During our trip, we visited different areas of Panama for potential housing locations. Boquete is in the mountainous area north of David and is our choice if we were to move. We found the Panamanians friendly and helpful. The water was safe to drink everywhere we went. Generally, prices for food and drink were extremely cheap compared to the states. Fruit stands were everywhere.
Currency used is the US dollar. Panama has their own currency which is the Balboa. Each of their coins are the same size and value as US coins. Both the Balboa and the US dollar is used interchangeably everywhere.
The only downside is the amount of trash everywhere.
PANAMA CITY
We left San Antonio Texas at 5am on January 5th for a flight to Houston, and from there a 4 hour flight to Panama City. Arriving at 2PM, we got our rental and headed to Panama City. Driving in Panama City is an experience. You have both Panamanians and Panamaniacs. A Panamaniac is anyone behind the wheel of a vehicle.
Here is the view we had driving into Panama City from the airport. Skyscrapers everywhere.
Panama City Skyline
I like using GPS when I drive in places I am not familiar with, so instead of paying extra for one in a rental car when we arrived in Panama City, I found a company that sells a GPS map of Panama that is compatible with my Garmin Zumo. This came in extremely handy because there are NO street signs or numbers on buildings anywhere in Panama. For example, when I asked the Harley Davidson dealer where he was in Panama City, he responded " On Balboa Ave across from the Peugot dealer". So having GPS coordinates of places you want to visit is extremely handy.
Our first two nights we stayed at a Wyndham hotel called the Veneto. The Veneto is a very nice hotel/casino in the downtown area. After checking into our room, I noticed we had no power at all in the room. After calling housekeeping and muddling through the language barrier, I discovered that you have to put your room key in a slot near the front door to activate the power to the room. Once the room key is removed, power turns off after a short delay. A very ingenious way to save power!!
Right across the street from the Veneto was Manolo's, a restaurant with seating outside. We stopped there to relax and have our first taste of Panamanian cervazas. My first was appropriately called Panama. Not bad, but I liked the Balboa cervaza better, which I drank plenty of that week.
Later that evening we decided to go down to the Veneto casino to unwind and play the slots. As soon as I sat down at a slot machine a very attractive lady in her mid-40's (??) approached me and asked if I wanted a massage. I guessed I looked a little stressed out after a long day of travelling. Anyway, I politely declined, then quickly found Jan and stayed closer to her the rest of the night. The highlight was when I won $27 at one of the slots. Yep, big winner... ;-)
Our first night we ate at the Pomodor, a quaint little Italian restaurant right across the street from the Veneto. We were led out to a little courtyard behind the restaurant where they had lights hanging from the trees for a little atmosphere. The food and wait staff were excellent.
We ate breakfast Friday and Saturday morning at Manolo's. Sitting outside on the patio, we noticed that all the chicas walking around town wore the tightest pants/slacks possible. To me it looked like they were painted on. Most all wore high heels and dressed to the nine's.
Friday and Saturday we visited El Valle, the beach town of Coronado, and Cerro Azul. Altos del Maria was also on our list to visit, but we ran out of time. We also visited friends we had known from San Antonio before they moved to Capira last September. You can following their experiences from their blog at Along The Gringo Trail.
Saturday afternoon we picked up our son at the airport and then visited the Panama Canal Miraflores Locks. It was very interesting to watch the ships going through the locks.
Tanker Passing Through the Canal
We stayed at La Estancia that night which is a quaint little B&B in the heart of Panama City. The three of us shared a small two bed room where we watched birds and a squirrel fight over bananas hung from a tree outside the balcony.
Jan and I did attempt to learn a little Spanish before the trip. Our son knows Spanish and was a great help during the trip. We found that in most cases we were able to muddle our way through ordering food, getting a room, etc, but having your own personal translator along was very helpful.
David/Volcan/Boquete
Sunday morning we headed to the other end of the country to David, close to Costa Rica. We travelled the Carretera Panamericana highway almost 300 miles. The scenery was beautiful along the way, except as noted above about the trash along the side of the highway. We passed many small fruit stands selling fresh pineapples, bananas, coconuts, etc. We also passed many Nationale Policia standing along the highway with their sport bikes, radar guns and pistoleros. Speed limits were generally 80 to 100kph on the open highways and 40kph in towns. There were a couple of checkpoints around David where we were checked for passports.
Along the route we kept passing these establishments that had a long row of garage doors on both sides of the building. These were called 'Push Button Hotels' by our friends in Capira. Apparently these are drive-in rooms that could be rented by the hour. I guess parking your car in the garage meant that your neighbor couldn't tell you were there or who you were there with.
We stayed at Hotel Castilla in David for $39 a night. It was a very nice and clean hotel right in the middle of downtown one block from the town square. The bathrooms were tiled floor to ceiling. The staff at the hotel were courteous and very friendly. We had safe parking underground that was guarded night and day. We ate breakfast at the on-premise retaurant, and the food was delicious.
Sunday afternoon we made it down to the beach at Playa Barqueta. It was a clean beach area with a hotel, condos, and a bar or two. On the way there we passed many farms with fields of rice paddies, sugar cane, and corn. Being Sunday the beach was full of locals and vacationers. We downed a few cervazas and then had dinner while watching the beautiful sunset over the Pacific ocean.
Absolutely beautiful sunset on the Playa Barqueta beach
View of Boquete
Back in David for the night we visited a casino down the street from the hotel, and found out that they were serving cervazas in the sports bar, where we watched football. I guess they were exempt from the no alcohol served on holiday rule??
Tuesday we drove up to Volcan from David. Volcan is very different area from Boquete. Volcan does not have the infrastructure that is needed for a growing community, yet. The mountainous area scenery is just beautiful up here. We stopped along the road many times watching waterfalls and streams flowing by. The weather was a bit colder than Boquete. We stayed in another quaint little B&B called Volcan Lodge for the night.
Wednesday we headed back to David and checked back into Hotel Castilla. After checking in we headed back to Boquete so we could talk to some real estate agents. Well, someone has said "If you think you can get away with something here in Panama, you are generally free to try". Well, there is major road construction from David to Boquete - changing a two lane road to 4 lanes. Monday was a holiday and there were no workers. Wednesday there were workers. I was following a very slow moving truck in a construction zone. Starting to get the picture??? I passed the truck, and then immediately got stopped by a Nationale Policia. Since I indicated I spoke very little to no Spanish he went over to the other side of the car where my son was sitting. The nice Policia said I had committed an 'Infraction'. Luckily it was a 'no-monetary infraction', so he finally let us go after checking over my driver's license and passport. Anyone see the show 'Locked Up Abroad'? Actually I'd like to think that I just did that so my son could get a little more experience in getting me out of trouble. ;-)
We saw a few gated communities that have possibilities. Los Molinos was nice. Los Nances was nice. Boquete Country Club was nice. All in all we found that the prices in the area were something we could afford if we decided to move there. The power and water prices that most folks indicated that they were paying a month was ridiculously low. Water bills around $10 a month. Electricity bills about $65 a month. Majority of the houses had no A/C. None of them had heaters. They just were not needed there.
Going Home
Thursday morning we made the 300 mile trip back to Panama City. That afternoon we visited Casco Viejo which is a very old part of town right on the coastline. Some streets were just wide enough for a car to travel down. Many of the buildings were under re-construction. After a stroll through the area browsing the street vendors, we stopped for a few more Balboa's before heading to the Marriott near the airport for the night. Friday we left for the long flight home.
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