Valle Escondido offers spa treatments as well as a golf course for exercise. The surrounding area is replete with nature trails. In fact, people come from all over the world to see what you will have at your doorstep.

Valle Escondido offers meals every day at the resort’s restaurant. Alternatively, you have your own beautiful home for the privacy of an intimate get together.

Valle Escondido’s fitness center has the latest cardiovascular fitness equipment, as well as free weights. There is a racquetball court in case you want to pick up the speed of your workout.

Valle Escondido may be a “hidden valley”, but it is not cut off from the world. Available day activities that you can do from Valle Escondido include white water rafting on class 4 rapids, a very long canopy tree tour, tours of coffee plantations, horseback riding, rental of four wheelers, hiking tours including Volcan Baru and Quetzalas National Parks, a visit to the hot springs at Caldera, a trip to see pre-Columbian petroglyphs, and deep sea fishing 45 minutes away by helicopter on the Caribbean Sea.

This place is a combination of laid-back relaxation and up and at ‘em activity. There are those of us who think that mix is the ideal.

To book your reservation at Valle Escondido click here

Landon Marine Group of Costa Rica and Panama represents four yacht makers, Marquis, Viking, Grady White, and Riviera.

Riviera of Australia makes 400 yachts a year, including its 63-foot motor powered 5800 Sport Yacht that sleeps up to eight.

Viking Sport Cruisers include the 85 foot long V85, another motored yacht that sleeps between up to 14.

Marquis makes the seventy-foot long 70 Tri-deck that sleeps eight.

Grady White offers a wide range of cabin cruisers up to 36 feet in length.

Used Yachts listed in Panama include a 46 foot fully rigged Stratos 46 sloop with a backup 69 HP Hyundai diesel motor for only $35,000 and a 52 foot Norman Cross Trimaran fully rigged with an asking price of $200,000.

A 41-foot refitted Formosa Transworld Island Trader sloop just sold for $54,000 in Panama. These used yachts are listed through the ApolloDuck web site but are all in Panama.

There are individual listings from time to time on the Internet and even a recent billboard on Via Espana for a yacht for sale.

For more information click here

Taurus Business Limousine Service will pick you up and drop you off using a German luxury automobile. Taurus Business Limousine Service uses Porsche Cayennes, VW Touaregs, and BMW X3’s for its clients.

Located in Panama City’s banking district Taurus Business Limousine Service will pick you up at or take you to the airport, do point to point transfers within the city, or take you anywhere in the country that you want to go. Taurus Business Limousine Service can charge by the hour when you have a series of meetings and want the car to wait. Taurus Business Limousine Service will charge for point-to-point transfer when you just need to go one way.

Taurus Business Limousine Service charges for a minimum or two hours. The VWToureg and Porsche Cayenne goes for $55 an hour and the BMW X3 goes for $37 an hour.

Point to point transfers start at $57 for the BMW X3 to take you from Tocumen International Airport to San Francisco. On the high end it will cost $1000 to have a Porsche Cayenne pick you up at Tocumen and run you out to the Azuero Peninsula at Pedasi.

Taurus Business Limousine Service drivers are discrete, so that, if you require anonymity in Panama, you will have it. Taurus Business Limousine Service is located at Ocean Business Plaza, 13-08 at Calle 47 and Aquilino de la Guardia in Marbella. Their email is customerservice@tauruslimo.com.

A host of new projects are underway to insure that the rarefied tastes of the jet set are met in abundance in Panama. Our nation now boasts a growing community of ports and marinas able to dock and service the largest super yachts on the planet. Panama’s restaurants and nightlife are among the best in the region. Panama’s natural treasures continue to draw new residents with the most discriminating of tastes.

The Pearl Islands, an archipelago just South of Panama City has long been a driver of growth in the super rich sector. Celebrities like John Wayne, Pierce Brosnan, and the Shah of Iran have called these pristine islands home.

Increasingly, the jet setter influence is moving to the mainland with projects like Donald Trump’s towering, Trump Ocean Club development in Punta Pacifica. This $200 million dollar project is a 65-story architectural wonder consisting of 800 hotel condominium units, an international casino, and private beach club on Contadora Island.

Panama tongues were wagging recently when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie visited Panama in search of a vacation home. Make your star appearance on the Panama real estate stage. Visit Panama soon. While you are in country, make sure to investigate the incredible bargains now available in the Gem of Central America—Panama.

