Just Back from Panama: Trip Report
Jul 17th, 2005, 06:04 PM
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Just Back from Panama: Trip Report
Just back from a couple of weeks in Panama.
I have spent much time over the past 15 years in Belize and have visited Costa Rica, Mexico and Guatemala on several occasions, and have briefly visited Honduras and El Salvador, but I had never been to Panama.
It was an excellent trip, and I was very impressed by Boquete and other parts of the Chiriqui Highlands about 300 miles west of Panama City. I also enjoyed Panama City, El Valle about an hour and a half west of Panama City, and the Pacific coast of Cocle. I didn't care for Colon and while Panama City is impressive, with a big-city skyline and more than a million people, great and inexpensive restaurants, beautiful shopping malls, and overall very affordable -- living costs are probably one-third of those in a U.S. large city -- I don't think I'd want to live there.
We spent our first days in Panama in Panama City. Sevilla Suites and a couple of other suites hotels in Cangrejo were recommended to me, but they were full. We ended up staying in a suite at the Sheraton Four Points, at Calle 53 in what I think technically is Bella Vista. I was much more impressed with the hotel than I thought I'd be. Our one-bedroom suite was beautiful, with high ceilings and two baths, two TVs and ice-cold A/C. This formerly was a Radisson, and several taxi drivers had no idea what or where it was. We paid around US$130 for three adults and a child, high for Panama City, but cheap by big-city U.S. standards. The breakfast buffet, with eggs, meats, cheese, lots of fruits, yucca and other items, was US$8. The only disadvantage I saw was that it isn't as well located near restaurants and shops as some of the other hotels in the main part of Cangrejo. There were some inexpensive Italian and other restaurants within walking distance, however. Cabs are dirt cheap in Panama - we rarely paid more than US$2 or $3.
We did the usual Panama things: Visited the Miraflores docks at the Canal (a US$10 cab ride), where the museum is okay and the restaurant is fair, but with wonderful views of the ships coming through the Canal ... spent a rainy afternoon in Casco Viejo (San Filepe), which was charming ... hiked the Parque Natural Metropolitano (okay, but not of much interest if you've been to any other park in Central America) ... walked around the city ... and shopped at malls (MultiCentro).
One afternoon we took a taxi (US$70) to Colon and then road the tourist railroad back (US$22 per person). I guess it's worth doing once, and the train is pleasant, but it doesn't compare with the old jungle train that used to run from San Jose to Limon, Costa Rica, for a couple of dollars.
We then rented a car and drove to David and then Boquete in the Chiriqui Higlands. David is about 300 miles from Panama, around 6 hours on the InterAmerican, which is partly divided four-lane and then a two- and three-lane road.
Panama has the best roads in Central America, and even in the mountains most of the roads are excellent. The Inter-American highway is partly four-lane, and the expressways around Panama City are first-rate divided highways (some are toll). Although we had a four-wheel drive, we needed it only once going up Volcan Baru and in general you would save money by renting a regular mid-size sedan.
The country around Boquete is beautiful, with mountains up to about 11,000 feet and most homes and farms at about 3000 to 6000 feet, an "eternal spring" climate, coffee plantations and organic farms everywhere, and cheap prices.
We stayed at Villa Marita, a collection of a half dozen small cabins overlooking several small coffee fincas and with grand views of Volcan Baru. Rodrigo, the owner, has lived in Boquete for more than 40 years and was very helpful and friendly. He speaks excellent English. He has an engineering degree from Texas A&M. Villa Marita is far from deluxe, but its simple cabanas with wood paneled interiors were a good value -- we had two cabins for Us$35 each, including tax. For something a little more upmarket, the new Cabanas Sabrin, with two-story cabins near Villa Marita (but no views) might be a good choice, or Via Lactea (Milky Way) cabins. Also, the Panamonte Hotel is a classic, with pleasant rooms and a lovely restaurant and bar. Breakfasts, served on a deck with great views, were US$4 per person.
