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I got off the plane in David, Panama (well west of  the capital, in the province of Chiriqui), and drovea n hour inland and up about 4,000 feet to the town of Boquete. There, I was pleasantly surprised. I hadn’t expected to like this country so much. Panama certainly looks good on paper: the economy is growing; inflation is holding steady at 2 percent (lower than in the United States); the government is democratic; offshore banking laws provide strict privacy; you pay no tax on income derived outside the country; retirees qualify for tremendous discounts on everything from airplane tickets to groceries; and more. Yet I was never fully convinced that Panama was a place I’d want to live.

I’d always associated the whole country with its capital city, which, I imagined, would offer little more than I could find in a big city in the States…although probably at lower prices. Boquete wassettled by the families of Swedish and German immigrants who came here after working to build the canal. The oldest homes are of colorfully-painted clapboard and sport gingerbread trim. The hills are planted with coffee and fruit trees. Flowers are cultivated in vast  gardens, and they grow willy-nilly on roadsides, along the river banks, at the base of waterfalls, in fact, everywhere you look.The air is a comfortable 75 or 80 degrees at noon and the sun shines most of each day, though during my visit clouds wandered through at intervals to drop a light mist for 10 or 15 minutes before moving on. Evenings require a light jacket, but the temperature falls only to about 40 degrees at night. 

A well-equipped town nestled in a valley at the base of the Baru  Volcano, Boquete is not much to look at, most of its one and two-story homes and shops are in need of paint, but you’ll find just about everything you need here. An English-speaking doctor charges only $10 for a visit. He’ll make a house call for $25. You’ll  pay the local stylist $8 for a haircut. And you can get a manicure in town for $2. (If you’d like to hire a live-in maid, incidentally, her salary will be about $120 a month.)
The grocery store is well stocked and prices are comparable to what you’ll pay in the States—less if you buy locally-made products. Eggs are $1.20 a dozen, a box of pasta costs 33 cents, a bottle of California Merlot is $9.50. La Volcanica, the local pizza joint, gets high marks as does La Casona Mexicana, which serves Mexican fare. A seven-minute walk from downtown is the Panamonte, which serves local and continental fare—the best meals in town. Three banks have offices there, and a handful of shops sell everything from pots and pans to shirts and socks. If there is something you lack, it’s only a 50-minute ride to David, where a new Costco is slated to open soon. Local expatriates say they usually make the trip twice a month to stock up on essentials. 

Limited land on offer
Though the town of Boquete is more functional than it is pretty, the areas outside the main drag (even those within easy walking distance) are simply stunning. The hills provide vistas and views down through the valley. The river gurgles along cutting nooks and coves into the land. “This town is to Panama what Estes Park is to Colorado or Sun Valley to Idaho,” local expatriate Clayton Schmitt said. It is positioning itself as a destination for tourists—a new visitor’s center opened recently at the entrance to town. And though little infrastructure exists right now, you can take white-water rafting trips and visit Quetzel National Park, home to rare birds and howler monkeys. 
The landscape is rich…but relatively little of it is for sale. “The people in Boquete are land-rich, and they won’t easily part with property their families have owned for generations,” Sam Taliaferro, a local expatriate explained. “It’s understandable. But it makes what land is available more expensive than you might expect.” 

You can buy 2/3-acre lots at Haciendas de Café for $25,000 to $30,000. This project, a small coffee plantation, has just gotten underway. The land is still planted with coffee, which the owners suggest you keep until you’re ready to build. They’ll even have somebody harvest it for you (expect about $1,000 a year in income from your lot). On a hillside, the views are worth the price. Lots come with electricity, community spring water, telephone service, and a septic system. For more information, contact Laurie and Kelly Collier, tel. (507)613-6718, cell phone (507)615-1570, E-mail: cielogrn@chiriqui.com. 

Luxury homes for sale
A few miles above the coffee-plantation is Las Colinas de Jaramillo, where lots are closer to two acres in size and sell for $75,000 to $90,000. Kelly and Laurie Collier, the developers, have built an enormous model home here of steel construction with concrete foundations. It has a stucco finish and tile roof. You can build, I am told, for about $40 per square foot. You can buy the land and build yourself or have the Colliers build for you. Just outside of town is a five-bedroom home on offer complete with a gourmet kitchen, a two-car garage, and tennis courts…but the asking price is over $400,000. Seems steep to me. Contact Marcel  C. de Jong, tel. (507)720-3504, E-mail: lelymar@chiriqui.com. For a more reasonable $120,000 you can own a two-bedroom home set up on a hill with two separate apartments—tiny studios. Even more affordable is a three-bedroom home with maid’s quarters, a living room, dining room, laundry room, and three baths on offer for $50,000. For more information about these and others, contact Anayansi Menendez and Victoria Romero at Menendez & Romero Real Estate, tel. (507)720-1086, fax 720-2187, E-mail: yenagri@chiriqui.com. 

Rent a home for $250 a month
Though land and homes are fairly expensive, you can rent here for next to nothing. I saw several homes renting for $250 to $350 a month, small, but clean and functional. Call Menendez and Romero for details. You can spend more than that, of course. One three-bedroom, two-bath home in town is very nicely furnished and rents for $1,000 a month.

If you’re looking for a place to stay for a few weeks or even a month or two while you explore the area, consider the Villas Lorena, a ten-minute walk to town and just down the road from the Panamonte Hotel. These white stucco villas have pretty tile roofs and come complete with a little kitchen, storage and sitting areas, and a bedroom. They’re built like small town homes and sit on the river’s edge in a garden—a perfect place to sit and read, nap, or work. Low season rates (May through October) start at $40 a night for two people. The weekly rate is $180, and the monthly rate is $350. I’ll bet you can knock the price down if you try. Contact Villas Lorena, tel./fax (507)720-1848.  IL

Incentives for retirees
Panama offers its resident retirees, be they foreign nationals or locals, extremely attractive benefits. As a retiree here, you’re issued a cedula, a card which certifies your status and grants you discounts, among them: 30 percent off on travel by boat, ship, and inter-urban bus; 25 percent off on airfares; 10 percent off on prescription drugs; 15 percent off for a dentist or doctor’s services…the list goes on.

And it’s easy to qualify as a “retiree.” You need only be between the ages of 18 and 78, show you can bring a guaranteed income of $500 per month into Panama, and live here at least four months a year, the months needn’t be continuous. The application process is not complicated, but it can be tedious. Contact Clayton Schmitt at the Retiree Association of Panama, E-mail: schmittc@cwp.net.pa. He’ll make the whole process easier. Expect the process to take up to three months and cost a little more than $600.

The Best Hotel in Boquete
While you’re in Boquete, arrange a room at La Montana y el Valle in one of three small cabins set on a six-acre slope richly landscaped with fruit trees, coffee, orchids, and innumerable other species of green, all of which camouflage a kilometer of hiking trails. 

Owned by Barry Robbins and Jane Walker, a Canadian couple who built it four years ago, this little retreat is hard to beat. Each cabin is equipped with a kitchen (there’s even a microwave), separate bedroom, comfortable sitting area, and a private verandah that overlooks the gardens and the nearby Baru Volcano. A cabin costs $70 a night for two people. La Montana y el Valle, tel./fax (507)720-2211, E-mail: montana@chiriqui.com. Web site: www.coffeeestateinn.com/