15 Things Not To Like About Panama

If you are looking for paradise you probably won’t find it.

Thanks to the screw up by our first parents, Adam & Eve, you’re not going to find perfection or paradise this side of heaven. Accept it. Nothing is perfect. No one is perfect. But, as far as we’re concerned, life in Panama is damn close, at least for us.

Folks decided to move to Panama for a lot of reasons. Escape. Adventure. Discovery. Whatever! And for many folks it is an excellent choice, as it has been for us. So there is a whole lot to like . . . make that LOVE! . . . about living in Panama. But, given as nothing is perfect, sometimes folks ask, “Richard, what’s not to like about living in Panama?”

So here is my list of the top 15 things not to like about living in Panama.

10. Microclimates

Microclimates. OK, microclimates are wonderful when it comes to fine wine and great coffee. But a place like Boquete has so many microclimates it boggles the mind.

During the dry season where we live in Palmira can be as dry as the desert with dusty  winds howling (think Santa Anas and Chinooks) while just few miles away, in some of the areas around Boquete, it is pouring rain, and other areas, like downtown Boquete are getting their late afternoon mist called bajareque.

This is a good reason to spend 6 months, and preferably a year, in Boquete before you jump and buy or build. Or at least spend 3 months and talk to as many people as you can. True, we are in the tropics and don’t have four seasons, but we have definite seasons and they are definitely different. Add to that all the microclimates in an area around Boquete and you understand why you need to ask a lot of questions and do a lot of research.

List to be continued . . . stay tuned!