UPDATES
JULY, 2010
These two photos are from a Marlin fished on July 4 th, 2010 by two local fishermen from the village of Boca Chica, which is 12 minutes away from Lobster Cove. The Marlin weighted 650 pounds !!!!!!!!!! and it was caught approximately one hour away from the village in the Pacific.
We had heard a rumor about the catch and that the fishermen were giving it away to all the people of Boca Chica. We went over to the village, and it was true that most of the Marlin was given away, however and luckily for us, they still had some left and we were able to buy it at $2.00 a pound; we bought a piece a little more than 10 pounds for $20 which you can see in the pictures; we cut it into 14 pieces, or about 0.70 pounds apiece which my wife considers is more than enough for 2 people. (maybe I will eat one piece myself..)
The reality is that we will have the privilege of eating one large Marlin fish fillet, frozen immediately after the catch so really fresh, and caught on our door step from some of the most prolific fishing grounds in the Pacific for as little as $1.40 a piece.
Anyone is welcomed to share this wonderful fish during the next two weeks, just come on by.
This is a remarkable story bearing in mind that in most if not all, of the countries in the world are imposing quotas for the amount of fish any boat can bring, or establishing no-fishing periods for the oceans to recover. I have talked to some of my local fishing friends who tell me about the very big difference in the amount of fish 5 years ago to now and just a few days ago I saw a T.V. report of the situation of the fishermen in Buenaventura, Colombia where the average catch was 1,000 pounds of fish in one day, just a few minutes from the port, and nowadays they only catch about 300 pounds every 4 or 5 days at a much greater distance from the port.
January, 2010
Now we are completely settled in our home in Lobster Cove; there are two things which are worthwhile mentioning for this new stage of life and way of living.
The first one is related to my wife who still is learning Spanish and who for the past 18 months felt isolated with practically nobody to talk to in English; well, we have found a quite substantial ex-pats community in this area and now we both feel part of it. The majority of them share a passion for the sea, either sailing or fishing, but some others are just people who wanted to retire peacefully and cheaply, people who love horses, painting, etc; they are mainly Americans, followed by British but you also find Swedish, French and other countries represented. My wife now plays bridge every week with the ladies and we are trying to organize a night of the week to play with another couple. My wife tells me that she feels confident that in a time of need they will all be there to support each other.
From my perspective, I always thought, once I was established my next step was to be more on the ocean, and now I am taking my first steps towards such a goal. I am attaching a link to you tube for one excursion that I took on January second. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COzIwJ4VnxI
As my friend Dave from “Reel Inn”, the owner of the boat says: 50% of the beauty of Panama is the islands of this region and the amazing abundance of fish you can get. So guess what will be my next big expense: a boat….
November 2009
We have now been here for 3 months and it seems that we have been here forever. There is not a day goes by that there is something different to see and do and I find the whole thing truly amazing.
The view from our balcony changes as the weather changes, we see the rain coming in and the storms that follow, they never really last that long, but provide a great respite from the sunshine. Here we are now getting ready for our summer so trying to get all our seedlings and plants well watered and safely on their way before the dry season begins. We have planted around 40 pineapple plants, 15 plantain trees, banana trees of various varieties, lemon, orange, pears and on and on. Can’t wait to see them all grown and at the rate they are moving it should not take too long.
We have the howler monkeys that often wake us up in the morning and so many different varieties of small and large birds that we are still trying to identify them all. In the evenings we can see the moths, some of the largest I have ever seen; and of course, chasing them, we frequently see the frogs.
The wonder of this tropical climate is truly amazing; while our house was under construction, workers threw their leftover food onto the ground round and about the lots. Now I’m off to pick up a water melon (see picture) that they kindly provided for us; I have already had squash from the seeds they discarded and made wonderful soup with them.
SEPTEMBER 2009
It has been far too long since we last updated the web site, but believe it or not, at last we are living in Lobster Cove. We started construction on the house in January and moved in on August 14 with still some small items to be completed. Small may be a slight exaggeration as at that date we did not have a kitchen or all the carpentry work finished; however we were very happy to be in the house regardless of the outstanding items. “It was a little like camping”!!
This link will take you to pictures we have just taken of the house. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZgwW_-cU8 . And:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cV-zESMxFbQ
You can also watch the following video showing the completed access to the beach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRoH7Zmo5uY
We were not the first to move to Lobster Cove, our neighbors’, Ann and Bob moved into an apartment they had built within their beach front home earlier in the year and their house will be totally completed in November 2009.
Our house, including a lap pool, cost US$154,000 to built but with a lot of upgrades (including car port and patios we have 2,000 sq ft); the same house with basic finishing’s would have cost under $100,000.
Like all projects we still have a lot to do (a little like painting the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco), however we are happy to be here and look forward to seeing more people join us. If you are considering Panama and would like to see our development we would love to show you around. Please call us or if in the area just drop in. Now we have gone through the experience of building here in Panama we would be happy to share this experience with you and discuss designs and construction methods.
Lobsters caught November 16,2008
AERIAL VIEW YEAR 2000
(before infra-structure)
NOVEMBER 2008
Above is an aerial photo of Lobster Cove. You can see the lot plan in the “LOT PLAN & PRICING” page and see where is each lot in respect to the beach. The photo was taken some few years ago and does not show the infra-structure done.
It has been some time since we updated the site but our lives seem to be more hectic here than in the USA. Yes, we are now living in David and getting ready to build our home in Lobster Cove and hope to start either end of December or early in January.
