Despite the numerous difficulties we've been having with our communications devices, we were able to make contact with Cindy and Dave Thomas and arrange to meet them later that afternoon and for dinner in Boquete.
We ventured out again in David to visit some stores and go back to the mall we were at yesterday. David was like a steam bath- a lot like Florida in the summer. While I like the fact that "I can get stuff here", I haven't seen anything that would make me want to choose living in David over Florida.
So after lunch we headed up the hills to Boquete at a much higher 3500 foot altitude. Boquete was a mere 44 min drive, but Oh what a difference that made. Immediately we could feel a cool breeze and at least 15 degree temp change. We went from Florida Summer to Colorado Early summer. Much about Boquete felt like Prescott, AZ, just a bit more jungle like. There was a defined area town with lots of restaurants stores and small fruit stands, and at least 2 markets that compared to Luperon or Megasuper in Coco. The town is surrounded by Hills and mountains that wound up to almost 5000 feet.
We met up at a local coffee house with Cindy and David who graciously brought us up to speed on life and the Gringo Community there. There are a lot of Gringos living there, but it seems to be well integrated with the local Panamanian community as well. Much to our surprise all the major and even minor roads there we well maintained and easy to drive. They then took us on a driving tour around the area showing us areas where gringos lived and where rentals were. They gave us the low down on areas that had problems the flooding, water, etc. Then they took us to their home so we could see it. I could be comfortable in something like that here. After that we met up with some of their other friends for dinner at a local fish house. We also met their friends Jennifer and Jerry who had just finished moving into their new place that day and really loved it in Boquete. Dinner was wonderful again and with drinks the bill came to $25 including tip.
We both left with totally new ideas brewing about what might come "next".
Several things stuck me.
This was what I thought the central valley in CR would be like both visually and community wise, but we really did not find it so. We felt that here was the same friendliness and welcomeness that we first felt in CR, that seems to have eroded and no new people have come to replace them. We've extended our stay here in David another day and will check out The town of Volcan tomorrow.
We ventured out again in David to visit some stores and go back to the mall we were at yesterday. David was like a steam bath- a lot like Florida in the summer. While I like the fact that "I can get stuff here", I haven't seen anything that would make me want to choose living in David over Florida.
So after lunch we headed up the hills to Boquete at a much higher 3500 foot altitude. Boquete was a mere 44 min drive, but Oh what a difference that made. Immediately we could feel a cool breeze and at least 15 degree temp change. We went from Florida Summer to Colorado Early summer. Much about Boquete felt like Prescott, AZ, just a bit more jungle like. There was a defined area town with lots of restaurants stores and small fruit stands, and at least 2 markets that compared to Luperon or Megasuper in Coco. The town is surrounded by Hills and mountains that wound up to almost 5000 feet.
We met up at a local coffee house with Cindy and David who graciously brought us up to speed on life and the Gringo Community there. There are a lot of Gringos living there, but it seems to be well integrated with the local Panamanian community as well. Much to our surprise all the major and even minor roads there we well maintained and easy to drive. They then took us on a driving tour around the area showing us areas where gringos lived and where rentals were. They gave us the low down on areas that had problems the flooding, water, etc. Then they took us to their home so we could see it. I could be comfortable in something like that here. After that we met up with some of their other friends for dinner at a local fish house. We also met their friends Jennifer and Jerry who had just finished moving into their new place that day and really loved it in Boquete. Dinner was wonderful again and with drinks the bill came to $25 including tip.
We both left with totally new ideas brewing about what might come "next".
Several things stuck me.
This was what I thought the central valley in CR would be like both visually and community wise, but we really did not find it so. We felt that here was the same friendliness and welcomeness that we first felt in CR, that seems to have eroded and no new people have come to replace them. We've extended our stay here in David another day and will check out The town of Volcan tomorrow.