For more information click here

My first thought walking in was that if I were an 8 year old girl; I’d be squealing, jumping up and down and clapping my hands. The store looks like a place that Barbie and the Bratz would hang out with their Chihuahuas and Poodles, feeling very posh and grown up at their very own store with their very own doggies.

Indiana Arce de Pages, one of the bi-lingual owners told me that they believe our dogs should be considered a part of the family and that many of her clients consider them to be their children. She thinks this is wonderful and encourages you to come and outfit your child with something gorgeous.

Whether your child has four legs and is precious or two legs and is glamorous, this is where you should be shopping for Christmas and Hanukah. Don’t forget to bring your furry friend with you as the ladies are always happy to meet a new pup and introduce them around.

Fashion Petz is below Life Plus in the high fashion section of Multiplaza, in Panama City, Panama. You can visit their website at http://www.fashionpetzzz.com, call them at 302-4839 or email them . They’re open from 10am to 10pm for the month of December and on the 7th and 23rd of December, they’ll be open until 11pm.

Tourism and hotel consortiums from Spain, America, Dominican Republic and Venezuela have expressed interest in investing in the area between the Bayano River mouth and the province of Darien, product of the development and promotion  measurements for tourism development in the region proposed by the initiative of Deputy Hernan Delgado.

Congressman Delgado announced that he has already held talks with representatives of U.S. companies making major investments in the area of Chiman, Buena Ventura, Brujas and Gonzalo Vasquez, who are confident that Bill No. 16 will turn into law of the Republic, to enable the development of infrastructure, including roads and bridges, to take advantage of the potential which exists in the  beaches of the sector.

He said the economic boost tourism will baste the momentum that is occurring in the Gulf of Panama, in a single kernel that will allow development to combat poverty, hunger, poverty and basic needs faced by people of the region. 

”So health care institutions, housing, public works and others are a bit worried about the future of Panamanians who live in an almost virgin land,” he added.

He said the bill would integrate indigenous areas of the Kuna Tribe of Madugandí,  Embera Alto Bayano, of Rondo and of Hato to national development, which have a high cultural and scenic potential still untapped. 

The initiative was discussed with various national sectors, including the Tourism Authority of Panama and the National Environmental Authority and was approved on first debate by the Trade Commission of the National Assembly, chaired by the deputy Alcibiades Vasquez Velasquez.

Services –

Any service you might require in Panama,  at any time, we can make it happen. The Panama Club has internal and external providers in areas as diverse as event planners to math tutors for your children. We make sure that our providers keep the level of quality which you are accustom to having. Many providers offer our members preferential rates and priority service.

Information and Introductions –

Our account managers could be considered encyclopedias regarding the country of Panama. Any questions you might have about living in Panama for example “how do I get my driver’s license?” or “where can I get a dress for a party?” we have all the answers you are looking for.

For those looking to establish a business or governmental connections in Panama, allow us to open any doors you might need in your venture.

Events –

As a member you will never be able to say “there is nothing to do in Panama” since we make sure your social agenda is as full as you wish it to be. Members receive notification of events according to their specific interest. We can get you invites to the most exclusive events happening in Panama City.  We also organize exclusive member events and trips outside of Panama City.

The Panama Club also has the only dating service in Panama City. If you are a single member we will invite you to events exclusively for singles and serve as matchmakers with our other members.

Our events team can arrange parties or events for members, from birthdays and weddings to corporate  events and office parties.

Travel –

Allow us to show you Panama, our way… We can offer you personalized tours in and out of Panama City. Panama’s interior has a wide variety of amazing destinations, from beaches to mountains, we know the festivals, the restaurants, the hotels, and activities that you can’t afford to miss. We have forged relationships with tour companies and companies who can supply any form of transportation: private jets, yachts, helicopters or limousines anytime and at short notice.

We can also arrange your travels outside of Panama.

Restaurants –

Panama is a mix of races, which means there is a very diverse gastronomical offer. We have reviewed most of the restaurants in Panama, allowing us to give you recommendations and book your reservation.

As part of our social offering we will be sending you invitations to restaurant openings, wine and food degustation and new menus presentations.

Nightlife –

You are always a VIP in any nightclub with us. Table reservations, no lines, invitation to club openings and special events. We can also coordinate your transportation.

Shopping –

We regularly conduct private shopping nights for members, before collections are available to the general public or private sales for store customers. Members will be informed of new store openings which can be of their interest. You can request the service of our personal shoppers who will track down anything you require, saving you time.

