Americans discover Boquete, Panama

Natural beauty, climate, easygoing lifestyle are draws

12:00 AM CST on Sunday, March 9, 2008

From Wire Reports

BOQUETE, Panama – It's a Friday afternoon, and the main street resembles Anytown, U.S.A. There is a mom-and-pop coffee shop with round tables, prepared sandwiches and a dessert case. Nearby is a tiny video store, with posters advertising Misión Imposible Tres and La Guerra de Los Mundos (War of the Worlds). And down the block is a small deli that serves cheeseburgers with rice and beans.

At midday, when the air is warm but crisp, a casual pace falls over the town. Tourists mingle with old-timers and make fishing and hiking plans for the next morning.

What feels at times like a newly minted resort town in New England or perhaps Southern California is actually the latest stop on Panama's growing tourist route. Tucked into the highlands near the Baru volcano in the western Chiriqui region of Panama, Boquete is emerging as one of Central America's latest eco-tourism destinations.

Surrounded by green mountains topped by misty, craggy peaks, Boquete offers outdoor adventures such as hiking, climbing, bird-watching and white-water rafting. And, thanks to a 3,000-foot elevation, the area's microclimate deducts 10 degrees from the incessant lowland heat.

Wispy clouds meander overhead in the morning but release their grip by midday. It's warm in the daytime, bracing at night, and perfect for growing bananas, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, strawberries and coffee – Chiriqui's main crops.

But, unlike most eco-tourist hot spots, Boquete draws people not just to its natural beauty but also to its snowbird enclave. In the past two decades, a thriving community of North American baby boomers has built homes in and around town.

Attracted first by the Napa Valley-like weather and low cost of living, and then by lax real estate laws – not to mention potable tap water – several thousand foreign families own houses in Boquete, according to Tom Byrne, a 39-year-old developer who moved there from Ireland.

And while Boquete's real estate market once was dominated by porch-swinging retirees, the latest wave of arrivals tends to be younger couples in their 40s and 50s. Many are opening restaurants, touring companies, bed-and-breakfasts and spas geared for tourists.

While tourism is still light, at least when compared with neighboring Costa Rica, that is changing. At Amigos Restaurant (Central Park Plaza), opened in the center of town by two Canadians, a few older gringos were sipping beer on a Friday night. But the majority of customers were young tourists filling up on burgers and fries.

Boquete "is like Costa Rica 15 years ago," Mr. Byrne says.

The comparison is apt but not entirely accurate. Like the popular mountain towns Monteverde and La Fortuna in Costa Rica, Boquete is capitalizing on its forests, rivers and wildlife.

But development in Panama is following a more upscale track. Tourists arrive in rented SUVs from David, Panama's fourth-largest city, and stay in high-end hotels hidden off the main road and perched in the hills.

One popular with honeymooners is Panamonte Inn and Spa (011-507-720-1324; www .panamonteinnandspa.com), which offers candlelit dinners and spa wraps and massages, with garden cabins starting at $126 a night.

Another upscale hotel, La Montaña y el Valle Coffee Estate Inn (011-507-720-2211; www.cof feeestateinn.com), opened by Canadian expatriates, has three secluded bungalows set among coffee trees and exotic flower gardens for $130 a night.

Morning is when Boquete springs to life. Most days, a steady stream of rafts can be spotted bobbing down the Chiriqui Viejo, Gariche and Dolega rivers.

One of the region's oldest outfits, Chiriqui River Rafting (011-507-720-1505; www.panama- rafting.com) runs daily trips, from beginners' to Class IV rapids, starting at $60.

For those who want to remain dry, Coffee Adventures (011-507-720-3852; www.coffeeadven tures.net) offers tours of the Kotowa coffee plantation, which claims Panama's oldest coffee mill, for $22.50.

Visitors hike through rows of coffee trees, meet the pickers and sample fresh brew in the mill's cupping room.

Panama also offers magnificent bird-watching. The forests in and around Boquete are home to a dazzling array of quetzals, toucans and parrots.

But for adventure-seekers, there's only one way to appreciate Boquete's natural beauty: "tree trekking" or zip-lining.

Boquete Tree Trek (011-507-720-1635; www.aventurist.com) offers half-day trips for $60. After a bumpy uphill ride in the back of a pickup, tourists are strapped into harnesses and sent on free-falls through the dense jungle canopy.

Jeff Koyen,

New York Times News Service