Richard Detrich’s Boquete, Panama Weblog

Well, we don’t sit around in a rocking chair . . . much.  This was actually the biggest question we had before we moved to Boquete.  We’d email people we’d met here and ask, “What is it that you do?”  It was also the question that I asked friends of mine who had decided to retire early.  On the surface it sounded good, but . . . “What do you do?”

The short answer is that we pretty much do what we want to do.  And we keep as busy as we want to be busy.  We’re not trying to please a whole bunch of other people.  We’ve learned that it is OK to say, “No.” 

And we’ve developed new interests . . . things that we’d never dreamed of before.   Whenever I gave my wife, Nikki, a plant for her birthday or as a gift I’d say, “Here, dear, it’s yours, but don’t touch it.”  I can’t tell you how many jade plants she managed to kill.  Now she has become the great agriculturalist who looks at a coffee tree on our farm and asks me, “Now what is this tree saying to us?”  And we both take great joy when our neighbors who’ve lived with coffee farming all their lives, oooo and ahhhh over our spectacular coffee.  (And this year looks like it will be a great harvest!)    Nikki also became active in our local little community theater group and has directed a couple of plays.  This is something that she never had any interest in previously, not that she would have had any time.

The whole cruise lecturing thing was a totally new venture for me and has become something I love doing - when I want to! - and enables me to meet fascinating people and travel the world on luxury cruise ships.  The blogging thing, although somewhat an extension of my Internet interests, is a whole new thing for me.

So, typical day in a typical week (if there is such a thing)  . . .

5AM or so I’m up and either have a Diet Coke or coffee and go online to get my news fix, read over various blogs and Web sites I follow, check this site and make sure the scheduled article published as planned, see what the early AM site traffic was like, and usually work on posts.  I generally have two or three posts that I’m working on, and like to be a day or two ahead, with posts scheduled to publish automatically.

6AM The dogs are up and I take each one out to take care of their business.   This is more fun than it sounds because there is an unbelievable cacophony of birds singing!   We like to keep them in the house until 7AM when the construction workers enter Valle Escondido and the construction noise starts.  [One of the BIG advantages of buying a development that's almost built out is that you don't have to live with construction noise, which we've put up with for almost four years.  Now that it's almost done, we're moving . . . such is life!]

7AM the dogs eat and Nikki and I have breakfast.  I usually finish up what I’m working on, often it’s a cruise lecture or emails, we’ll both read, Nikki usually at the patio table and me often in the spa.

8AM our day starts.  Often one of our neighbors will drop by for a couple of cups of coffee and we’ll talk about our various projects and frustrations.   Now it’s frequently going up to the farm to start plants (now that the rains are here), check on construction progress, meet with the builder, Nikki to review and inspect the work of our farm worker.  About once a week we’ll head into David for shopping or dentist/doctor appointments.  My brother is also living in Boquete and is partially disabled so takes a lot of extra work helping him shop, get to the doctor, or get medication.  And as long as the construction is going on there is always some piece of hardware or finish we need to buy or order.  Tuesday Nikki often goes to the “Tuesday Morning Meeting” of expats and often goes out for lunch.  If I’m not working on a hand on farm project, I’ll often use this time to work on lectures.

12N-2PM We’ll usually get some lunch.  Nikki will read or go online.  I will frequently read in the hammock, sometimes taking a nap as well.

2PM Often there is some other project that demands time.  Occasionally we just chill.  We are, after all, retired.  The day tends to start early in Boquete because mornings are fantastic!!!  In the rainy season the clouds start building around noon . . . and if we’re lucky, about 2:30PM or so it starts to rain which is a wonderful excuse to curl up and read . . . or work on lecture PowerPoint slides.  (It is work folks!)

If the weather is nice I’ll take the dogs for a walk usually right here in Valle Escondido.  Now with the building going on, often I try to be up at the house about 3:30PM when the builder stops in to check on progress.  Although he speaks only Spanish, and I mostly English, there are always a ton of questions.  Our architect was short on detail . . .

4PM  OK, I AM retired . . . the sun is over the yardarm or whatever . . . so frequently I’ll have rum and Diet Coke or rum and orange juice and sit in the spa and read.

Evenings we may sit and watch videos or read.  Sometimes we’ll have dinner with friends, occasionally at a restaurant, but more likely at someones home.  [If you spend a lot of time eating on cruise ships, going out to sit in a restaurant, well . . . it's just not that "special".]  Thankfully we have friends that we can just get together with on an impromptu basis.  “Hey, we have fresh ahi grade tuna - at $3 a pound, eat your heart out California shoppers! - why don’t you throw together a salad and come over?”   We have great wines - from Chile, Argentina and South Africa - usually for under $5 a bottle, so we like to sit, and chat, and talk.  Remember talking?

