Scouting Panama - Day 13 - Boquete Sightseeing and Rentals
Aloha from Paradise!
Boquete is an excellent environment; green, beautiful mountains, fresh air, and a great temperature. When we got up this morning, it was 63 F, and at the height of the afternoon, it was 79 and comfortable. We didn’t use the air conditioning in the hotel room, and at 10:00/22:00, we were still comfortable sleeping. The sun was intense between 1:00/13:00 and 4:30/16:30, but we took a nap and read a book. My guess is that with a hat, I wouldn’t have as much trouble with the intense sun, but I don’t mind nap time, either.
During the rainy season, the mornings are clear, and at some point in the afternoon, it will rain for a white (read a while as 15 - 30 minutes) - sounds delightful to me to have my rain scheduled as it seemed to be in Hawai’i.
I can only get one photo to take in this email, but I am allowed to make it dance. The little critters who came to see if I had food are Coatis (say, co-ah-tees) - they are about the size of a cat but have long noses and ringed tails that make them look like relatives of raccoons. They have personal space boundaries and bite if you get too close. We stopped at the Boquete Visitor Center, where they feed the Coatis twice a day, and we just happened to arrive during afternoon feeding time. I crouched to take a photo, and these two dashed up to see if I was offering food. I looped them, so you see the new craze, the Coatis dance! When it was obvious no one else was offering food, the coatis jumped a concrete bumper. They disappeared into the underbrush with only the wiggling plants and an occasional tail poking up, showing their trail.
While we were out this morning, we saw 4 rentals in the area, ranging from a $500 a month studio right downtown to a two-bedroom, three-bath, and loft (with a distant view of the Atlantic) apartment in a gated community for $1650 - all four came furnished. The only two utilities you are likely to have in a rental are electricity ($8 to $17 per month depending on how many hours you use an air conditioner) and internet, which runs about $38 per month, and is a requirement for television, too.
Prices have gone up considerably since the pandemic. Many USAmericans and Canadians have decided that they need a better life, so they are thinking to snowbird or hurricane-shelter in Panama 6 months a year or to work-from-anywhere in a stable economy and government that uses the US dollar. As you get out of the main towns, the prices go way down, and buying is very reasonable compared to renting - especially during the slower season.
On our tour, only two couples are thinking of actually living here - the other 24 people (single and coupled) are looking for get-always for part of the year.
This is the high season, which runs from the first of November to the end of April, and rents and rental contracts are higher during the high season. It also means that there is not much available now. People on the tour bus were looking up different places we passed, and nothing was open until April, so I am sure that affects the pricing substantially.
Tomorrow we go to Volcan (the accent is on the second syllable, Vol-CAHN), a town and farming community in the crater of an extinct volcano about 30 minutes away. One of the reasons to go there is to see the surrounding mountain area and viewpoints.
We love that our research is being verified, and we have much to see and learn. Meanwhile, we are making new friends with people, animals, and birds, and the City of Flowers, Boquete, is a great place to land for 2 more weeks before we head home.
Until tomorrow, buenas noches!
MaryBea y Miguel