We ate out every night and never had a bad meal, nor an expensive one. Hibiscus, owned by a French-Panamanian couple, was pleasant. El Rancho had good Argentinian-style grilled meats. The Hotel Panamonte had a delightful atmosphere, and my Angus filet with mashed potatoes (US$12) was absolutely delicious (though the cow hide rugs on the floor took a little getting use to). Bistro Boquete is an unabashed gringo spot, but still very good and always busy. For value and a laidback atmosphere, it's hard to beat Java Juice, where there are fast internet connections and a big hamberguesa con queso and a mango-banana smoothie is US$1.75.
Grocery store prices in Boquete and all over Panama are lower than in the U.S, gas about the same as the U.S. (I drove a Nissan Patrol diesel 4WD and paid about US$2.15 a gallon at most stations, and premium gas was never more than US$2.40).
Booze and beer are about one-third to one-half less than in the U.S. (even in small towns a liter of Stoli or Johnny Walker Red goes for US$12 to $14 and local beers are US$2 to $2.50 a six-pack), a steak dinner at the best restaurant in Boquete is US$12, beer is 75 cents to a dollar (very occasionally US$1.50) in nice restaurants, and home building costs to North American standards are around US$40 to $55 a square foot. Boquete is only half an hour from David, the second largest city in Panama with around 80,000 people, but of not much interest to visitors.
We drove to Cerro Punta and Volcan, just on the other side of David and at a higher elevation than Boquete, and this was absolutely the most beautiful part of our trip. Cerro Punta in particular was amazing. We had lunch at a local place, Mary's Place, in Volcan - dinner for three including drinks was less than US$6.
One day we drove to Paso Canoas, a border crossing into Panama. The border crossing is chaotic and offers very little of interest. Next time, I'd rather cross at the little town of Rio Sereno.
En route back to Panama City, we spent the night in El Valle. The Park Eden B&B is enchanting (we rented the entire Linda Vista cottage for US$175, pricey for Panama but lovely if a bit over-the-top in dcor), and we had a wonderful meal at the nearby Hotel Rincon. Overall, though, I preferred the Chiriqui Highlands. We did make the Sunday market in El Valle, well known in Panama for crafts and toured the local zoo, which like many Latin zoos was depressing, with the animals in small cages. The famous golden frogs were interesting, however. We also saw golden frogs at a nature trail near the "arboles cuadrados" (quite a joke, I'd say).
We also visited a lovely, khaki-sand beach near Santa Clara.
On our return to Panama City, we stayed at the Country Inn and Suites on the causeway near the Canal (with a discount, our small suite was around Us$95). I was not very impressed.
For those contemplating a longer stay, Panama offers good medical care, friendly people, most of the country is clean and well kept, and you can drink the water almost everywhere. Panama's pensionado program is one of the best in the world, requiring only US$500 to $750 a month income and providing some real discounts and benefits for retirees. Several hundred Americans and Canadians have moved to Boquete in the past couple of years, and we were told that more than 800 Americans and Canadians were on hand for a July 4th celebration.
On the flip side, as a resident you absolutely need decent Spanish to get by -- I'd have to spend quite a bit of time getting mine up to speed -- and land costs in the Chiriqui Highlands are a little higher than I expected (though elsewhere in Panama prices are low, certainly far lower than in Costa Rica or most of Belize). Of course there are several sides to every story, but overall I was much more favorably impressed with what Panama offers for retirement and relocation than I expected to be, and it's also a very enjoyable visitor destination.
--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com
I have spent much time over the past 15 years in Belize and have visited Costa Rica, Mexico and Guatemala on several occasions, and have briefly visited Honduras and El Salvador, but I had never been to Panama.
It was an excellent trip, and I was very impressed by Boquete and other parts of the Chiriqui Highlands about 300 miles west of Panama City. I also enjoyed Panama City, El Valle about an hour and a half west of Panama City, and the Pacific coast of Cocle. I didn't care for Colon and while Panama City is impressive, with a big-city skyline and more than a million people, great and inexpensive restaurants, beautiful shopping malls, and overall very affordable -- living costs are probably one-third of those in a U.S. large city -- I don't think I'd want to live there.
