Blogs from Boquete, Chiriquí, Panama, Central America Caribbean - page 9

Our original New Year’s Eve plan was to go to Bocas del Toro a Carribean archipelago in the north western corner of Panama. However, reading between the lines of people’s experiences there and a quick scout around online left us thinking that Bocas the US’s latest Cancun-ised party spot was perhaps best left off our itinerary. Instead we elected for the rather more sedate mountain town of Boquete. Unfortunately also evaded by Americans but this lot were the retiree set whom we felt would be a little more manageable. We stayed in what is certainly the most comfortable hostel thus far. Right on a little river this Swiss style chalet house equipped with an expansive dining table, kitchen with a fridge which could comfortably house a family of four and a handy outside area with do-it-yourself ... read more

After two nights in Panama City we decided to swap the scorching, busy metropolis for the cool, lush mountains and forests of Boquete. We awoke early and got the 8.15 bus north to Panama´s second city David. After nearly missing the bus due to us queuing in the wrong area entirely we were hustled on as the bus was pulling off. Unfortunately the bus was quite busy and we would have to sit separately. I sat down beside a man who appeared to be asleep and throughout the 7 hour bus ride he did nothing other than breathe. Clare on the otherhand sat beside an elderly Panamanian man, probably in his sixties. The man´s resemblance to Morgan Freeman was scary, the only difference being that he spoke no English. As Clare sat down the elderly man, ... read more

Day 208: Panamerican passage to the hills beyond Not wanting to be searching out new lodgings in the dark, I had to set off early this morning, and having got up before the pervy security guard had poked his nose round the door, I got a taxi to the bus terminal and caught the eight o'clock bus to David. Fairly uneventful, the journey was fairly restricted to the usually tarmacked roads of the Panamerican Highway. In between the films being shown on board, I did manage to get a bit of sleep and met a couple of English girls a few seats in front, and seven hours later, we arrived in David, a big and fairly unexciting city, and hour or two south of the Costa Rican border. From there, we caught a big yellow American ... read more

I’ve been spending the last 6 days now in Boquete, Pamana. Boquete is a small town, with gringo influence, in the mountains of Panama. There is the main street, with some restaurants, a few small souvenir-type shops, small supermarkets, and other assorted stores. There’s also the small hotels or hostels around town. Finally, for those people ready to buy their second home (or relocate to a whole new life) - which will often be older gringos - there are plenty of real estate agencies ready to get you into a new house. Finally, being in the mountains, there are great views and cooler temperatures than that of even David, a short 40 kilometers away. In fact, it is amazing the temperature difference. Here in Boquete, the temperature has not seemed to have gotten much above ... read more

From Panama City, we flew to David (second largest city in Panama) and drove around 45 min. to Boquete. Boquete is a relatively small town (6,200 people according to Wikipedia) in the mountains near the border with Costa Rica. It is growing really quickly due to a large influx of American and Canadian retirees. We saw a lot of gringos around town and were amazed at all of the billboards in English and signs advertising land and houses for sale. We stayed at Isla Verde, a beautiful resort just a couple of blocks from town. We were almost giddy when we got there because it was so gorgeous, especially after the rough introduction to Panama we'd gotten in Panama City. We got settled and were hanging out for a little while before going to get some ... read more