In February I had the opportunity to visit Panama for the first time.  I’ve spent most of my life in the Pacific Northwest and had never been to the tropics.  Although I was warned about humidity, pests, lack of services – I found none of these.  Instead, the Panama I found was pleasant, welcoming and abundant.  Panama was a revelation – modern and industrious, a slower, quieter pace, and growth with more space to grow.  I observed that the amount of undeveloped land in comparison to the population is about the same as in Oregon or Washington.  Yet it seemed obvious to me that Panama with its acres of land skirting the Caribbean and the Pacific is nothing like the over-priced, over-taxed and over-crowded place where I was from.

On a brilliant day I traveled from Panama City to the property being developed as La Pintada Estates.  This development lies just north of Penonome in the mostly rural, agricultural Coclé province in the center of Panama.  The skies were clear and the temperatures would be hot.

Upon arriving in the town of Penonome I could have easily been slipping into an idealized picture of Latin American life.  Happy and relaxed people were shopping and socializing on clean streets among bustling, well-stocked stores and restaurants.

There was an easy flow with everyone talking to each other, keeping company, not a soul feeling rushed or abandoned.  Yet here was a large hospital, a university satellite campus, jewelers, banks.  Further on and just five minutes from the property sat the town of La Pintada. Here was a truly peaceful place where one could enjoy a simple, traditional way of life.  How nice it would be to relax under a tree and write all afternoon, or relax with friends and sip a chilled agua de pipa.

As the flatlands give way to gentle slopes, there is a sense of rising above.  Then at the entrance one sees the quaint old lodge that will be reborn.  Stepping out into the forested green the first thing I noticed was a very pleasant and welcome breeze.  It is not too strong but is strong enough to test the midday sun and sustain a buoyant rustle in the trees.  Here I could stay.  From the gatehouse I observed the azure sky flecked with wispy clouds and toured by the occasional bird, and the rolling hills of the property against a backdrop of green mountain peaks to the North.  Someday soon this would be a contented community of people far removed from the pressures of the places I knew.  The quiet and shallow rivers, the sun-sprinkled slopes and the soothing sounds of the wildlife all around me told me so. I also realized that even though this place was special and even though I wanted it to belong to a fond memory of care-free youth… that in a very short time the secret would get out and this property would soon be bought up completely, it is simply too good to pass up at the price.  That sense of rising above had taken hold of me in these foothills.  Although I was there only to look and not to buy, this place was right, and convincing.   No one could refuse its powers of persuasion.

Returning through the town of La Pintada, I noted that the construction of a new school constituted most of the visible afternoon activity.  It was even quiet day at the local cigar factory that produces some of Panama’s finest.