We know there are many folks who think Panama is all thatched roofs and small concrete homes. Well, we are here to tell you it’s not true. One of the things we enjoy about being senior nomads is that every so often we have new surroundings, new furniture and new neighbors and friends. We are currently living in Valle Escondido which is a gated community in the valley of Boquete, Panama.
We are in a three bedroom home with all the amenities found in any home in the US. We have an LG front-loading washer and dryer, a two door refrigerator with freezer drawer on the bottom, vaulted ceilings and a large screen TV.
The master suite has a double sink and both guest bedrooms have queen size beds and lots of space.
The kitchen counter is beautiful granite and the back patio has a propane grill. Yes, we are roughing it!!!
The gated community of Valle Escondido has single family homes, duplexes, four plexes, condos, a hotel, a chapel, an amphitheater, two restaurants, an indoor pool, an organic garden, a labyrinth, a miniature golf course, a stocked trout pond, waterfalls, streams, a driving range, a golf course and an exercise room.
We reside in a duplex and our living space is all on one level with covered parking outside for two cars.
The grounds here are meticulously manicured and very beautiful. One of our neighbors has a pet coatimundi named Holly who stops by sometimes when out walking with her mom doggie pal, Riko.
Coatimundis are not usually pets but Holly was orphaned as a baby and bottle nursed by our friends here who decided she would be better in their home than being put back into the wild. She is spayed, her canine teeth are filed for (human) safety and she is a very friendly little girl. We have another coatimundi that comes to the back door looking for food. This is a wild coatimundi, so we have only interacted with this one through the screen door.
The city of Boquete has a mix of US expats, Canadians, Panamanians, Venezuelans, and a mixing bowl of other people just enjoying the cool temps and eternal spring weather here. Neither air conditioning nor heat are needed in Boquete though many homes (as well as this one) have gas fireplaces for ambiance and to take the occasional chill out of the air.
There are many restaurants in Boquete with choices of Italian, French, seafood, burgers, pizza or whatever your heart desires. We even played Trivia at Mike’s Global Grill last week.
There is a large grocery store in town called Romero’s and in the city of David (Dah-VEED) which is approximately 30 minutes away, there are two very large modern grocery stores and a PriceSmart membership store (Panama’s equivalent to Costco) which even carries the Kirkland brand and many items just as one would find in Costco together with lots of other shopping opportunities.
We are here during what is called the green or rainy season and we get a lot of afternoon showers, ok downpours. They last for a while, stop, then sometimes start again.
This time of year, the best time for touring or sightseeing in this area is early morning until about mid-afternoon when the skies open and provide nourishment for all the greenery and the wide variety of flowers that flourish here. There are several day trips and there will be blogs about them coming up.