We do occasionally have “events” - plays, concerts, etc.  Actually there is a whole lot more of this than we would have imagined.  We’ve had art shows, now have a jazz festival, have various groups from Panama City and other parts of the world coming through, and have even had the Philadelphia Boys Choir.   Although we had “everything” in LA, we never went to take advantage of it because of the 2-3 hour Freeway hassle to take advantage of it!

9PM Normally I’m heading for bed and so are the dogs who all sleep inside.  My Rottweiler usually on the floor next to me, so if you’re thinking of coming in and walking around while we sleep, be prepared to loose a few chunks of your bod!  The dogs all have to go out to take care of their business, and again, this is a lot more fun than it sounds because . . . if there is no moon, and usually the rain is gone . . . STARS like you wouldn’t believe!  Stars like God created them!  Stars so clear that you almost feel you can reach out and touch them.  And, particularly if it has rained, that wet, fresh, clean smell . . . there is a reason why they call this “Paradise!”

10PM - And this is the best part about where we live now in Valle Escondido, and what we will miss most at our new house up on the farm - going to sleep with the sound of the stream running below our house.

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Boquete has a great new weather site provided by Lloyd Cripe whose weather station is actually located in Palmira, not far from our farm and new house.  There is a great summary of monthly weather in our “Paradise” as well as some great links for information on earthquakes and the volcano.

While I was accompanying a ship’s tour in Costa Rica I realized how fascinated folks were with seeing an actual banana flower.  Realizing that not everyone has a banana tree in their backyard, I thought I’d show you a banana tree in flower. 

The flower is the maroon thingy at the end of the stalk.  Under each “petal” are the flowers, each set forming a “hand” of bananas.  Eventually the flower will stop getting pollinated and fall off when the plant decides there are sufficient hands of bananas.  Commercially the flower is usually cut off at a certain point.  We almost always have a stalk of bananas ripening.  The price of bananas at the market in Boquete is generally 2 for five cents, or $1 - $1.50 for an entire stalk of bananas.  Not only is the price different than in cold climates, but the taste is totallydifferent!  Bananas here taste, well like bananas, not Styrofoam immitation bananas.  Our home grown bananas are left on the tree until just before the birds and coati start after them.

I’ll add in a few photos I took while on tour in Costa Rica of the Del Monte processing plant.

The blue bags are used for commercial growing to protect the ripening fruit from insects and damage in handling.  An insecticide is infused into the blue plastic.

 
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Here’s a shot of an orchid currently in bloom on our trees.  As you can see, many of the orchids are incredibly delicate.

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The BOSTON GLOBE and South Florida SUN-SENTINEL have run an interesting story on Panama and our area, “The continental divide of Panama’s emerging tourism destinations”. Check it out.

Richard Detrich’s Boquete Blog An Interesting Perspective On Expatriate Life In Panama
April 30, 2008 by patrickwoolford

Richard Detrich’s blog provides an interesting look at the American expatriate life in Panama, specifically living in Boquete. After scouring the internet for interesting blogs on Panama, Mr. Detrich’s blog is a refreshingly honest look at life in Panama, amid a veritable wasteland of commercial and spam filled sites. According to his site, Mr. Detrich is an ordained minister and retired businessman who relocated to Panama with his wife. He often writes about his day to day experiences living in Boquete, as well as his experience owning and operating a small shade coffee plantation in the mountains. His blog is varied and eclectic, with posts on Panama politics and history, photographs of wild orchids, and stories of gruesome battles between spiders and scorpions in his laundry room.

For anyone interested in buying property, building a house in Boquete, or is looking for advice on investing in Panamanian coffee, Mr. Detrich’s Boquete Blog is a valuable resource.

Reading Mr. Detrich’s blog is especially useful for investors interested in Boquete, but also provides general insight for real estate investments elsewhere in Panama. One particularly useful page on his site is an extensive Q&A section that answers many questions people may have about buying property and living in Panama. Some of the questions addressed include “how isolated is Boquete from the rest of the world?”, “Are foreigners allowed to own property?”, and “how is banking in Panama different than in the United States?” For anyone interested in buying property, building a house in Boquete, or is looking for advice on investing in Panamanian coffee, Mr. Detrich’s Boquete Blog is a valuable resource.

Panama Real Estate Investment

Hey, Patrick, thanks!!