Wellness –

We are living longer, we should look and feel better longer… We offer from specific nutritional regimes, age management programs, to private yoga classes or personal trainers. And for a little relaxing let the best spas and beauty parlors in Panama pamper you. Just let us know your needs and we will coordinate your appointment. We have preferential rates for our members on many of these services.

For more information on our individual services or our membership program, please contact us.

$ 7 billion annually traded in the market for diamonds and precious jewels in Latin America, according to PDE

If safety in buildings is mentioned, it could be that Panama has already begun the tendering process for one of the safest buildings in this country and perhaps throughout Latin America, we are talking about the tower that will host the diamond bourse of Panama, through the Panama Diamond Exchange (PDE), to be built with the most rigorous safety standards that are implemented in countries like Israel and the U.S.

Surveillance camera will record 24 hours, 365 days a year, every inch of the building and a novel security vault, which will be opened by remote control from London – to specific times schedules to deposit and withdraw precious stones – will be part infrastructure of about 45 levels and up to 300 offices, which is predicted to be completed in 2011 and is located in Costa del Este, adjacent to the southern corridor, 10 minutes from Tocumen International Airport and 5 minutes from Panama City.

The area is suitable said the CEO of PDE, Haviv Aviad, since it allows easy access for traders and visitors to the PDE building, which costs $ 250 million to build and will include a hotel and a shopping center, which is considered an “anchor project” within a land area of 88,000 square meters. As the CEO mentions, you see this as a major commercial district in the future.

It is estimated that implementation of the building complex would generate 3.000 direct jobs and 10,000 indirect and involve the relocation of a thousand families to Panama, projections estimated from the activity generated by past experiences of other diamond bourses, like the last in Dubai.

The Diamond Exchange has to be located in a free zone exempt from payment of fees or introduction  taxes and be near Tocumen Airport for safety, as Panama Diamond Exchange,  welcomed the decree on 13 February 2008.

Panama Diamond Exchange will build its own tower of 45 levels which will cost approximately $ 250 million and will host  300 businesses and diamond jewelries.

Why Panama?

Three factors enabled Panama to be chosen to be the first Latin American Diamond Exchange, according Haviv Aviad: its considerable strategic geographical location, the currency circulating in this country (the dollar) and financial system stability.

Jewelry of the Continent

In Latin America there are approximately 15,000 jewelries according to PDE projected estimates. We could recruit 80% of them, which would generate transactions in Panama in the range of $ 5.000 million annually, with an estimated 20 % yearly growth.

Jewelry Display at Panama Cartier Boutique

The personalized attention of Cartier’s staff will allow you to find that special item you need to indulge yourself or to pamper that special someone. The boutique’s contemporary architecture serves as the scenery to feature the brand’s latest collections of jewelry, watches, perfumes and leather accessories.

Contemporary decor of the Panama Cartier Boutique

Panama’s Cartier boutique joins a long list of notorious shops located in the great capitals of the world such as London, Paris and New York, along with Buenos Aires, Bogota and México in Latin America. The Panamanian store is managed by the successful Motta Internacional Group.

Leather Accessories display at the Cartier Boutique

The beautiful showroom features the best of the brand’s latest collections. Jewelry lovers will be mesmerized by the royal luxury of the Inde Mysterieuse pieces and the dark seductive design of the Panthere collection. If you prefer to invest in a timepiece, take a look at the exquisite Ballon Bleu watches. Your shopping evening will end perfectly after you take in a breath impregnated with the aroma of a Cartier fragrance. For the ladies we especially recommend the sweet and luxurious Delices de Cartier.

This new haven for rockers is located in the popular bar and discotheque district of Panama City, Calle Uruguay. You will find it easily, because it’s located right above the Sahara bar and restaurant.

The interior of Madame Blanche Rock Lounge

Owners of Madame Blanche are determined to capture old as well as young clientele by providing service from early in the afternoon (5:00 p.m.) and gigs that start at the reasonable hour of 10:00 p.m. for the first set and midnight for the second set. No more falling asleep over drinks while you wait for some good music!

Tuesdays are destined for Blues gigs, and Wednesdays for Jazz. Classic Rock, Pop, Indie, Alternative, New Wave and others can be heard on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Owners of Madame Blanche Rock Lounge are radio personality Manuel “Funket” De Leon and artist Alfredo Bocanegra. They rely on experienced bar tender and manager Benny Cedeño to tend to their customers.

The best local musicians play at Madame Blanche.

Panama citizens may recognize the name of this bar, because there’s an award winning magazine with the same name. Also, Funket and Alfredo have expanded this franchise to the radio, by hosting a homonym show on KYS Radio Station (104.3FM).