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Panama: Eight Destinations in Which to Spend the Winter Months

First
Time Reader?

Why Panama? – This blog explains the rationale of
the trip and this series of blogs.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/excursions/1266327384/tpod.html

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Boquete – Expat Haven in the Chiriqui Highlands
Part 1 of 4
 
Destination no. 6 of 8 to Spend the Winter Months in Panama
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For detailed information about Boquete check out the following links:

http://www.businesspanama.com/tourism/mountains_highlands.php

http://www.businesspanama.com/tourism/retire_live.php

http://www.spanishcourses.info/cities/boquete-panama-312-EN.htm
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For my impressions, experiences and observations, read on.

My bus trip from David (pronounced DaahVEED) to Boquete got off to a rough start for I could not believe my eyes upon seeing what was taking place on top of a nearby bus at the bus station. With a great deal of effort, a man, standing on top of a nearby bus, was trying to tie down a dog to the top of a bus for the purpose of transportation.

If that wasn't bad enough, when I saw how he was trying to do it, I just about flipped out. Desperately he was trying to put the dog inside a large plastic bag with only its head protruding. He then attempted to tie the bag with ropes and attach it to the luggage racks on top of the bus. Needless to say the dog was not about to have any of this and I witnessed two attempts that resulted with the dog squirting out of the bag each time. Unfortunately at that point my bus to Boquete pulled out and I did not see the sequel to this sad story. Where is the SPCA when you need them? With the temperature around 36° C, a dog wrapped in a plastic bag on top of a bus, with no shade, had no possibility of survival at least according to my reckoning.


Apart from Panama City the best-known expat destinations in Panama are Boquete and Boca de Toro. So these were exciting times for I was headed first for Boquete and then beautiful Boca de Toro.

According to both links above, Boquete is rated as the fourth best retirement destination in the world by the AARP magazine Modern Maturity and number one by International Living so my anticipation was understandable. Yes, Boquete is a "hot" destination and I am not talking about the temperature that is falsely touted as being “spring-like” year round.
 
The bus ride takes about an hour as the yellow school bus – yes, yellow school bus winds its way into the higher elevations of the Chiriqui Highlands that are a part of a mountain chain called the Cordillera Central. Speaking of the school , that was my first disappointment. If Boquete is such a renowned destination why have it served by a basic school bus with a rough suspension and no air conditioning?
 
As the bus lumbers towards Boquete do not expect hair-pin turns as the beautiful route leads through lush agricultural lands that belie the gain in altitude. Nevertheless Boquete lies at 3,200 feet and the best view of Boquete, at least from the road, is just after the road crests and then descends into the beautiful valley where Boquete is located and where 20,000 inhabitants live.
 
 
Surrounded by mountains on three sides and with Volcan Baru nearby, Boquete rates high on the scenery scale. The town is strung along an interesting main street that continues to gain in elevation as it leads north. This slight elevation along the main street may make walking difficult for some people. I was certainly aware that I was walking uphill as I headed north along main-street in the direction of Café Ruiz for a coffee tour (blog to follow). This café and coffee producer is located about a kilometre and a half from downtown.

For info on Volcan Baru:

http://www.enjoypanama.com/volcanoes.htm

The bus from David has its terminus at the lovely flower-enhanced main square or park in the middle of town. From here there is the choice of walking downhill or uphill along the main street. Near the center is the location of the Romero Supermarket which is as good as it gets in Boquete when it comes to shopping for food. If you want to beat these prices then a weekly shopping trip to David would be appropriate.



I headed south from the main square towards “Pension Topaz” in search of accommodations (blog to follow). Unfortunately “Pension Topaz” was full on this day. That left me scrambling to find the phone number of the lady on the bus from David who offered to take me to what I will call “no-name accommodations”. No, it was not in a private home. Indeed it was in what could have been a hotel but it did not have a name. The good thing is that the accommodations cost me $18 but it was pretty basic.


So how beautiful is this highlands town that rates so highly as an expat destination? Does it compare to what one would find in a comparable situation in Switzerland, Austria or France? No, for that it lacks the attention to detail, the quality of the homes and accommodations, landscaping, food, restaurants and level of merchandising and perhaps distant snow-capped peaks. But then I am comparing first-world countries with a developing nation.

