Our first trip only served to weed out places we decided weren't right for us. (Boquete, Bocas del Toro & Panama City) Not that we couldn't have made any of them work, but I came back and did some more research and for our second trip we concentrated on Altos Del Maria, Coronado, Gorgona & El Valle. When we left we fully expected to find a micro-climate in Altos that suited our weather wants. Altos is huge and has many sub-divisions (most with only a house or a few in each) All at different altitudes so it would have been easy to find one that suits an individuals needs. However, we did discover that the ride to get out of the sub-division and then down the mountain into the town of Coronado became a chore. While there was a small "chino" store close by, all the stores and medical were in town. 30 to 45 minutes away. We liked that there were a lot of hiking trails there and it was beautiful.
We rented a furnished cabana from a German lady named Frauke for a week and we spent most of our days just driving the various neighborhoods. We did spend some time in El Valle, Gorgona and Coronado checking out the various places to choose from. So, our photos aren't all that exciting, but it was a very helpful trip for honing in on where we would settle.
entrance to Altos del Maria
B&B that wasn't open (nor did it open by the time we came back or the whole time we lived there)
Frauke's cabin
When we checked in Frauke said that one cat is sweet and the other is crazy. She said don't pet it unless it comes to you first. Well, it could go from sweet to bat shit crazy in a heartbeat. It tore me to shreds and we had to make a special trip down the mountain to get Neosporin and Band-aides. It's eyes would go totally black and it just went crazy.
me with the nice cat
the cat from hell - looks sweet enough
the nice cat inside the cabin
police station in Sora turn to Altos del Maria
hotel & restaurant in Sora & the Chino was there as well
building materials
flock of geese & gardener with machete
Mary's Cafe in Altos - the food was very good
cute restrooms
back road of Altos to El Valle
After moving to the area we often birded on that steep road.
market in El Valle
dog sleeping in the middle of the road
views around El Valle
market
shopping center & restaurants
main street through town
Los Mandarinos Hotel - after moving to Panama we stayed there often
Gorgona beach
Good food - the best Garlic Langostinos
the owners parrot
the owner's house
inside the restaurant
outdoor dining area
another area we checked out
the rest of the photos are various homes & neighborhoods within Altos
at the time this was the newest and highest altitude sub-division it was cool and in the cloud forest and it felt a bit like Jurassic Park and it was like you expected a dinosaur to come wandering out of the jungle
Melo's castle (developer of Altos)
yes, that's the road
large variety of homes in Altos
beautiful views from most all of them
we ended up on the beach close to the building you can see in the distance
Picacho
we did a lot of hiking on the trails in Altos
I got bitten by a Bullet Ant which required another trip down the mountain to get meds
Greg on the steep road
Chachalaca
hotel in Panama near the airport for our flight out
Well, we left feeling like we'd have no problem finding somewhere when we returned to Panama to live after finishing our first cruise around the world in 2013. People on the ship seemed amazed that we didn't already have a place there.
Upon our return from the cruise I found a furnished house for rent by the beach in Coronado. We had hoped it could be a long term arrangement if we liked that area instead of moving to Altos. Turned out that we liked living near the beach and so close to the town (5 minutes), but the house didn't work out for us. The owners were a bit strange so we looked into renting a condo right on the beach. We ended up living there for the 3.5 years that we lived in Panama. Anyway, won't go into much more detail here since it's all in the beginning of my blog. I can say that we loved living there, but our wandering nature had us off to new adventures.
