidents during that day.
During our mountain trek I noted several houses with a swastika insignia on red and yellow flags and wondered if we had wandered into the local chapter of the Aryan brotherhood. In fact, it is the flag of the Guna people and represents their 1925 revolution and subsequent independence from colonialism. The swastika is an ancient cultural symbol that may symbolize the octopus that created the world. Whew! Never heard that one before but that interpretation sounded much less threatening than my original supposition.
You should be aware that we have taken many tours of this kind in Europe, Central and South America and despite the great ride in the mountains, this San Blas trip was the worst we ever experienced in many ways; it was unsafe, unsanitary, uncomfortable, unorganized, and worst of all, noneducational; its purpose was to explore the Guna people, yet we learned nothing about them on this trip.
The trip ran 16 hours, although it was planned as a 12 to 14 hour trip. Travel to and from accounted for 8 hours and at least another 3 hours was wasted time waiting. By the time we arrived at the harbor, which is a filthy, unsanitary and a potentially hazardous environment, we were completely disgusted.
We spent 16 hours in extreme heat without access to basic toilet and wash facilities, or even a place to change clothes for bathing. (Papillion had better facilities on Devil's Island.) The agenda changed throughout the day, and were kept in the dark by the guides who barely spoke English and offered no insight into the day’s attractions; we visited 4 islands instead of the 2 indicated in the brochure, and ended up departing at 5pm instead of the stated 3pm.
The breakfast was barely half a sandwich with a can of pear juice, given to us without a place to consume it; the lunch bears the distinction of being the worst meal we've eaten in Panama, petrified fish and dried up plantains; a major disappointment considering that all of the fish we've had here is the best we've had anywhere in the world.
In all, our week in Panama was a good trip, educational and relaxing. We never knew Panama featured so prominently in our hemisphere. We encourage all to visit but know that travel to Central and South America is not comparable to European travel. English is not prevalent, communication is not robust, clear, timely and is always subject to change, and tourism is not a well-honed industry. Reputable guided tours are a must and know that some of the tours will involve risks and discomforts that are unheard of in the US or Europe. Ask many questions!
All I knew about Panama was its famous Canal, Panama hats (which are actually made in Ecuador), and that Panama is a global banking center, owing to its front row seat for global shipping and its favorable tax status.
We stayed at the 611-room Westin Playa Bonita which is on the beach facing the Pacific Ocean, a secluded resort 20 miles from the airport and 10 miles from Panama City. Upon arrival we realized we had added to our pantheon of tourist hoaxes; the “playa” or “beach” was barely and the “bonita” or “beautiful” descriptor was a bold faced lie!! In fact, at low tide, the entire ocean recedes several hundred yards leaving nothing but an unsightly rock-laden bog! Lucky the 4 enormous swimming pools compensate for that shortcoming, but this place now joins the company of Rome’s Circus Maximus (a flat ordinary lawn) and the ancient city ruins at Guatemala’s Tikal (which is basically a couple of man-made structures protruding above ground). I did manage to soak in the ocean at high tide so I made the best of the situation. To reach the hotel we crossed the Bridge of the Americas which passes over the Panama Canal and is part of the 20,000 mile Pan American Highway that runs from Alaska to Chile and across to Argentina. We were generally pleased with the quality of our accommodations at Westin, although we wished they lived up to their claim that Wifi was available throughout the hotel.
Panama's formation 10-15 million years ago is considered a pivotal event in earth history, creating a land barrier that enabled the gulf stream, enabled ice ages to form and changed ocean circulation patterns. The word “panama” is widely believed to be an indigenous peoples’ word that means an abundance of fish, although some believe it refers to an abundance of rain or butterflies. One fact is certain: the place does have an abundance of all of those things!
The first European to reach the Pacific Ocean was Vasco Nunez de Balboa who came through Panama in the early 1500s. That is why the local currency is called the Balboa, even though it is completely invisible except for small denomination coins that are less than a dollar. The Balboa is equal to the US dollar which is Panama’s currency. (Apparently, the only reason the Balboa was created in 1904 was to assert its independence from Colombia.)