That leads me to the concept of what the French call “qualité-prix”. On that scale Boquete beats its more upscale comparisons hands down as the surroundings in Boquete, while not stunning, are still beautiful while affording the luxury of affordable prices. Prices that by Panamanian standards would be considered high are still “reasonable” for the expat.

A better comparison would perhaps be with Bariloche, Argentina.

http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/lobo/argentina_2006/1141253700/tpod.html

Bariloche is a gorgeous four-season resort town complete with a nearby ski resort and hints of an ersatz Swiss motif that I would favour over Boquete.

But then is this a fair comparison? Bariloche has a population of 130,000 so it is not a town like Boquete but a city complete with an airport. Furthermore while Argentina is cheap it is not as cheap as Panama by any means.

But wait – then there is beautiful San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina that has about the same population as Boquete (depending which source you look at). What struck me about this gorgeous town was the building code that extended the Swiss motif throughout the town much more than Bariloche.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Mart%C3%ADn_de_los_Andes

For something smaller and even cuter try Villa La Angostura, Argentina.

http://www.enjoy-patagonia.org/bariloche-destinations-bariloche-villa-la-angostura.php

But then it is still in Argentina meaning higher prices and long expensive flights from North America and Europe. Furthermore the above-mentioned Argentinean destinations have four seasons that might not be everyone’s cup of tea.

So try as I might to find a better alternative, Boquete still stands as a pretty formidable choice for the average expat.

Then of course there is the unbeatable climate with temperatures ranging between 60 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have been reading my blogs about Panama then you know that the words “hot” and “humidity” prefixed with the word “very”, pretty well describe most of Panama. The extreme heat is not the case here in Boquete making it the exception in Panama.

However, even in Boquete there is no escaping the famous “two seasons” of Panama – the “dry” (November – April) and “wet” (May – October) seasons. Daylight hours tend to be close to 06:00 to 19:00 since Panama is very close to the equator.

The Boquete valley is a fertile agricultural area that among other crops is known especially for coffee. No visit to Boquete would be complete without a tour of a coffee plantation. The locally grown, limited edition, “Geisha” coffee, is rated the best in the world (lots more info in following blog).

If the company of other expats is desirable, Boquete will not be found wanting as it is difficult to walk about this town without seeing some of the 2,000 expats living in the area. Along with this concentration of expats comes a large selection of restaurants, shops and boutiques as well as a Romero Supermarket.


Accommodations for expats span from condos in gated communities to houses ranging from the average to the luxurious. Because a lot of expats feel the need to buy property, there is a large selection of real estate agents in this town. If you explore some of the links that I have in my photos of real estate offices you will discover that real estate is not exactly cheap in Boquete but how can it be when it is rated as one of the world’s top retirement havens. But don’t despair if you are willing to settle for something less glamorous there is the option of the less expensive town of Volcan on the other side of the mountains (future blog).


With so many expats there is also a medical clinic in town with a modern hospital only an hour away in David. A new library is presently in the construction phase and to further exercise the brain there are several Spanish language schools.


There is an outstanding selection of outdoor activities in the area such as hiking including to the Volcan Baru, kayaking, canopy/zipline tours, hot springs, white water rafting and bird watching, fishing and golf. Hiking must be great for there is an extensive network of trails including a day hike from Boquete to neighbouring Volcan.


Since my favourite place to eat in Panama City was the cafeteria of the Riba Smith Supermarket located in the Bella Vista barrio I was glad to see that there was a cafeteria-style restaurant in Boquete. Called “Restaurante El Sabroson” it is located on the main street just north of the park and serves very reasonably priced meals. Cafeteria eating may not be your cup of tea so for a more discriminating palate, there is a relatively large selection of ethnic restaurants.


A nice hangout is the Kotowa Coffee House in the Los Establos shopping center located along the main street south of the park. Its friendly modern upbeat architecture makes this a great location to reflect upon: your aromatic cup of Boquete coffee, the beautiful green mountains just across the valley and how you can plan your escape to end up living in Boquete.


Coming Soon:

Boquete: Café Ruiz and the Story of Boquete Coffee