Live Uncomfortably

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I’ve provided a map to show you guys exactly where we’re located within Boquete and all of Panama. I’ll throw some pics up too so you get a general sense of what’s going on.

First, Boquete is located near the border of Costa Rica (the western end). It’s almost in the exact middle (north, south speaking) of the country. If you climb one of the peaks near here on a clear day, you are supposed to be able to see both oceans.
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South of Boquete is a pretty big town named David. This is where Clay and I went to get our visas extended and where they had a Costco like store that we shopped at. It’s about an hour away. To the northeast are the famous islands of Bocas Del Toro (this is where Drew went for everyone that knows him). There is no connecting road from Boquete to Bocas, so you must drive back through David, and take another road to get there.

Clay and I will be heading to Bocas in about a month.  It’s a party tourist town with laid back locals and plenty of booze and women. I’m looking forward to it, to say the least. This is the place where you can rent a hotel room literally on the water. Here’s a pic.

Source: Vitourtist.com

But back to Boquete. Boquete is not Bocas. It’s quite the opposite really. It’s in the mountains, it’s about the same temperature as San Diego, and the only people who party are what they call borachos - the alcoholics. There are not many tourists here. There are gringos but they mostly have houses here.

Clay and I are staying in a cabana at the Isla Verde hotel resort. It’s about 2 minutes from the main drag and everything we need. Here’s a color coded drawing.

This is the basic layout of the town. Two black parallel lines equal a road. The road running right through the center of the frame is the main street.

1. The solid green box with a black X is our cabana. The other green blocks with black outlines make up Isla Verde.

2. The blue solid line is the river that runs right near our backyard.

3. The orange blocks represent the cities shops. Restaurants, bakeries, clothing stores, drug stores, etc. 

4. The dark blue box is the main city center. It’s a large park where the locals hang out. A huge band practices drums there. 30 or 40 kids drum their hearts out 5 days a week, 3 hours a day. They’re getting ready for independence day in November. 

5. The pink circle is a giant gazeboo in the center of the park.

6. The dark pink block is our grocery store - Romero.

7. The light blue block is our Spanish teacher’s house.

8. The red block is Pilos gym. 

So that’s our general relation to everything in the town. As far as nature goes, it’s all around us.

I’ve been trying to take more pictures for you guys but lately it’s been raining pretty much all day.

I’ll be posting more on Panama, its people and girls, and Toyotas very soon!

Love, 

Derek