OK, I’ve been on the high seas with expensive Internet rates . . . so let me get caught up!

Editorial correction, your grandson’s name is Rian Patrick not Patrick Ryan! Just a reminder for when you meet. George

Thank you George! Your son, my grandson IS Rian Patrick not Patrick Ryan! Chalk it up to too much tequila on the VOLENDAM! Mea culpa!

Do snakes ever appear in or near the house, Richard?

Snakes avoid places where people frequent . . . early on we had one in our outside “deposito” or storage shed. The workers building the house next door tipped me off that they had seen it slither inside. My West Indian woodworker, the same guy who ripped me off for $1000, burned garlic to chase it away. I’d have been better keeping the snake and chasing him away! When we were first cleaning out our little place by the beach after nobody had been there for a few years, Nikki found a baby fer de lance in the corner. But snakes are usually smart and avoid people.

Living in Panama with snakes is like living in New York or Chicago or any other city with dogs and careless people who don’t pick up . . . you watch where you step!

Hello Richard, I enjoy very much reading your blog and perhaps you can help me out with an inquiry that a US visitor ask me the other day where to eat in Boquete/David? Where would you recomend you readers to eat , taking under consideration that safety, location some might not have a car etc? any good restaurants that you can suggest? Thanks, David V

Given the fact that truly Panamanian cuisine is somewhat limited - rice, chicken, beans, salad, bananas or for variety beans, rice, chicken, bananas and salad - not sure I have any great tips. There are a few good Panamanian/Chinese places we like in David. Have yet to find good pizza outside of Panama City - Pizza Italiana when are you opening in David or Boquete?? Boquete has gringo and Panamanian restaurants. A lot of the little Panamanian places offer great food at affordable prices. The gringo places tend to offer great food at gringo prices. Unfortunately new restaurants in Boquete open . . . and close . . . in the blink of an eye. I’ve never understood restaurant recommendations when traveling abroad. To me the fun is in making your own discoveries!

My husband is a retired high school principal and I still have one foot in the school system and one on the curb that separates Missouri from Panama. Since my husband has retired he has been talking about moving to Costa Rica or Panama. We are your “typical” (?) older Americans (56) that wish to live a simpler and more peaceful life among like minded humans without the threat of war, gangs, soaring prices etc. After reading many of your writings I feel like I have found one of those humans.

My husband and his brother are planning a trip to Panama in the next six months and I feel that your website will be very helpful. My question or questions are…our total retirement will be around $1300 per month. We will cash in our annuity to be able to set up our household. Will we be able to live on that amount? Are Americans allowed to work in Panama? For myself, I can’t imagine not having a job! (I have to work on that.) I make homemade soaps and lotion bars on the weekends. Would I be able to sell my products…and mainly, could I order from the internet and be able to receive packages from the states? Does Panama have UPS? LOL! I’m sorry if these sound like dumb questions but as you might guess, I’m the one that is hesitant about leaving my comfort zone. Till now we have just researched Costa Rica and getting what I need sounds a bit more difficult…like working! We are not city dwellers. Will live in rural mid-Missouri where my husband grows organic vegetables and sells them and my products at Farrmer’s Market in the city. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank you~~Garland

Whoa Pilgrim! Lot’s of questions! First, you might really love it here in Boquete or in Volcan since we are a rural farming area. One couple stopped by our home for a glass of wine and to talk about moving to Panama and the gal said, “It’s just like being on the high dive: you want to jump, but you’re not sure that you dare to jump!” Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I would suggest coming down and renting someplace for 6 months or so. At worst it’s a nice vacation experience, at best you might discover your paradise!

You can get a “pensionado” retiree visa if you have at least $600 per month pension income. That doesn’t mean you can live on that amount! Just like in the states there are folks who manage to live modestly and folks, usually Hollywood types negotiating divorce settlements, who feel “impoverished” eeking out an existence on $50K a month! If you like to grow some of your own food, and live somewhat simply, and use your annuity for a house, one car and bring in a container of your household goods (duty free for pensionados), you could do it . . . certainly a lot better here I would think than in most places in the US.

You cannot work as an employee in Panama, however, it is very easy to set up your own business and there are incentives if you hire a few Panamanians. I think in our area there would be a lot of women who would like your soaps and lotions if they were affordable and sold directly. The organic vegetable concept is relatively new and I think that could be profitable if sold directly. UPS incoming is expensive, outgoing it is unbelievably expensive. But there are outfits we use to ship Internet orders to a Miami address and they bring it down weekly to Panama at very affordable rates.