We spent our first days in Panama in Panama City. Sevilla Suites and a couple of other suites hotels in Cangrejo were recommended to me, but they were full. We ended up staying in a suite at the Sheraton Four Points, at Calle 53 in what I think technically is Bella Vista. I was much more impressed with the hotel than I thought I'd be. Our one-bedroom suite was beautiful, with high ceilings and two baths, two TVs and ice-cold A/C. This formerly was a Radisson, and several taxi drivers had no idea what or where it was. We paid around US$130 for three adults and a child, high for Panama City, but cheap by big-city U.S. standards. The breakfast buffet, with eggs, meats, cheese, lots of fruits, yucca and other items, was US$8. The only disadvantage I saw was that it isn't as well located near restaurants and shops as some of the other hotels in the main part of Cangrejo. There were some inexpensive Italian and other restaurants within walking distance, however. Cabs are dirt cheap in Panama - we rarely paid more than US$2 or $3.
We did the usual Panama things: Visited the Miraflores docks at the Canal (a US$10 cab ride), where the museum is okay and the restaurant is fair, but with wonderful views of the ships coming through the Canal ... spent a rainy afternoon in Casco Viejo (San Filepe), which was charming ... hiked the Parque Natural Metropolitano (okay, but not of much interest if you've been to any other park in Central America) ... walked around the city ... and shopped at malls (MultiCentro).
One afternoon we took a taxi (US$70) to Colon and then road the tourist railroad back (US$22 per person). I guess it's worth doing once, and the train is pleasant, but it doesn't compare with the old jungle train that used to run from San Jose to Limon, Costa Rica, for a couple of dollars.
We then rented a car and drove to David and then Boquete in the Chiriqui Higlands. David is about 300 miles from Panama, around 6 hours on the InterAmerican, which is partly divided four-lane and then a two- and three-lane road.
Panama has the best roads in Central America, and even in the mountains most of the roads are excellent. The Inter-American highway is partly four-lane, and the expressways around Panama City are first-rate divided highways (some are toll). Although we had a four-wheel drive, we needed it only once going up Volcan Baru and in general you would save money by renting a regular mid-size sedan.
The country around Boquete is beautiful, with mountains up to about 11,000 feet and most homes and farms at about 3000 to 6000 feet, an "eternal spring" climate, coffee plantations and organic farms everywhere, and cheap prices.
We stayed at Villa Marita, a collection of a half dozen small cabins overlooking several small coffee fincas and with grand views of Volcan Baru. Rodrigo, the owner, has lived in Boquete for more than 40 years and was very helpful and friendly. He speaks excellent English. He has an engineering degree from Texas A&M. Villa Marita is far from deluxe, but its simple cabanas with wood paneled interiors were a good value -- we had two cabins for Us$35 each, including tax. For something a little more upmarket, the new Cabanas Sabrin, with two-story cabins near Villa Marita (but no views) might be a good choice, or Via Lactea (Milky Way) cabins. Also, the Panamonte Hotel is a classic, with pleasant rooms and a lovely restaurant and bar. Breakfasts, served on a deck with great views, were US$4 per person.
We ate out every night and never had a bad meal, nor an expensive one. Hibiscus, owned by a French-Panamanian couple, was pleasant. El Rancho had good Argentinian-style grilled meats. The Hotel Panamonte had a delightful atmosphere, and my Angus filet with mashed potatoes (US$12) was absolutely delicious (though the cow hide rugs on the floor took a little getting use to). Bistro Boquete is an unabashed gringo spot, but still very good and always busy. For value and a laidback atmosphere, it's hard to beat Java Juice, where there are fast internet connections and a big hamberguesa con queso and a mango-banana smoothie is US$1.75.
Grocery store prices in Boquete and all over Panama are lower than in the U.S, gas about the same as the U.S. (I drove a Nissan Patrol diesel 4WD and paid about US$2.15 a gallon at most stations, and premium gas was never more than US$2.40).
Booze and beer are about one-third to one-half less than in the U.S. (even in small towns a liter of Stoli or Johnny Walker Red goes for US$12 to $14 and local beers are US$2 to $2.50 a six-pack), a steak dinner at the best restaurant in Boquete is US$12, beer is 75 cents to a dollar (very occasionally US$1.50) in nice restaurants, and home building costs to North American standards are around US$40 to $55 a square foot. Boquete is only half an hour from David, the second largest city in Panama with around 80,000 people, but of not much interest to visitors.
