Exploring Las Tablas Panama for Retirement

Surprise! Another great retirement area for Ex-Pats in the Azuero peninsula. Super safe, cheap prices, nice town. Come check it out with us.

[@vincecavedog3219]

No trash on the street it's cleaner than Phoenix!

[@laptopseniors]

Hey Vince. Thanks for watching. Is Phoenix dirty?

[@RM1Vet]

You guys are making my bucket list overflow 😂.

[@laptopseniors]

Awe sweet! 💗 we appreciate you too. 🙌🏻

[@brianpenn9747]

You guys are AWESOME!! ❤ Thank you so much for letting us follow your adventures & showing off different areas of Panama … truly appreciate it as we are in the process of trying to figure out where we want to focus our attention when we are there in Oct for our recon for Retirement. We have watched thousands of hours of KZbin videos in the past 20 months & have fallen in love with Panama. Vivian - I’d love to hit you up about the GF options as my wife needs & have understood from our research that it isn’t easy to find GF in Panama (partially due to language barrier & also they do not have an understanding about it)

[@laptopseniors]

Thanks Brian. i'll have Vivian answer on the GF front. There are GF stuff in stores and you will always...always....see chicken on any restaurant menu (although that gets old quick). So there will be choices. But it's not like N. America and grocery GF things cost a lot.

[@laptopseniors]

Hi Brian, I feel for you. It’s not fun having your diet restricted and paying more and hunting down gf foods. Pat is used to it but still cringes. I encourage him to eat what he wants but mostly he eats what I make lol and making separate menus is a drag. So I found the americano supermarkets have quite a few options and yes they cost more but all their imported goods cost more than local foods. I have been pleasantly surprised at even smaller shops that have gf crackers or macaroons but I’ve learned how to adapt. Some restaurants offer small fried corn with fried cheese that we love and everyone offers chicken and rice. Meat and vegetables always work. When we go to places that have babaganoush or hummus I bring my own rice crackers or even chips. We absolutely love the Valle chips made with olive oil!!! I’ll considering a playlist on health and well-being. Our daughter is a nutritionist and has so much good advice to share. I just don’t know if it fits our channel. Thanks for following us. We sure appreciate you 😁

[@brianpenn9747]

Thank you for your reply 😊 Looking forward to seeing where else you go & truly looking forward to being in Panama in Oct - only 45 more days before we go!!!

[@definitelydaphne777]

Love this video, I'm hoping to come to Panama in December and Las Tablas is on my radar . The music at the end with your four legged friends is perfect, kudos to your musical director.! Thank You so much 🙏

[@laptopseniors]

Thanks Daphne. It was a nice little town and area.

[@ianstuart5660]

Beautiful presentation and lovely photography!

[@laptopseniors]

Thanks Ian. We appreciate that.

[@donhendri5428]

Las tablas is a beautiful town they have a lot of festivals in the summertime and more than a million people arrive yearly for Carnaval festivities.

[@laptopseniors]

Thanks Don. Las Tablas has a lot going for it. 😄

[@helenequinn]

Thank you for showing us the Pacific outside of Las Tablas. The water not at all pretty, is very gray in fact & the beach is not to our liking. We do prefer the Atlantic side. (I lived in Panama years ago & would love to move there again.) Your videos help a lot. Thank you.

[@sweetdragon36067]

It has the festival of dresses and many inhabitants rent the house and leave for Panama City, because the town is flooded with people for the festival. Looks like a nice town and the cows look fairly tasty. I will be headed to Chitre soon: drawn by cooler temperatures and a dryer climate from Panama City. Nice video.

[@laptopseniors]

The cows were amazing. Festival of dresses. Did not know that. Thanks for watching.

[@RichardBurke-l7g]

There is a Chinese restaurant behind the Mc Donald's also I live on Estero beach and it is a 10 minute drive . Also Uverito is the same. You went the wrong way!! LOL!!

[@mrbutch308]

Great video - very interesting. Las Tablas seems like a very lively town with lots of stores, banks, pharmacies, restaurants, etc. I tidy and livable place, my only criticism is that it seems to lack the historical charm, lovely architecture and quaintness so many retirees like me seek in Latin America such as San Miguel de Allende or Ajijic in Mexico or Granada in Nicaragua or Cuenca in Ecuador.

[@laptopseniors]

Yes, it's more of a nice functioning town than a pretty town. It is definitely not like San Miguel de Allende. Similar though to Ajijic but not as upscale overall. LOT of retired money in Ajijic.

[@helenequinn]

May I ask, in the towns listed above, aren’t they more dry (Mexico) versus Ecuador or Nicaragua? I know Panama’s dry season is only 3 months (I lived there) but Mexico is dry much longer. Am I correct?

[@laptopseniors]

@@helenequinn We're not sure of Ecuador or Nicaragua, but Mexico is definitely drier more. Depending on where you are there won't be any rainy season. Just regular weather.