I do a shipboard lecture about this and one of the points I make is that people should “Follow the string!” If you don’t follow the string of an idea you will never know where it might have led. And if you don’t like where it’s leading, just let go!

I actually found your site when investigating cruise ships in 1968 . I’m writing a novel about how two different members of a family deal with grief, irony right. I will read more. Another curious connection , I am an international chef on mega yachts , a little different than cruise liners but we both spend alot of time in style at sea. When I am published I will be sure to send you a link or a book if you’re interested. Kirk

Hey Kirk, I will look forward to it!

Nice notes. Anyone been to David? I live in Costa Rica now, but am interested in meeting online folks from there or who have been there. I contimplate moving there and would like to spend a couple weeks visiting. Tom

Tom, I’m not a big David fan. I go there for utilitarian reasons: shopping, dentist, doctor, etc. But I can tell you that David is booming and I think offers some great opportunities for business and investment. I’ve been on both sides of Costa Rica (Puerto Limon and Puntarenas) this past spring cruise season, and I’ve talked to lots of expats who are anxious to leave Costa Rica because of the high crime problem. You might check out http://www.chiriquichatter.net/blog/ for more on David specifically.

Hi Dick — this is fascinating! I am Henry Kwant’s brother-in-law (Battle Creek, MI). I am 55 and pastoring a church in a suburb of Seattle. I would enjoy being a chaplain on a cruise ship. What does it take to do this? Pastor Pete

Hey Pete . . . “Follow the string” (see above!) It’s a great opportunity to minister to guests and crew alike. Holland America generally always has a priest on board, rabbi for holidays, and a Protestant minister when the ship is at sea on a Sunday. Here’s the link for contact http://www.hollandamericaentertainment.com/jobdescriptions/clergy.asp

Fireworks are an American tradition . . . right? Every July Fourth, but in many jusdictions only when shot off appropriately by pyrotechnical experts with official permission. When we lived in Newbury Park, California we would climb the hill behind our house, spread out our blanket, and surrounded by neighbors watch as the City of Thousand Oaks shot off its fireworks display while the local radio station played patriotic music. Since it was frequently dry in Ventura County in July we’d watch as the officially sanctioned fireworks set off brush fires and the County firefighters raced to put out the fires.

Nice . . . but trust me, fireworks in the USA are nothing compared to fireworks in Panama! Almost anyone can buy fireworks and shoot them off at will. So the sky lights up with regularity to celebrate weddings, birthdays, reunions and business events. Almost any holiday is an excuse for fireworks. In Valle Escondido it’s really no big deal when a spectacular fireworks show erupts to celebrate some event at the resort. And the “boom” richochets through the mountains just adding to the effect. Some dogs don’t like fireworks, but our dogs, being Panamanian dogs, have grown up with them, so they just turn their heads skyward and watch.

But the day the sky explodes with fireworks all across Panama is December 24th! For most gringos it is a very unexpected way to celebrate Christmas, but, just as a star lit up the sky to show the way to the wise men, on Christmas Eve precisely at midnight the sky explodes. Almost every Panamanian no matter how poor manages to scrape enough money together to buy at least one firework with which to celebrate the birth of Christ.

Well, not quite . . . but it was interesting!

Yes, we do have all kinds of critters and stuff . . . and sometimes they appear inside the house, like this scorpion and spider my daughter captured in a life and death struggle on the floor of our laundry room. Now, like everywhere else, we have an exterminator who sprays every other month, so most of these critters never come inside, but these guys did.

The spider . . . my wife loves finding these, especially when she’s taking a shower and one decides to share the shower with her . . . is about the size of a US Passport.

Our scorpions aren’t deadly like some in the US southwest, but they do hurt! I know from my personal encounter with a scorpion . . . actually a dead scorpion . . . that was in the bottom of my spa. I sat down and “pow”! Since the stinger is primed, even a dead scorpion will sting. My butt ached for about 4 hours so now I look before I sit . . . and am careful to shake out shoes and pants. We have a neighbor who learned about shaking out his pants the hard way. He pulled on his pants one morning to discover a scorpion had snuck into his zipper track . . . ouch!!!!

Anyway, who won this battle? The scorpion, of course!

One of the things that amazed me most when we first drove up to Palmira, where our farm and new house are located, was the rows of pipe cactus along the road.  Here were palm trees, pine trees, cactus, orange trees, and coffee all growing together!!  It’s just a small part of the amazing variety of plants and trees that flourish in the rich volcanic soil at our altitude and moderate temperature.

