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Russian prostitutes in Paris. It has become hard to find a good French prostitute. At least that’s what a recent article in the Figaro tells readers. 

“Russian girls have flooded Paris,” reported the headline, recalling the well-known Baptist hymn, “We’re sinking deep in sin.” As a happily married man I cannot take on the kind of undercover research required to verify the facts, so I have to rely on secondhand sources. Still, I’m glad to hear about the Russian women. They represent an extension of the division of labor and hope for the future. Not that the local girls didn’t provide a quality product. But they couldn’t compete with the Eastern Europeans on price. 

The Russians brought deflation to an industry traditionally marked by tumescence, if not actual price inflation. My wife Elizabeth, who runs in the Bois deBoulogne, reports that the girls are everywhere. In fact, the more enterprising among them have taken to plying their trade in motor homes, an innovation that should give encouragement to Winnebago stockholders.  She says she saw one yesterday, sitting in the front seat of a motor home, in the skimpiest, leopard skin dress Elizabeth had ever seen, with her legs propped up on the dashboard. There was no sign out, but she couldn’t have advertised it better— she had realized every auto buff’s dream, a whorehouse on wheels.
—Bill Bonner, Paris, France

The 10 best things to do in Cape Town, South Africa. 
1. Drop in to the posh Mount Nelson Hotel for afternoon tea—and the nearly unlimited buffet that comes with it. For just R60 you can dine like royalty on the most delicately-prepared foods. Just settle into the lush gardens where you’ll find palm trees, exotic birds, manicured lawns, abundant tropical flowers, and ancient shade trees. Relax on white-cushioned chaise longues and while the afternoon away. The polite, refined demeanor of the wait staff helps keep you under the spell. This is civilized.
2. Go for a moonlight horseback ride along the beach in Noordhoek—just south of Cape Town. You’ll breath fragrant sea air and listen to the gentle rhythm of the surf as you canter along a sparkling coastline. Sleepy Hollow Stables puts it all together for you. 
3. Climb Table Mountain by cable car. Arrive about an hour before sunset to avoid the daytime crowds. You’ll see Cape Town from high altitude under warm, late afternoon light. And if you linger for awhile at the summit’s newly-restored and fully-windowed restaurant, you’ll get a surreal nightscape panorama from the top. 
4. Feed your appetite for the uncommon. To get way off the beaten path, place a call to Chelsea Travel. South Africa’s most-knowledgeable travel guru arranges anything you can dream up—from a simple guided nature hike to the exotic 
luxury of a hot-air balloon safari across Africa.
5. Visit the Cape of Good Hope—nightmare of all sea captains. Its Cape Point Nature Preserve is majestic…and the place has a great history to tell. 
6. Sail across Table Bay at sunset. Step aboard one of the V&A Waterfront’s most beautiful sailing vessels, the luxury catamaran Tigresse. You’ll sip champagne and sail the bay for an hour and a half. This is Table Mountain as it’s meant to be seen: from the water, and under a setting sun—all for just R60. A great way to get your bearings when you first arrive on the Cape.
7. Spend an afternoon in the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Unparalleled natural beauty set into rolling hills, with cliff walks and natural waterfalls, wide open spaces surrounded by mountains, exotic South African flora, and Sunday evening concerts by the Cape Town Philharmonic. Just 13km from the city center. Admission R7. 
8. Take a drive to Lion’s Head lookout. Turn left at the top of Cape Town’s Kloof Nek Road for an easy climb and a perfect view. 
9. Picnic in paradise. Drive south out of Cape Town along the winding cliff roads overlooking False Bay. Stop at the Silvermine Nature Reserve. Great secluded picnic spots. Then head south to explore the colorful seaside towns of Kalk Bay, St. James, and Simonstown.
10. Go to the cliffs. Point your car south from Cape Town and travel out beyond Hout Bay toward the breathtaking Chapman’s Peak Drive for one jaw-dropping venue after another—majestic cliffs that fall into icy blue waters of the Atlantic, white sandy beaches and rolling hills. Then turn around, switch drivers and do it again—in the opposite direction. 
   —Art Crowley III, Sea Girt, N.J. 

Contacts:
•  Sleepy Hollow Stables in Noordhoek. Contact Lisa, tel. (27-21)789-2341, or cell (27-83)261-0104
•  Chelsea Travel, Chelsea Corner Waterloo Road, Wynberg 7800 Cape Town. Call Tim Jackson, tel. (27-21)797-9999, fax 797-9908
•  Tigresse, tel. (27-21)419-7746, fax 419-2876
• Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, tel. (27-21)762-9120 fax: 797-6570 Free cruises…men only. If you’re 45 – 70 years old, can ballroom dance, and schmooze women, you can travel free on the world’s most-luxurious ships. Lauretta Blake runs a Gentlemen Host Cruise Program for single men. For more information, call The Working Vacation at (815)485-8307 or go to: www.theworkingvacation.com.

Global investing. 
Learn how to make money by investing in overseas stocks and bonds...and by opening offshore bank accounts and offshore trusts. Long-time International Living investment writer Vivian Lewis will show you how at her Global Investing Conference in Guadalajara, Mexico, October 26 – 30. 

