We are full time residents of Panama and this is our story of how we got here and of what it is like.
Joyce and Nick
COMING TO PAMAMA
It was about 10 years ago when we first discovered the magic of Panama where we now live. We mean the country not Panama, Florida. It all started when we sold our Inn that we had owned and operated in Vermont called the NEWTONS’ 1824 HOUSE INN, It’s still a very popular B&B, they dropped our name, now called just 1824 HOUSE INN. 1824houseinn.com (closed at present)
We were looking for a place to go for vacation. Nick was running a small Hedge Fund and one day he was speaking to one of his brokers at Merrill Lynch, who told of his recent vacation in Panama. He raved about an island Isla Colon and it main town Bocas del Toro. The fun he had at this lay back vacation paradise. Cheap food and hotels, great surfing, multiple beautiful beaches and property was selling for a song. He had just bought about five acres with 500 feet on a beautiful Caribbean cove for $50,000.
Joyce and I try to take a two or three week holiday every year, especially to get out of the cold Vermont winters; somewhere where it’s
warm. We decided to check out Panama. We know that it is warm, its only 9 degrees above 0. We booked a flight with Continental Airlines. In a few days we were packed and anxious to go. We made contact with a travel agent in Panama City, Panama Star. They set up a two-week itinerary for us to see much of Panama, which would include 4 or 5 days in Bocas del Toro. Including domestic airfare, hotels and drivers for the two of us, about $1200
After about a five to six hour flight, rather uneventful, just stuffy and tight seats, from Newark Airport we landed in Panama safely. Getting through customs was really hassle free. Found our luggage and looked for a cab. A little negotiating for the price and were off to the center of Panama City. We had been booked into the Marbella Hotel, a small, pleasant, clean and relatively cheap, I think about 40 bucks. Then a couple of days of sightseeing in Panama City, seeing the old section, Casco Viejo and the remains of where the famous Pirate Morgan had destroyed original city; eating well and getting the first flavor of the happy people of Panama. We took a short flight to San Blas Islands, marvelous. Here, we stayed at a thatched roof two-story hotel and ate lobsters under a pilapa on the beach. We spent the days swimming and snorkeling from a small palm frond island. We were taken there each morning in a small dugout cayuga, powered by a small 25 horse outboard.
We then flew to the city of David and took a cab up to the town of Boquette. Gringo land. We were booked into the Villa Maritza into a pleasant teak walled cabin with an extraordinary awesome view of the peaks of the dormant volcano Baru and the valley below. We enjoyed the cool climate, the beautiful flowers and double rainbows every day. Nick even played a round of golf at Villa Escondido. After a couple of days we met our new driver and were driven up to the other side of the famous Baru Mountain to the town of Cerra Punta. We stayed at the Quetzal Hotel, where they drove us in a 4×4 up a steep, rocky road to a complete two bedroom house deep in the jungle. Nick hiked with two Indian guides down narrow trails under an orchid canopy. They took both his hands and helped him ford rushing streams. There we saw the famous Panamanian national bird, the Quetzal, with its magnificent long blue, red and yellow tail feathers.
And now it was time for the principal reasons that we came to Panama, to go and discover Bocas del Toro. We caught a plane, a small twenty passenger twin engine and in a matter of only half an hour, flying through a pass between the 13,000 foot mountains of the continental divide, we saw the Caribbean and then the small town of Bocas del Toro on the Isla Colon. Our plane rushed down the tarmac, then we down the steps and excited entered the small airport. We had arrived. I found cab and for a buck we took the short ride to our little bed and breakfasts Cocomo By The Sea, ready for a new adventure.