From the 1500s to 1800s, Panama functioned as a transit point for wealth, particularly Inca gold and silver, which was transported from South America to Europe. That period saw the growth of colonial cities and intense pirate activity, most notably the sacking of old Panama by Captain Morgan in 1671. (Yes, that's the same Captain Morgan shown on the bottle of spiced rum!)
Today Panama is a unique blend of Central and South America; its history is mostly as part of Spain (until 1821) and thereafter part of Colombia until it declared independence in 1903. Its a culture that identifies more with other Central American and the Caribbean countries than it does with Colombia.
Panama's population grew greatly during mass immigration, first in the 1850s to build a railroad and again in 1904 to build the Canal. Upon completion, the Canal became known as the eighth wonder of the man-made world. Our guide was quick to point out that, before the Canal, Panama had still been the hub of Atlantic-Pacific commercial activity, which used its transcontinental railroad to move freight across its narrow isthmus.
Panama's climate is tropical with year round temperatures ranging 70s and 90s, with slightly higher temperatures and greater humidity in summer months. Its annual rainfall is nearly 14 feet, the second most in the world after neighboring Colombia.
We visited Panama City and the Canal, which are musts if you visit this country; the former to appreciate its rich history and the latter to observe today's substantial economy here. The highlight of the Canal visit was an IMAX film narrated by Morgan Freeman. The construction of the Canal was first attempted by a Frenchman named Lessup because of his success in building the Suez Canal decades earlier, but he was unsuccessful here. In 1904, the US. took control of the project and after 10 years the Canal was completed in 1914. A recent upgrade and expansion occurred earlier this century and was completed in 2016. It's hard to overstate the scale and scope of this project or the shipping activity it enables, but know that skyscraper-sized ships reserve their place 2 years in advance and take 36 hours to gain access to the Canal and 11 hours to actually navigate the 50 mile stretch. From our hotel looking out to the horizon we saw ships queuing as far as we could see. (Worth noting, especially for my Las Vegas neighbors, more than 100 years ago this engineering marvel and ultimate plumbing project succeeded, but getting hot water in our recently built brand name high-rise hotel was an issue during our stay!)
Before our trip we became aware that Panama had become a retirement destination for some retiring Americans, and we noted a luxury high-rise condominium (Casa Bonita) adjacent to our hotel and renderings for additional high-rise residences that are planned for construction nearby within the next couple of years.
Part of the attraction is apparently the fact that Panama is known as a long-standing tax haven with strict banking secrecy and a territorial tax system, exempting from tax all income generated outside the country. The country also offers attractive tax efficient visa options for retirees and expatriates.
25,000 Americans currently live in Panama where it reportedly costs $1,500 to $3,000 per month to live, including rent. Americans with a lifetime pension of at least $1,000 per month are eligible for residency and significant discounts on utilities, entertainment and healthcare. Those same reports also claim that it is impossible for hurricanes to strike Panama, because of its proximity to the equator, but recent history shows that to be a false claim, so anyone considering a move here needs to do a lot of due diligence!!
Panama has a population of 4.5 million, with approximately 40 percent living in Panama City. 80 percent of this service-based economy consists of logistics and shipping (the Canal), international banking and tourism. Even though the Canal directly accounts for only 5 percent of Panama's GDP, the Canal is clearly the driving force for the rest of the economy due to local services required to maintain canal activity. The result is an economy among the wealthiest in Latin America.
Panama City has a very impressive skyline mostly of international bank buildings, especially for such a small city. More surprising, given its international business and close relationship with the US and our dollar, is that only 15% of the population speaks English. Everyone speaks Spanish, and 4% speak French.
The future expansion of this economy is likely to depend on the construction of pipeline infrastructure to enable the transport of oil and natural gas to Central America and South America.