These beautiful cactus are blooming now at the end of the dry season and the blooms are spectacular - 7″ long and 5″ across.  They only bloom at night and by sunrise the flower is already drooping and dying.  My daughter, the naturalist, tells me that like most night blooming plants the flowers are white to attract bats and moths who pollinate. 

I thought you would enjoy seeing some pictures of these cactus in our yard.

When my wife was visiting our daughter in Seattle they went to Sam’s Club to shop.  Nikki, my wife, was standing in front of the bread rack ooooing and ahhhing over the choice of three different kinds of English muffins.  My daughter noticed a woman standing nearby looking at my wife as if she was on a pass from a mental institution, and my daughter said, “Mom, get a grip!  People are staring!”

What the woman staring didn’t understand is that in Panama every type of bread comes from the same recipe and all tastes the same!  No matter what shape you give it or what you call it . . . it’s all the same.   Whole grain bread, rye . . . forget it, but everything else, by any name, it’s the same recipe!  But once in a while hope springs eternal.

When we saw a new bakery opening in Boquete named “Shalom” everyone rejoiced!  The Messianic age was upon us!  A Jewish bakery was opening in Boquete and we would soon have real bagels, maybe not Western Bagels (Southern Californian and the best!), but Kosher bagels.  Well the bakery opened . . . run by a Korean Baptist pastor.  And the bagels . . .

 They look like bagels . . . but . . . the same old recipe!

So when Shalom announced it would be making English muffins . . . well, again rays of hope, but alas and alack . . .

You got it . . . the same recipe, slightly different shape, but the same taste. Funny, the things you miss.

So if there are any good Jewish kids out there from the San Fernando Valley who want to come to Boquete and open an authentic Kosher deli and bagel factory and bake Jewish rye bread . . .  here’s your golden opportunity!!  Just leave the polution, traffic and gang bangers in the San Fernando Valley.

One question I’m always asked on cruise ships when I talk about Panama is, “What about medical care?”  We are raised in the US to think that everything in the US is better than any where else in the world, so medical care must in the US must obviously be better.  Not necessarily so . . .

For one thing medical care in Panama is more personal than in the US.  Your doctor knows your name even if he/she is not looking at your chart. Your doctor has time to spend with you and is not required to see 15 patients an hour. Your doctor is able to practice medicine without being second-guessed continually by a 20-something-year-old kid sitting behind a computer in the managed care headquarters. Because it is difficult to sue in Panama, your doctor doesn’t feel compelled to order a score of unnecessary tests just to protect his/her ass. Medical care in Panama is also a hell of a lot cheaper than in the US and because of that “Medical Tourism” - traveling to foreign countries for lower cost of care - is becoming very popular in Panama.

According to NuWire Investor,

“Panama offers significantly lower costs for medical procedures just south of the U.S. border. Costs, on average, are 40 to 70 percent lower than costs of similar surgeries in the U.S., according to a report on medical tourism published by the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) last November. Although costs for medical procedures are generally higher compared to those of Southeast Asian countries, travel costs from the U.S. to Panama are considerably lower.

Panama is a relatively ‘Americanized’ country and an attractive place for both regular tourists and medical tourists to visit. Panama City is a relatively safe and modern destination; the U.S. dollar is the country’s official currency, and many of the physicians are U.S.-trained. Consequently, U.S. patients are less likely to experience a high degree of culture shock when seeking care in Panama.”

One of the leaders in medical tourism is Punta Pacifica Hospital in Panama City, affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine International. According to Punta Pacifica,

“Health tourism, or medical tourism, has become a global economy all to itself. As medical costs in the US, Canada and Europe have soared, people have looked to other countries to provide high quality, affordable medical solutions. Panama has stepped to the forefront of this health tourism trend with American-trained, English-speaking doctors, professional staff and world-class facilities such as Hospital Punta Pacifica. We are able to combine first-class, affordable medical care with a truly remarkable vacation experience.”

Panama has over 1000 species of wild orchids. They vary from spectacular large orchids to orchids that are smaller than the fingernail of your little finger. The ones in the picture were growing wild on a tree next to the beach at our place in Boca Chica.

The first time I ever visted Costa Rica, long before we discovered Panama, I expected that in the rain forest I would see orchids everywhere . . . with 1000 species, who wouldn’t? But orchid life is much more subtle. You have to look . . . sometimes high up on branches of big trees. Many of the orchids are tiny. And orchids don’t bloom year round. But once you get accustomed to “orchid life” you start finding them everywhere. Often when trees are being cut down folks will rescue orchids from the branches. We have a number we’ve stuck on trees around our home. As they bloom I’ll try and share them with you.