We drove to Cerro Punta and Volcan, just on the other side of David and at a higher elevation than Boquete, and this was absolutely the most beautiful part of our trip. Cerro Punta in particular was amazing. We had lunch at a local place, Mary's Place, in Volcan - dinner for three including drinks was less than US$6.
One day we drove to Paso Canoas, a border crossing into Panama. The border crossing is chaotic and offers very little of interest. Next time, I'd rather cross at the little town of Rio Sereno.
En route back to Panama City, we spent the night in El Valle. The Park Eden B&B is enchanting (we rented the entire Linda Vista cottage for US$175, pricey for Panama but lovely if a bit over-the-top in dcor), and we had a wonderful meal at the nearby Hotel Rincon. Overall, though, I preferred the Chiriqui Highlands. We did make the Sunday market in El Valle, well known in Panama for crafts and toured the local zoo, which like many Latin zoos was depressing, with the animals in small cages. The famous golden frogs were interesting, however. We also saw golden frogs at a nature trail near the "arboles cuadrados" (quite a joke, I'd say).
We also visited a lovely, khaki-sand beach near Santa Clara.
On our return to Panama City, we stayed at the Country Inn and Suites on the causeway near the Canal (with a discount, our small suite was around Us$95). I was not very impressed.
For those contemplating a longer stay, Panama offers good medical care, friendly people, most of the country is clean and well kept, and you can drink the water almost everywhere. Panama's pensionado program is one of the best in the world, requiring only US$500 to $750 a month income and providing some real discounts and benefits for retirees. Several hundred Americans and Canadians have moved to Boquete in the past couple of years, and we were told that more than 800 Americans and Canadians were on hand for a July 4th celebration.
On the flip side, as a resident you absolutely need decent Spanish to get by -- I'd have to spend quite a bit of time getting mine up to speed -- and land costs in the Chiriqui Highlands are a little higher than I expected (though elsewhere in Panama prices are low, certainly far lower than in Costa Rica or most of Belize). Of course there are several sides to every story, but overall I was much more favorably impressed with what Panama offers for retirement and relocation than I expected to be, and it's also a very enjoyable visitor destination.
--Lan Sluder
www.belizefirst.com
Jul 18th, 2005, 07:44 AM
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I've stayed at Country Inns & Suites before in the U.S., and they have been nice for the money, though they are not up to Hampton Inn standards. This one needs some maintenance and TLC -- it's starting to look run down -- and the suites are very small. My mattress was a cheapie.
This location is also out of the way for most activities, though the causeway offers nice views.
--Lan Sluder
This location is also out of the way for most activities, though the causeway offers nice views.
--Lan Sluder
Jul 18th, 2005, 04:20 PM
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Lansluder,
thank you for a very informative and very unbiased account of your time in Panama.
we too very much enjoyed the Highlands and stayed in both boquete and the cerro punta area. both were just beautiful. Had some wonderful meals at the Panamonte and stayed at the coffee inn estates which was just lovely. great empanadas at the argentine restaurant.
thanks for the tip on the rio sereno crossing into costa rica. we had planned on going down through the caribbean side of cr but due to the flooding this winter ended up in Paso canoas. It was extremely disorganized (to us anyway) and you had to hire someone to help you through the maze of places you had to go to. One of the places you had to go to was an unmarked door in a building that was hidden by all of the trucks lined up. we never would have found it ourselves. It took us 2hrs to get through even with a guide.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
great info on retirement too.
thank you for a very informative and very unbiased account of your time in Panama.
we too very much enjoyed the Highlands and stayed in both boquete and the cerro punta area. both were just beautiful. Had some wonderful meals at the Panamonte and stayed at the coffee inn estates which was just lovely. great empanadas at the argentine restaurant.
thanks for the tip on the rio sereno crossing into costa rica. we had planned on going down through the caribbean side of cr but due to the flooding this winter ended up in Paso canoas. It was extremely disorganized (to us anyway) and you had to hire someone to help you through the maze of places you had to go to. One of the places you had to go to was an unmarked door in a building that was hidden by all of the trucks lined up. we never would have found it ourselves. It took us 2hrs to get through even with a guide.
Thanks again and keep up the good work.
great info on retirement too.
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