I recently returned from my first visit to Panama and I thought I would post some thoughts and impressions from that visit. My intentions were to try and determine if Panama was a suitable country to live in with my 2 young children. Hopefully, some of you will find it interesting. Over the span of about a week we visited Boquete, Pedasi, Playa Venao, and El Valle. I'll try to make one or two posts about each area.
I had started a previous thread when I was going to visit but figured a new one would be better post-visit. So, without further ado...
My friend and I arrived in Panama on 6/30, at around 3pm. After getting our luggage and a rental, car we headed for Boquete. It's quite a long car ride from Tocumen (the int'l airport) to Boquete so we split it up over two days. Overall, I was surprised by the number of people out and about; either walking or waiting for the bus. It's a little bit intimidating at first although I thought nothing of it by the end of the vacation. The roads (we stayed mainly on the Pan-American highway) were decent (small potholes) to very good (recently paved) during our drive to Boquete. In fact, they were pretty good during the entire trip. However, when it gets dark, it gets dark. There aren't really any street lights nor many lights from businesses, etc. along the highway. That, along with all the rain, made it a slower drive than I had anticipated.
The first night we stopped in Las Lajas and were lucky enough to find a B&B late into the night -- Residence Las Lajas. The owners were awesome; they basically saved us from having to sleep in the car (long story) and gave us a nice, clean room which ended up having an awesome view. Luckily, one of them spoke decent English as well (I don't speak Spanish very well). Not only that, but our breakfast the next morning was amazing. I can't recommend their place enough if you're ever in the area. We checked out the next morning, went to the nearby (basically deserted) beach and then hopped in the car to go to Boquete...
The drive to Boquete was nice with some good scenery. I don't remember how long it took from Las Lajas -- maybe a couple hours as there was some roadwork (and a detour) after David. We arrived around 1pm local time and decided to get a room at a hostal right off the main road and then walk around. Our hostal was pretty run-down but it was sufficient for a night (and only $10/person). My initial impression of Boquete was that it was a nice, friendly town. The scenery and views are quite beautiful too. There were a lot of people out and about, with a good mix of locals and foreigners (I had heard 25% of residents in Boquete are expats). Like most of the towns I saw in Panama, some parts of it are a little bit older and dirtier (at least, compared to where I live in the States) but I never felt unsafe or threatened. While we found some English-speaking people, it's definitely helpful to know Spanish (e.g. ordering food, etc.).
There are quite a few little stores and shops with some trinkets and souvenirs. We tried to go on a nature walk/hike but we eventually got rained out. After all, it is the rainy season and it simply poured most of the afternoon. After getting out of the rain and drying off we eventually ended up eating at a little cafeteria right off the main road -- the food was cheap ($3.50 or so for a lunch/dinner plate) and was pretty good. In fact, we ended up eating breakfast there the next morning ($1.75 for eggs, bread, and a cafe con leche) before heading out for some rock climbing.
There are quite a few activities that you can do in Boquete (rent ATVs, rock climb, rafting) but I'm glad we chose rock climbing. It was a beautiful morning and our rock climbing guide was amazing. I would absolutely recommend going if you're in the area.
We left soon after finishing rock climbing so that we could move on to the Pedasi region. While we didn't do a whole lot of exploring, it was nice town with some beautiful scenery and good weather and I can see why a lot of expats choose to live there.
Feel free to ask any questions. I'll be back to post my thoughts on Pedasi/Venao.