[@billgracey6369]

The church is Santa Librada, they have a HUGE festival for her in late July. Looks like they repaved a lot of the streets in Las Tablas, it was kind of rough when I lived there! El Caseron, I ate at a few times, their prices have gone up a bit, most of the stuff was under $1 15 yrs ago! Their pizza was pretty good and their local dishes were decent, too! True, in las tablas there isn't much variety for food at the restaurants. I see they have a Domino's Pizza there now! There were no chain restaurants in LT when I was there. Had to go to Chitre for any chains. There was a really good local restaurant just outside of LT on the way to Chitre on the east side of the highway, they had smoked pork chops to die for! I can't remember the name of the place! Las Tablas still looks like a simple town. And again, not much night life. But, where I first lived, there was a bar across from our apartment building. It was quiet Sun-Thurs nite but Friday and Saturday nights! Party all night! didnt sleep on weekends, we moved to La Villa, then! LOL. When we moved back to LT, we got a house in a quiet neighborhood away from any bars! There are carnivals all the time in Panama! Every town has a patron saint, and they have a big carnival near their feast day! There are a few local roads that go down to the Bay of Panama. On one, there was like a day resort, where you could pay a fee and hang out at their little swimming pool. If you got a meal, they would let you hang out for free, they had a little bar and restaurant, where they had mostly local fare, which was good and you could just have ceviche and a beer and hang out by the pool. Nearby, there was also a place on the beach a German guy owned, it was a little bar/restaurant and you could get some local food and hot dogs and hamburger and he sold beer and Abuelo rum and sodas. I speak German, and I had a nice chat with him. Spoke English and Spanish, as well. Brahma and "Brangus" cattle do well in that climate.

[@forgiven2184]

this video was like watching paint dry.

[@maria.2695]

Love you both!❤

[@laptopseniors]

Thank you so much.

[@johndix4875]

Found it❗️

[@CK9mum]

We love your videos about Panama. Each video teaches us so much. Keep up the great work! We are planning to retire in Panama in a couple of years. My question is about gluten free food availability. I too am celiac. I'm fine with eating rice and beans and chicken and veggies and such. And I'm learning Spanish so I can talk about my restrictions in Spanish. How hard is it to find GF things in grocery stores like GF soy sauce, crackers, cereal, etc?

[@laptopseniors]

You can likely get most GF foods but you'll have to hunt around for them versus all in one store. And, they'll cost a bit more. On the other hand meat, meat, and more meat is everywhere and it's GF. Bonus if you like great steaks.

[@mpking1397]

I like the videos I feel as if I'm in the car with you, Thank you very much.

[@laptopseniors]

Great to know. Thanks.

[@laptopseniors]

We love having the company too 😁. Just don’t mind the weird chatter lol.

[@brucemontrose]

Great video of Las Tablas. Next time you're there check out Playa El Uverito. From Las Tablas it's only 15 kms. It's another beautiful beach community with lots of expats.

[@laptopseniors]

Thanks. Yes, next time we'll do Pedasi also.

[@mwsw50]

Shhhh, we live on Uverito, don’t tell everybody, we like it like it is.

[@stevenpatriquin3188]

I like that you are driving,, get to see more,, it looks nicer than mexico,,what do you think?

[@laptopseniors]

Parts of Panama sort of seem like Mexico but at the same time feel more upscale or better kept and safer. Not sure what causes that. Less fences? Infrastructure? Odd? But you can definitely notice it but not put your finger on why.

[@stevenpatriquin3188]

It does look better kept and safer,I didnt see dogs and poop everywhere eather in your video,,I have been to mexico a few times but panama looks nice,,I like chitre,,I might come for a look,I want to move in the next couple of years to get away from canada winters and cost of living@@laptopseniors

[@najattehawkins21]

I went there i live i panama

[@dovygoodguy1296]

What do Laptop Seniors feel about the high heat and humidity in Panama? Are you finding yourselves confined to air conditioning most of the time? Are most Americans and Canadians in Las Tablas snowbirds or expats? Are you satisfied with the amenities for seniors there?

[@laptopseniors]

Hi Dovygoodguy, good question! By the beaches it’s definitely hot but there are also breezes off the ocean and gulf. There are days it’s melting hot but depending on where we’re going it can be manageable. Pat doesn’t admit he feels it as much as I do lol. But keep in mind Panama is a country of microclimates. You don’t have to go far to be in shadier and cooler weather, especially if your climbing altitude. It’s one of the reasons many love the mountain communities like Boquete. We can’t answer the other 2 as we just visited las tablas. Thank you for following us. We appreciate you.

[@terryashley4674]

How's the Internet in Las Tablas?

[@carltheyoda2155]

Great idea to ride around instead of walking.

[@laptopseniors]

We agree! You can see much more this way. 😁

[@stevemlejnek7073]

Have you done a similar video on Pedasi?

[@laptopseniors]

No Steve. We went towards Pedasi but veered off to the ocean and didn't go all the way. Our guess (could be wrong) was that it'd be pretty similar but smaller still, to Las Tablas.

[@wyominged6017]

Your channel is interesting, but the audio is difficult. Please consider a fix.

[@laptopseniors]

Yes. Fixing on the upcoming ones.

[@margaretfarhadi5856]

I love your videos of the different little towns. But it's frustrating trying to guess what you're saying because your microphone when in the car, sounds like it's hiding under a blanket. your voices are so muffled that it's almost impossible to know what you are saying.

[@laptopseniors]

Yes, I know Margaret. You're so correct. When doing those. videos we had no intention of using the audio of us talking. Just the video part and then we'd talk over the video....loudly. But some of them are so long that we just don't have that much to say to fill 30 or 40 minutes. So we left some of us in. For new ones where we're in the car, we're going to mic ourselves up so the car and wind noise won't drown us out. It's all a learning and work in progress. Thank you for watching though.

[@djc7447]

Volume to low

[@laptopseniors]

Thanks John. That’s true. Video editing is tricky and time consuming. Some of the chatter on the road was not meant to be captured lol. We appreciate your support watching and subscribing is a great help. ;)