Boquete – in search of perfection

At 3,600 ft., Boquete is nestled between the beautiful Caldera River on its east and cloud-covered Baru Volcano on the west. Boquete has made many international lists of the “best places to live in the world.” And I guess the word is out. I have read that there are about 17,000 inhabitants with that number continuing to increase due to an influx of North Americans and Europeans who find the year-round spring-like climate and modern, affordable housing to be and ideal lifestyle choice for retirement. Since we are always searching for perfection we decided to check this place out for ourselves. Growth is very apparent as you approach the town. There are several housing developments springing up across the landscape. All very “North American” in style and features. You could easily be approaching the “East Valley” in Arizona. The bus dropped us off in the center of town (see photo) where we met up with a friend from Costa Rica who was also doing her “3-day thing.” Next on our agenda was finding a place to stay. Our friend had already checked in at a hostel by the river where dorm rooms were $8 a night. They were now full so we found a beautiful hotel down the street where rooms started at $66 per night. Luckily for us they also had a non-descript 3-unit complex a few doors down where we were able to get a clean, comfortable room with a double bed, single bed, tv and private bath – all for $25 per night. Time to eat. There are many dining choices including pizza and bistro-style restaurants but we decided on Mexican food...it’s hard to beat AZ Mexican food but the Panama version wasn’t bad. Beer was next on our list. To our surprise, finding a bar on a Monday night was not as easy – apparently most of them are closed. So we headed to the Amigos Bar right off the town square (see photo). This was definitely an “ex-pat” hangout with burgers, wings and onion rings on the menu and English on the tongues of the customers – something you don’t hear very often in our part of the world. The temperature was cooler than we are used to but not too cold. The town was more “American” than we had anticipated, but still Panamanian. And although our hotel was near the center of town there was little noise from traffic, people or monkeys. Seems like a very peaceful place.

As the crow flies…

Living in Costa Rica as “tourists” we have become accustomed to a “3-month ritual.” Every 90 days we are required to leave the country and remain out of the country for a minimum of 3 days. Upon re-entering, our passports are stamped and we’re good for another 90-days. We look at this as a great excuse to explore Panama! This time around we decided to head to the mountainous town of Boquete. Shielded from the rain by our Dollar Store ponchos, with backpacks in tow, we left the house at 6:15 AM and hiked down our dirt road to catch an early morning bus to the border town of Sixaola. There we “stamped out” of Costa Rica, walked across the old railroad bridge (see photo) and “stamped in” to Panama. The journey had begun. We took a 15-minute taxi to Changuinola -- with 90,000 inhabitants it’s the biggest commercial center of the Bocas del Toro Province. From there we hopped aboard a mini bus to David, the capital of Panama’s Chiriqui Province on the Pacific side of the country. It was now close to 10 AM. The scenic bus ride to David takes about 4-1/2 hours. From David we boarded a converted school bus to take us the last 30 or so minutes up to Boquete. By land our trip took about 10 hours. As the crow flies we were less than 100 miles from our starting point. Oh to be a crow!

Always room for one more…

Meet Chepe. Chepe is our house guest for a month while his mom is on the “Osa.” The remote Osa peninsula borders the Pacific Ocean just north of Panama. It is very sparsely populated with a large percentage of its land area made up of National Parks and private reserves. We drove part way down the eastern side last year to the town of Puerto Jimenez. The scenery was very dramatic along the way but don’t’ remember if we saw any other cars on the trip. Anyway, Chepe and Gordie have developed a fondness for one another. They share treats and discuss the day’s events at length. Me? Well, by the way Chepe squawks when I walk by I would say we will never be that close.

Making bridges

Record rainfall in late November on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, where we live, washed out the bridge into Puerto Viejo. Puerto Viejo, a laid-back beach town, is a source of employment for many and also houses our closest ATM, favorite shops, beaches, bars and restaurants. The bridge connects the town to the outside world. The flood damage was extensive leaving the concrete structure listing at a 30 degree angle. Although crossing in motorized vehicles was impossible, locals positioned a 3-foot wide plank between the broken bridge and the road leading into town to allow pedestrians and bikes access (see photo, the green hose on side of bridge was bringing water into town). Within the week flooding had subsided substantially and construction crews built a temporary crossing along the beach edge so buses and cars could again travel freely to town. By the following week construction crews had installed a new “pre-fab” bridge over the original structure. The rapid response as well as the solution was impressive.

Ironically, during this same time period access to our home in Tonto Basin, Arizona, was also blocked due to flooding. Rains had caused Tonto Creek to raise isolating residents on the east side of the creek (our side). Unfortunately this creek is too wide for a “pre-fab” solution, so I guess our activities – wherever we are -- will continue to be at the whim of the rain gods.

