Taking a rest
Trip Start
Mar 31, 2006
1
8
37
Trip End
Mar 31, 2007
Boquete,
Panama
Monday, May 22, 2006
We've been at our friend's place in Boquete, Panama for 12 days and it has been such a relaxing therapeutic experience. It is a very soporific place as the gardens full of tropical plants and the myriad of amazingly colourful and beautiful birds lull you into a stupor. I was in need of such a break after my health issues - which happily are now on the mend according to the doctors (many) - and so being pampered and being able to sleep a lot and generally relax was just what the doctor ordered. If you want to visit a tropical country with hot beaches an hour away and yet stay up in the mountains where it is cool at night, have wonderful cloud forest accessible, go on walks or hikes, see wonderful birds (we've had 2 sightings of the resplendent Quetzal), have gourmet cooking when you want and be totally spoilt...come to The Coffee Estate Inn. We can't recommend it highly enough.
Jungle around Boquete
We had visions of doing lots of Spanish studying when we arrived but I'm afraid we haven't made too much progress. I can make myself understood when face-to-face with a local but on the telephone I'm at sea, and I don't always understand their responses which leads to some interesting conversations. Am planning to go to Spanish school in Ecuador for 7-10 days when Chris goes to Australia on business in July, and I think this will really help.
As expected we have a new issue to solve, as the shipping company NYK that is supposed to be sailing from Costa Rica to Ecuador on June 3rd, and with whom we have been communicating for some time, has just informed us that there is a 20% possibility that the boat wont call in at Costa Rica on the way south because of congestion in the Costa Rica port, but rather it may go straight from Nicaragua to Columbia and Ecuador and come back to Costa Rica after that. If this occurs we'll be left sitting in Costa Rica having to make a second plan. Our original budget for this journey was less than $500, based on other traveler's experience 2 years ago but this figure has now grown to $1000 with NYK. Plan B however, which will involve us putting our car into a container and shipping it from Panama is going to cost us around $1,500....the figure is growing!!! We'll keep you posted but perhaps you could all cross your fingers that the NYK ship does indeed pick us up...the power of numbers all wishing for a positive outcome
More coffee estate garden
!Boquete is an interesting place and illustrates what's happening here in Central America in terms of rampant development. There is a huge number of foreigners - mainly Americans - who are emigrating to Panama (and Costa Rica) lured by the zero tax rate (for income earned outside the country), all sorts of incentives for retirees (like reduced airfares and cheaper hotel rooms), cheap land and construction costs all of which make their money go much further. The Panamanians are making it very attractive for foreigners and as a result the farm land is being sold for development and the forests are being cut down with apparently no development controls and all sorts of shady characters doing the deals. At some point the Panamanians will realize they have sold off their country dirt cheap and will bitterly resent all the gringos but likely when it's too late to reverse the trend. And of course for people who came here earlier, like Jane and Barry, the low key town of Boquete and the un-spoilt wilderness is disappearing. When we went into David, the second largest town in Panama, it was just like the US in terms of large supermarkets and DIY stores all viciously air-conditioned!
Comments
What an adventure
Maybe I should move to Panama..........I really enjoy reading your entries..........I hope you are feeling better Sheila.
Helen G