Yes, there are American-trained doctors and European-trained doctors here in the Yucatan Peninsula. If you rated medical the care here in Merida (the capital city in the state of Yucatan), where all the nice and big hospitals are, I would give them a 9 out of 10 easily. The medical care seems to be on par with the doctors in the major cities in the US.
Actually, I like the care here in Merida better than in the US because the medical staff pays more attention to you than in the US. When my wife had four surgeries done here in Mexico, the doctor stopped to check on her about four times a day. The doctors here would check to see how you’re doing and ask you if you need anything. In the US, I was lucky if I saw the doctor once. Here in Merida, the doctors try very hard to make you feel comfortable while you are having your procedures done.
However, I couldn’t say the same thing for the doctors and hospitals in the state of Quintana Roo (where the more well known tourist and expat areas are, on the Riviera Maya, including Cancun, Cozumel, Playa del Carmen and Tulum). One of the reasons why moved out of Quintana Roo and back to the state of Yucatan was because when I had my accident, the doctors in Quintana Roo kept saying that there is a very good chance that if I didn’t bleed to death that I was going to lose my leg. Then they took me to the hospital in Cancun but there was no one there who could help me. With the amount of tourists and the amount of people in the Cancun area, in my opinion, there is no excuse for them not to have an arterial surgeon on standby 24 hours a day for an accident like I had. Basically, I consider myself very lucky to have been able to make that ambulance ride for them to get me to Merida so that I didn’t bleed to death.
To add to that story, which was kind of funny, after I had that surgery, and I came back for one of my visits, the doctor sat down with me and said “You’re a smoker aren’t you?” Here’s the rest of the conversation:
“Yeah.”
“How many cigarettes do you smoke in a day?”
“Well, that varies depending on what kind of day I’m having but I smoke an average of a pack a day.”
“How long have you been smoking?”
“Probably 40 years.”
“Well, you know, you should quit.”
“Yeah, I’ve been told that many, many times.”
“Just so you know, smoking saved your life... because your arteries were a little clogged. Had they not been clogged, there was no way you would have made that ambulance ride from Cancun to Merida. You would have bled to death first. I’m not saying you should keep on smoking. I still think you ought to quit but just for your information, it did save your life!”
(Old package of Patriotas cigarettes made in Mexico, pictured.)
Most people go to the island of Ambergris Caye for the nightlife as it is a tourist destination and they have several nightclubs in the area where people come to party until 3 AM. San Pedro (the principle town on Ambergris Caye) is a well-known tourist destination with a very active nightlife.
When shipping pets, one thing to be mindful of are the very specific requirements that can apply to travel crates and kennels. When we flew out of the UK with our cat, we arrived at Heathrow airport with our brand new shinny crate only to be told that they could not accept it because it did not have a "central locking mechanism" (the crate happened to lock in 2 places). 
Getting a cell phone in Portugal could be free if you are on a contract or a postpaid plan. Otherwise, it could cost anything from zero to € 1,000 (US $ 1,100 or £ 740). An iPhone 6S costs around €800 (US $ 880 or £ 590) at the moment. The latest Samsung would cost you about the same amount, more or less. Cellphone service is cheap. You can get unlimited calls for just €7.50 (US $8.25 or £ 5.50) a month. 
Safety in Nicaragua is one of our most precious advantages, even though this is not the perception overseas. Maybe this is because people still remember the years in which Nicaragua suffered from the consequences of a war which took place over 35 years ago. 
Our first day in Panama City we walked and enjoyed meeting people. From the staff at the Hilton Garden Inn to people in cafes and stores, we were pleasantly treated and had no problems. 