Daily life in paradise...the Kitchen

Beautiful beaches and lush jungle vegetation aside, daily life in paradise is not that different from daily life in Arizona or anywhere else. Although the appliances may be different the tasks are the same -- cooking, cleaning and laundry. So let’s start by taking a look in the kitchen. Our kitchen is about 9-1/2 feet x 8-1/2 feet. The main area is U-shaped, compact but efficient (see photo). On the opposite wall we have recently built a pantry shelf (see photo) for extra storage. There is no glass on the windows only wood lattice which allows for great ventilation and also makes a convenient place to hang mugs. There is no oven. Ovens are rare in homes around here so our main cooking appliance is a 4-burner propane stovetop (made by Mabe) that sits on a cupboard (see photo). The cupboard keeps the propane tank out of sight and gives us extra room for storage – something there is never enough of no matter where you live. This is a very economical way to cook -- our first tank fill up cost less than $20 and lasted 7 months. Since moving here we have accumulated numerous recipes using just the stovetop such as meatloaf and pizza pie. Backup appliances for cooking include a microwave and a toaster oven. The no-brand toaster oven runs for 15 minutes at a time and has only one temperature – not sure what that temperature is but we have been able to adapt recipes through trial and error. And, yes, we’ve even made bread in the toaster oven. Other models of toaster ovens are available that feature temperature and clock options; however, as with all appliances in Costa Rica, they are more expensive than the equivalent model in the US. The one I purchased was about $35. This same model would probably cost $15-20 during a holiday special at WalMart. Our refrigerator, an Atlas brand, is a bit smaller than found in most US homes but operates the same way. The sink is a different story. Ours is in the traditional style -- cast concrete divided into 3 sections. The two side sections drain into the center main section. Since there is no hot water the plumbing is very simple -- a PVC spigot for the faucet that comes in directly from the waterline on the house. Often people will tile their sinks – we painted ours bright green (see photo).

The Laundry

“Seize the moment” takes on special meaning when it comes to doing laundry. We live in a rainforest. That means on any given day there is a good chance of rain. It may be very brief and very light, but it is still rain. In a land where clothes dryers are an oddity you quickly learn to take advantage of the days – no, make that the hours – of warm, dry air. Washing machines are very different from what we were used to in Arizona. For starters, ours – a Samsung BIO brand – is made of plastic and weighs less than 25 pounds. When you are ready to wash you simply connect the hose on top, to the faucet of a sink, plug it in and turn on the water. Slide the “Selector de Aqua” to Lavado (Wash); load your dirty laundry into the drum (about 5 pairs of shorts will fill it); add some soap powder which is specially formulated for washing with cold water and set the timer (0 and 15 minutes). The small disc at the bottom of the wash compartment starts spinning at an incredible speed, reversing itself every few minutes until the clothes have had a thorough and impressive workout. Rinse and spin are next. For this step you move the clothes from the wash compartment into the smaller spin one. Slide the “Selector de Aqua” to “Centrifugado” for the spin cycle and set the corresponding timer. Again, surprisingly, the motor spins the clothes with incredible speed getting almost all of the water out. Now it’s time to hang them to finish drying. Like many of our neighbors our house is built on stilts allowing for area under the house to dry clothes. If you have started early enough in the day you should have dry clothes by mid afternoon. If they aren’t dry by 3:30 PM you many need to wait an additional day. If they haven’t dried by 3 days you may need to re-wash just to insure no mold or mildew. Laundry here tends to be more time consuming but if you plan ahead you can make good use of the “down time” by reading, studying Spanish or whatever pleases you. You can also feel good knowing you have fresh smelling clothes and have consumed very little energy in the process.

Before and Afters…

It’s been 1 year – one busy year -- since we took possession of our house in Costa Rica. The sprucing up began with the exterior (photo 1 is "after"). New paint – a little brighter color green with contrasting trim for the exterior. We painted and planted the front planters, and added window-box planters to the windows along the side of the house. One drastic change was the front yard approach. Originally, the driveway area came into the yard directly in line with the front door. We moved hibiscus hedges from one part of the yard and filled in the original drive making the new drive in line with the side of the house. This provides privacy for the front porch as well as a better view from there. A double gate was also added to the driveway and several plants were moved and transplanted. “Glassless wooden window panes” were added to each window – adding charm and increasing security without blocking air flow.

…more Before and Afters…

We have also been busy on the inside of the house this year. The original house had 3 small bedrooms. Since there are only 2 of us (most of the time) we decided to keep the front bedroom as a guest room and combine the other 2 into one master suite. We added cabinets to the guest room, under-bed storage and a “fold-down” desk. The master suite was a little more involved. We closed off one of the doorways and turned it into additional pantry storage for the kitchen. We then took out the middle section of the adjoining wall, painted and trimmed. The room now has 3 windows with outstanding views of the yard, a sleeping area and a sitting/dressing area(see photo 1, photo 2 is the original master bedroom). The original 9-1/2’ x 8’ master bedroom is now a 9-1/2’ x 16’ living space.

…more Before and Afters…

Telling people in Arizona that our bathroom is outside has always brought a few laughs. Here, in rural Costa Rica it is very common. Through the year we have grown to appreciate the many benefits of our bathroom / shower / laundry room area and have spent a good deal of time improving it (first photo is "after"). We added a “suicide shower” – the local way of having hot water showers. We tiled the floors. Added a stainless steel sink in the laundry area and a porcelain sink in the bathroom. And of course we painted inside and out to complement the great “monkey curtains” I brought to Costa Rica from Target.