I started off in panama for my stay in central america over past 6 months..i quickly went on to try cheaper simpler in Nicaragua via costa rica and didnt really stay in costa rica,i was happy to pass through and see walmart from the hi way..Nicaragua was fine for me and much easier to find cheaper in many ways and even free, like when i went to hospital with fever and was seen by doctor,tested and given pills for free...i stayed most of six months there and am on my way back to nicaragua this month for another 6 months........I'm posting here because i left nicaragua to panama again last month and with the contrast of costarica,honduras,nicaragua;panama -its nice..its often said its more expensive and generally true,but one simple thing common in central america is a place to buy icecream and pastries,and in old town area of panama city,i wandered in experienced and found a place to buy a cone of icecream and a big donut,,,70cents did it...it was bigger scoop of icecream and a bigger donut than in nicaragua small town areas.and yes cheaper than nicaragua where i pay over $1.oo for the same....thats not much of what makes me say its nice, but it is nice to see some cheaper in the more expensive places....i will be spending a full 6 month stay in panama next year or maybe next 2 years because i still want to do 6 months in ecuador and 6 in peru arranged in unkown time order.........i found more and better english speaking taxi drivers in panama city and used the same guy 3 times or more(he was sent to me when i asked for special trip in a run down city cab with a driver speaking too little english)....Nicaragua made me improve spanish a lot,so now i do alright with no english which is the norm in nicaragua......I wont be doing nicaragua again after my 1 year is up,but panama may be a regular yearly destination after i go down the list of destinations i have in ecuador and peru.....the common problems shared on this site and others about panama are no different than in nicaragua or in fact as far over as asian expat havens i lived,even the type of gambits run to take advantage of foreigners are the same ones....hmm. at this point,the positive things are where the most differences are to be found and thats what keeps me going open to something new....
