Another Canadian thinking of becoming an Expat

We live in Boquete.  Moved from CA.  Love it here.  What questions do you have?  What luxuries are you looking to find?

Bringing your 'bike' with you?  There is a bike club here.  I've seen them roaring down the road between Boquete and David on Sundays.  But I don't know more than that. 

Best,

Florence

AuntieFlo wrote:

We live in Boquete.  Moved from CA.  Love it here.  What questions do you have?  What luxuries are you looking to find?

Bringing your 'bike' with you?  There is a bike club here.  I've seen them roaring down the road between Boquete and David on Sundays.  But I don't know more than that. 

Best,

Florence

Wow...thanks for the quick reply. Don't need big luxuries, just the odd night out to a restaurant, a movie...oh and the occasional fast food joint. Great news about a bike club...I'll have to find out more about that!!!

The big question is about the rain. Boquete sounded very good until we started reading about the frequent rain. We really are sun worshipers and wish to get away from the dreary Canadian winters. I don't mind rain like in Florida, where it rains for a couple hours each day and the rest of the day is sunshine, but hate living with days of clouds and rain. That is why we were thinking that David might be a better fit. What do you think?

I understand about the rain.  Our days are thus.  We usually get beautiful sunshine and blue skies in the morning.  Around noon or 2:00pm the clouds come in and rain begins.  It might rain until 5:00pm or so.  The biggest reason we didn't pick David is the humidity there.  Most people there have to have AC.  We don't have AC or heat here in Boquete and it does get chilly here.  We are at 4000 feet elevation. 

I was born and raised in Buffalo, NY so I get the part about you being tired of the winter skies.  Eight months of winter will do that to you but here we have sunshine I would have to say at least six of seven days a week.  And of course I'm not shoveling snow here!

There are no movie theatre's here in Boquete.  That's in David.  No fast food either.  Again, those are in David.  So is the airport and bus station and price smart (think WalMart or other warehouse shopping).  Boquete is a town of about 20,000.  Half of which is expats.  But there is a large population of expats in David as well.  The drive time between the two cities is around 45 minutes so it's very doable to live in one and shop in the other.

I suggest a trip where you come to check things out - come for as long as you can - then decide on where you want to live and rent something for a minimum of 6 months.  Our first trip we traveled around the country for 21 days.  We went to Pedasi, Las Tablas, David, Boquete, Coronado and PC. We did like Pedasi and Las Tables but again the cooler temps are what drew us finally to Boquete.

Florence

Yes we really want to come down for a couple weeks asap and see for ourselves. Right now it's all about figuring out where to stay. (don't have unlimited funds...lol). Once we get a look, we are thinking of going off to South Korea to teach for a year, while my accumulating pension pays off some bills here, then renting in an area that we think may work for us in Panama.

We are getting ready for summer here so prices will be higher.  Summer lasts until about April.  I'm not sure what you are comfortable with paying but I have access to a house (not mine) that a local lets me rent out to people coming to visit.  If you want to see pictures or get pricing let me know and I'll email them to you.  It is a 3 bedroom, two bath home.  And of course you can do your own cooking which will cut down on costs.

If you are going to be looking at car rentals the best price will come from Boquete Value Motors.  Tell Bill that Mike Lince sent you (that's my husband).  Bill is an expat from FL and his price beats everyone around here for car rentals.  The price is around $45 a day for an economy car.  That's with the insurance.  You have to get the full insurance here in Panama.  And you'll want it because they charge for every ding and scratch on a car.  Even if you goug a tire!  Which is very easy to do here because of the roads.  Bills email is bill@valuemotorsboquete.com - if you rent from him he will pick you up at David airport or bus station. 

The weather in David will be very humid so bring light summer clothing.  Also a sweater for visiting Boquete if you come at night.

Send me a note off board if you want to see pictures of the house.

Best,

Florence

raptorfan wrote:

Hi all! I am a teacher just outside Toronto about to retire and thinking of relocating to Panama. My wife and I have spent the last few weeks devouring any info we can find on the subject. We want to come down for a couple weeks to check out the lay of the land (possibly this July). I was thinking of starting in Panama City (Gorgona area) and then checking out David and Boquete. We are looking for an area with some fellow expats, not to far from a beach and a relaxing lifestyle, while still having access to some of the luxuries we have grown accustomed to on occasion. Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I'm starting to find the many hours spent online investigating overwhelming!!!

If you are looking to be close to Coronado, there is a nice development right on the beach in El Palmar. The price is very reasonable. New International airport is being built in Rioo Hato and will be only 20 min away from El Palmar.

http://www.palmarpanama.com/Default.asp … QgodNRBo6A

We live in David and are very happy so far. We've found everything we need and more - fast food, movies, shopping, restaurants, bicycle club, tennis club, and we've only been here a few weeks. There is a town on the water (Pedregal) just minutes away and a good beach maybe 30 minutes away. Things definitely feel much more relaxed here, and the Panamanians are the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

When we visited we stayed at Chambres en Ville chambresenville.info/english/index.html - it's within a easy walk of downtown and any shopping you need, the owner is wonderful and speaks fluent English (and French, from living in Montreal). It's a hostel and more affordable, and we really enjoyed sharing the kitchen and getting to know other travelers. It's more of a mixture of travelers, not just backpackers, which was nice for us older folks.

David is definitely warm but we are on the north edge of town near the woods and river, and we are managing without air conditioning and staying comfortable with just fans. Usually the days are sunny and pleasant and the rains start in the late afternoon. Now we are into the dry season though, and it hasn't been raining much at all.

I second the suggestions to visit and spend some time in various places so you can see what feels right to you. There are a lot of very happy people in other areas of the country as well.