Panamanians eat lots of fish from both the Atlantic and Pacific, especially sea bass, red snapper, tuna and ceviche. I ate fish every day and except for our “day trip from hell” you will read about later it was all the freshest I have ever eaten. Chicken, rice, corn, plantains, yucca and coconut are also prevalent in their diets and the cuisine blends Spanish, African, Amerindian and Afro-Antillean flavors; generally more savory than spicy relying on garlic, onion and cilantro for flavor. By the way, there wasn't a taco or burrito insight!
It seems everywhere we go we find countries touting the quality of their coffee and Panama is no exception. We’ve all heard about the great coffees from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Hawaii, Guatemala, Vietnam and so forth. But did you know that Panama’s Geisha-brand coffee is among the most expensive in the world and was priced at auction last year at nearly $14,000 per pound for the best grade? Lesser grades sell for up to $250 per pound and single cups in specialty cafes can cost $100. We tried their lesser priced variety and it seemed lighter and tastier than most, but probably not worth the stated premium price. Other good Panamanian brands are Palo Alto and Duran.
We took a daylong trip to San Blas, which is a collection of islands on the Caribbean (Atlantic) side of Panama to visit the autochthonous (ie, fancy word for indigenous you’re unlikely to ever hear again!) Guna people and to swim. Imagine that, a chance to swim in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans on the same day! By the way, Panama is also the only place on earth where you can see the sun rise over the Pacific and set in the Atlantic (Caribbean), and all in the same day!!
Traveling through the San Blas mountains was an hour long roller-coaster ride in a 4×4 along a steep, narrow, winding road with ups and downs I estimate exceeded 30 degrees in many cases. Our driver was superb and made the trip in half the time less familiar and less skilled drivers might take. Unsurprisingly, to say Panamanian drivers are aggressive is an understatement. We experienced several near accidents during that day.
During our mountain trek I noted several houses with a swastika insignia on red and yellow flags and wondered if we had wandered into the local chapter of the Aryan brotherhood. In fact, it is the flag of the Guna people and represents their 1925 revolution and subsequent independence from colonialism. The swastika is an ancient cultural symbol that may symbolize the octopus that created the world. Whew! Never heard that one before but that interpretation sounded much less threatening than my original supposition.
You should be aware that we have taken many tours of this kind in Europe, Central and South America and despite the great ride in the mountains, this San Blas trip was the worst we ever experienced in many ways; it was unsafe, unsanitary, uncomfortable, unorganized, and worst of all, noneducational; its purpose was to explore the Guna people, yet we learned nothing about them on this trip.
The trip ran 16 hours, although it was planned as a 12 to 14 hour trip. Travel to and from accounted for 8 hours and at least another 3 hours was wasted time waiting. By the time we arrived at the harbor, which is a filthy, unsanitary and a potentially hazardous environment, we were completely disgusted.
We spent 16 hours in extreme heat without access to basic toilet and wash facilities, or even a place to change clothes for bathing. (Papillion had better facilities on Devil's Island.) The agenda changed throughout the day, and were kept in the dark by the guides who barely spoke English and offered no insight into the day’s attractions; we visited 4 islands instead of the 2 indicated in the brochure, and ended up departing at 5pm instead of the stated 3pm.
The breakfast was barely half a sandwich with a can of pear juice, given to us without a place to consume it; the lunch bears the distinction of being the worst meal we've eaten in Panama, petrified fish and dried up plantains; a major disappointment considering that all of the fish we've had here is the best we've had anywhere in the world.
In all, our week in Panama was a good trip, educational and relaxing. We never knew Panama featured so prominently in our hemisphere. We encourage all to visit but know that travel to Central and South America is not comparable to European travel. English is not prevalent, communication is not robust, clear, timely and is always subject to change, and tourism is not a well-honed industry. Reputable guided tours are a must and know that some of the tours will involve risks and discomforts that are unheard of in the US or Europe. Ask many questions!
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