It has been a hectic seven months, what with the move here from Fort Lauderdale and finding a home to rent. We have been very lucky, we rent a small house 3 bedrooms 2 bath, tiny kitchen and lounge diner in an area called Las Perlas for $350 a month (a bargain). Our car arrived and the container with all our furniture, it was fairly pain free and thank heavens no hiccups. Our health insurance is in place and for the two of us we pay $70 a month; I have had occasion to use it at the Chiriqui Hospital and the service was excellent, doctor was fluent in English and most of the staff have some understanding (certainly better than my Spanish). I went to the emergency room and did not even have time to take a seat in the waiting room before I was seen, very pleased with the service.
The gate house is now complete and there are new pictures available to view, road is getting near completion, electric poles are in and we are just waiting for the transformers. Next on the list is the communication package, TV, telephone and internet, hopefully before the end of the year I will be able to post all the details.
The cost of living here is still incredibly reasonable and on an average month we spend somewhere around $500 for all our grocery shopping including a trip to Price Mart (Costco) for the meat. Fresh vegetables are available all year and if you buy from a local vendor with a stand on the roadside you can get your weekly greens for around $20.
Initially we were told that electricity would be expensive, however, we have not found that to be the case. We have 3 a/c units that we run and all the normal electrical household appliances with the exception of the range and hot water heater, both of which are gas. Our average bill for electric is around $55 a month (this does include a discount of 25% for being a pensionado).
Hopefully the above information will be useful to those of you thinking of moving to Panama and I will update again once we have the information on our communications package.
SIESTA AT LOBSTER COVE
APRIL 2007
Infra-structure is in full swing; bridge is completed and roads are being cut so they won’t have an slope of more than 12 % (in accordance with the regulations for any public road). This will make Lobster Cove Avenue drivable with any type of car and no one will need a 4WD for any future visits. Have a look at the new album called April 07. You can see the bridge and the cutting of the roads plus various sunset pictures from L.C.
The exact distances between lobster Cove and David are as follows:
From David commercial mall Rey-Arrocha to L. C. 56.1 kilometers (34.78 miles)
From David to the turn off to Horconcitos (on the Panamerican Highway ) 38.6 k.m. (23.9 miles). Horconcitos to L.C. 14.9 k.m (9.24 miles). There is a grocery store called “GLADYS” on the Panamerican Hwy located 3 k.m (1.8 miles) from the turn off to Horconcitos. We stopped there and bought bananas at 2 cents a piece! they also sell general grocery items if last minute you run out of such things as milk.
Internet and TV will also be available; fast access internet can be obtained from Mobile Net and the cost is similar to that of the US. TV is available through Dish Satellite and of course the prices will depend on the package you pick, but again very similar to that of the US.
We also visited a local hospital called Centro Medico Mae Lewis and they have an English speaking coordinator, Elsa Herrera, who can be contacted on elsamaelewis@cwpanama.net. This hospital provides insurance coverage through Med+Sure and if you are under 64 years of age the monthly cost of insurance will be $62 a month; over 64 $130 monthly and over 75 $218 and the coverage is up to $100,000.00 annually. This insurance also covers dental work with the exception of crowns. As soon as I have the opportunity we will scan the coverage details and post them to the web site.
COST OF THESE FRUITS IN DAVID 4/15/2008: US$ 4.10
January 2007
Eira and I were at Lobster Cove with Roger, who is the contractor making the roads and the bridge. There is a lot of machinery, workers and action !! The virgin nature we were used to is changing; but thankfully not the topography and the uniqeness of the development will reamain unchanged.
Have a look of the picture's album called "January 2007" by clicking the buttom "Gallery"; if you increase the size of the pictures you will see in one of them the view of the beach lots marked as seen from the ocean.
We are considering taking with us an old tractor from the U.S.A. which will help all owners to pull from the ocean their tenders and boats.
November 2006
We just came back from Panama after enjoying the Independence Day Celebrations. It was very colorful, with many parades, bands and music. Even if November is a "winter" or "rainy" month, we are happy to report that we saw men and machinery busy working on the road from Horconcitos to Playa Hermosa (Lobster Cove) and Bocachica; they had started laying the drainage pipes in three different location along the road. However the bulk of the road will be made during the "summer" which is from January to August. When we stopped to talk to the workers they confirmed the road is fully contracted and funded up to the ocean. Of the 6 beach lots there are 4 already reserved. Of the 10 high panoramic view lots we have decided to build our first house which will serve as a refugee for us on our ever more frequent visits and we will be able to use this as a "pit" stop for any visitor interested in Lobster Cove. Lots 18 to 23 will be cleaned and developed once we have sold the Ocean View Lots.
Immigration update - On this visit we received a temporary resident card that is valid for 3 months.
Please don't hesitate to contact us and comment or ask any question to: fersar@gmail.com
SEPTEMBER 2006
This was the second time I went by boat from David to Lobster Cove and this time I took with me a number of individuals who are directly involved in the project and it's development. Our travel time was about 50 minutes and when we arrived I was the only one able to identify Lobster Cove from the ocean; even I had to admit that everything looks alike when viewed from the sea. We had lunch in the only house which has been built on that beach. It belongs to a local fisherman and his wife (Lourdes, cel: 66889962) who cooked like 15 lobsters, patacones (fried plantains) and all types of assorted fishes.
In the photo you can see my wife Eira (first from left), Cora Williams (first from right) me (the one in the middle with the blue hat) our attorney in David and our engineers with their wives.
As a point of interest for anyone who may wish to go through the immigration process and be able to stay for periods of more than 6 months, Eira and I submitted our application to the Panamanian Immigration on this visit and received a one month temporary entry permit.