There are a number of medical centers, hospitals, and health clinics in Ajijic. Health centers run by the DIF and Centro De Salud are government-run municipal or state institutions. 
The worst reason to retire to Panama is to expect a much less expensive lifestyle and yet have the same comforts of home. That would be a mistake. There are definitely adjustments that you have to make. Their philosophy is different than ours, their education system is different than ours and the things that they value are different than ours. So you definitely have to yield to their culture. 
We have three or four beautiful rivers that cross Portugal. Further south from Lisbon we have the Guadiana River, where I have rafted. Up north we have Mondego River and further north close to Porto we have Douro River, which is where the Porto Wine comes from. And this area Douro; the Douro River and the cliffs surrounding the Douro River, is where they plant the grapes to produce the world famous Porto Wine or “Port Wine” as you call it in America. We do not have the...The Quest for the Elusive Mung Beans -- A Visit to Abastos from Ajijic / Lake Chapala
Like an aspiring knight in a medieval fairytale who had been told to bring back the egg of a fire-breathing dragon or a nascent American Indian brave who had been given the task of producing a specific feather from a fearsome bird on some faraway mountaintop, I now had my challenge: bring me the mung beans.In this case, the one issuing the challenge was none other than my wife, Jet, a devoted cook who sees the world as her laboratory. “Lakeside is a ‘pot luck...
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is the historic city center of Panama. It is a peaceful and charming district of narrow streets, accompanied by balconies full of the flowers of two and three-story houses. At its end is the French Park, a monument to the French builders who began construction of the Panama Canal, and the beautiful French Embassy, pictured here.