Places to stay
I can’t think of a better way to describe this expat community, tucked snugly into the mountains of Panama near Costa Rica: Boquete is a mountain of coffee and a cloud forest in paradise. You’d know that for sure if you ever visited during its annual coffee and flower festival.
Rising to between 4,000 and 6,000 feet, Boquete has numerous coffee plantations that produce same of the world’s best coffee. It also is full of people who have relocated to enjoy the climate at a reduced cost.
The condo in the middle of a coffee plantation
Our home for ta few days was a beautiful condo, right in the middle of a coffee plantation about 2,000 feet above the city.
Driving around the mountains
Driving through the mountains that surround Boquete is easy and beautiful. Easy, because all of the roads make a loop off of the main road through town, thus you can never get lost. Beautiful because, being in the cloud forest mountains and getting an abundance of water, Boquete offers spectacular scenes that drive my camera crazy.
Fun in the city
Down in the city, there is always something going on but today was even better. Thanks to the Boquete Flower and Coffee Festival, there was musical entertainment in the main town square and tents selling coffees, crafts, plants and souvenirs. Crossing the Boquete River we found a whole fairground set up, full of great street foods and rides for the little ones. Joy for all!
No matter when you go there are plenty of shops and restaurants both in the city and along its various loop roads.
Being an expat community meant we didn’t need our Spanish too much, but when we got to the street foods, it did pay off to have it with us. After all, we only eat what Jesus would eat, and those guys sure like their pork. 🙂
I hope you guys enjoyed looking at Boquete as much as we did.
You had me at mountain of coffee. Boquete sounds exactly like my dream destination! I love quiet mountain places like this. Amazing photos as well!
Thanks Liz. It doesn’t hurt to have a friend in the business. Boy is his coffee good and the surroundings seem to bring even more flavors out while enjoying the cup of joe.
Stunning photos, as usual! Was this a house sit or airbnb? It looks like a great place to stay.
The place we stayed at was from a friend who also owns a high-end coffee plantation and also runs a B&B. He can use this place for overflows if he knows the people. Thanks for the kind words regarding the photos.
Amazing photos, I love the ones with the waterfall! (They also remind me I need to buy an ND filter asap!) That starry sky is gorgeous, I would have spent the whole night there.
Vlad, Thank you for the comments. The like the gradient ND, gives you just the right amount of light with only a twist of the filter. The sky was fantastic and we spent hours photographing it.
Panama sounds like one of the destinations where there’s far more to discover than people think – or certainly than I thought. The more I read, the more tempted I am to go (especially with coffee AND amazing scenery). #theweeklypostcard
Hi Cathy, YES!!! Panama is such a missed destination. There is something for everyone, and the flora and fauna are not to be missed. I have an upcoming scheduled article I am writing for my grandkids about a day we spent on Lake Gatun and got to see so many animals. I do love Panama.
I can’t imagine a much better place to stay than this condo in the middle of a beautiful coffee plantation, and not very far from the city’s busy life. I’ve seen a coffee plantation before, in Hawaii. It was very interesting and not at all how I imagined it to be. The fact that you didn’t have to speak Spanish in Bouquet must have made you feel sort of at home, didn’t it? After reading your posts about Panama I became very curious about this country. It seems very beautiful and friendly. It’s probably cheap too, isn’t it? Your waterfall pictures came out so beautiful!
Hello Anda, Staying in a coffee plantation was far exceeded by the fact that you pass a coffee house on the way up and then pass a dear friend who owns a coffee plantation that grows a consistent 97 cupper ranking from the coffee testers of the world. He then goes a step further to make a wonder coffee liqueur like I have never tasted before. Panama isn’t as ‘cheap’ as it used to be mainly because it is becoming a business and finance capital like what Singapore has become. The Panamanians have their eye on being the banking capital of central and south america with excellent, safe and secure banks, a tourism policy that brings layover guests into the city free, and an airlines (Copa Airlines) that serves great flights from Canada to the southern reaches of Argentina and Chile. Thanks for the photo compliments.
It looks amazing! I hope Boquete isn’t one of the places where the coffee bean crops are suffering due to climate change.
Hello Michelle, No damage to the coffee in Boquete, as this illusion seems to play a larger part in the media and government than it does in actual everyday life.