The conference costs $250 if you book by July 1st. Rooms at the posh Fiesta Americana cost $90 per night. You can also get a discounted flight from Continental Airlines. Call (800)364-0620 for more information. go to www.flighttoquality.com. How to get your pets into Panama. My wife and Irecently moved to Panama, and are finding it a wonderful change from  the United States. Easy access to the USA and Latin America from the world-class airport in Panama City makes my business travel simple. And we’ve rented a 2,300 sq.-ft., 3-bedroom, 3-bath, 23rd-floor apartment, complete with maid’s quarters, for $900 per month. We have an incredible view of Panama Bay and the towering skyscrapers of downtown Panama City. The tropical  sunsets are amazing. We also have two cats who are part of the family, and we had to jump through a few hoops to get them into the country. Panama has a 40-day quarantine for pets, and I knew our 15-year-old cats would not have survived the stress. 

So we stayed in Costa Rica for a while, contemplating our next move. But the commute to Panama for work (I am a consultant with clients in Panama and elsewhere), was bad, and my wife was getting lonely. So I found a solution: an in-house quarantine. Since our cats are indoor pets anyway, they wouldn’t know the difference. Bring your pets into Panama is not simple, however. And, nobody in the government seems to be able to give a correct list of requirements.

An 8-step plan
We found out when we got here that we were missing a crucial document.  Fortunately, my clients in Panama graciously spent three hours running around the city getting the required paperwork. We could have gotten it in advance had we known it was necessary. So, based on our experience, here is what you need to bring your pet to Panama with an in-house quarantine:
1.  Certificate of good health, prepared by a veterinarian. In the USA, this must be certified by the USDA (about $10, your vet should know how)
2.  Rabies immunization certificate (not more than 16 months nor less than 30 days from last shot)
3.  The above two documents must be certified before you leave by the nearest Panamanian embassy or consulate (call to see if they have any specific requirements; about $30 per document)
4.  You must have a letter from the Chief of the Department of Food Safety and Veterinary Vigilance (my translation) acknowledging your request for in-house quarantine (this is the letter we didn’t have)
5.  Your pet must be inspected on arrival by an agriculture inspector at the Tocumen airport ($15 plus $10 for each additional animal)
6.  You must pay a quarantine fee to the Ministerio de Salud (Ministry of Health, $20 plus $120 per animal, also at the airport)
7.  You must sign a document agreeing to comply with the requirements for the in-house quarantine, specifically, to keep your animal indoors until the quarantine is completed
8.  You must have your animal inspected at your residence during the quarantine period. I understood that a government veterinarian would come to perform these inspections, but they have not contacted us yet (it has been a month so far).

This process is not simple, but it is not insurmountable either. I recommended you have a Panamanian associate, friend, or lawyer help with getting letter #4 above. Also keep in mind that the requirements may be different for animals other than dogs and cats. I have heard that the government is trying to make it illegal to keep birds as pets, for example. And,requirements change from time to time (in Latin America, sometimes from day to day). So, don’t be completely surprised if when you arrive, you need something different. For this reason, unless (and even if) you speak fluent Spanish, it’s a good idea to have a Panamanian friend meet you at the airport, to help with problems that might come up.
—Bill Dickerson, Panama City, Panama

Open skies in Honduras
The Honduran government has just passed a new law providing for an “open skies” policy at the country’s four major airports, including the one on Roatan. TACA’s monopoly is over. Now every airline will have access to Honduras. This should be a big boost for tourism. 
—Frank Canale, Roatan, Honduras

The safest place in Mexico
Very few Cancun visitors actually cross the invisible line over into Yucatan province. Some go on the pyramid day tours via the newtoll road. Take the other road and you add 15 minutes to your trip, but you’ll also see an authentic colonial town from 1552, Valladolid. You’ll experience a small piece of the pre-tourist past, and different better property deals than you find in Cancun. If you continue on another 90 miles you will arrive in Mérida, the “Paris of the West.”  The city dates from the 1500s and has plazas, promenades, parks, fabulous restaurants, tree-lined boulevards, lovely mansions, Spanish colonial architecture, and Mayan tranquility. Mérida is very clean and safe. Just 30 miles from the Gulf coast, it has the lowest crime rate per capita in all of Mexico.

If you want to retire to Mexico, but don’t want to live in a resort town lacking soul and history, come to Mérida. It does have one downside, however: It’s hot and humid, with average 90F temperatures from April to September. 

The best hotel value: The Caribe Hotel on Parque Hidalgo, near the central plaza. It costs $40 a night. The best business opportunity: a real estate office. There apparently is only one bilingual real-estate agency in Merida; Piramides. 

They operate from their house in an out-of-the-way residential area. And they try to charge you for the privilegeof talking with them or seeing any of their properties.
—Jerry Ritter, Cape Coral, Florida

Editor’s note: Jerry knows the Caribbean and Central America as well as anybody we know. If you’re interested in Caribbean real estate, he publishes the closest thing to a multiple listing service, called The Caribbean Property List. You can get a copy through the IL bookstore on our web-site ($20). Go to internationalliving.com A single phone for the whole country. I’ve been looking for a U.S. phone service that works across the whole country with a  single phone number and a single rate: AT&T’s Digital One program (800)222-0300 starts at $60 per month for 300 minutes, covering all calls within the country; you can add Canada for an extra $20 per month. It’s been terrific so far and is a good omen for the development of a similar international phone in the coming months…or years.
—Ken Layne, Los Angeles, California.