Three Cool Days in Boquete, Panama’s Mountain Adventure Town

We Came for Birds, Coffee and Cool Mountain Air—and Wondered Whether We Could Live There

Jordon, our guide, motioned to us to be silent and pointed to a dead, hollowed-out tree trunk soaring over our heads. 

We saw a quick flash of shimmering scarlet and green disappear into a large hole about 15 feet up. A nearly 2-foot-long tail streamed out of the hole like a blue pair of scissors.  

Jordon smiled, raised his camera and took a picture of the resplendent quetzal, which we spotted while walking the Pipeline Trail, a pathway that courses through the damp, mountain rainforest above Boquete, Panama. He’d instructed us to scan for the shy bird in dead trees and stumps amid the towering, wet, high-altitude woods. 

The elusive quetzal was one of the many reasons we had ventured to Boquete, a lush mountain town in western Panama known for its cool climate, top-notch coffee, and stunning hikes. During our hike with Jordon, which ended in a giant waterfall, we spotted an impressive variety of cloud-forest birds, among them a collared trogon, two emerald toucanets, and three flame-colored tanagers. We also spied a rarely seen golden-olive woodpecker, a bird Jordon said he had only spotted once before in thousands of bird sightings. 

The quetzal emerged from the hole and hopped onto a branch of another tree, giving us a full look at its dazzling beauty: its shimmering emerald back, crimson chest, and spiky crest that rose like a feathery crown. Jordon told us this one was likely a male, given the long tail, which can grow up to three feet long during the mating season. 

Easily startled and quick to vanish, the elusive quetzal inhabits high-altitude cloud forests throughout Central America. We found ours in a stretch of the trail that had signs advising hikers to be quiet and look for nesting cavities in the hollow parts of dead trees. We smiled at our good fortune, and continued through the forest on the way to the waterfall. 

A Thriving Expatriate Community

The trail was one of the adventures we had during three March days in Boquete, a place we had been wanting to check out as a travel destination but also, potentially, as a place to live. Boquete has developed one of Panama’s most visible expatriate communities, particularly among retirees from the United States, Canada and Europe.

During our time there we met a handful of fellow GeezerTrekkers who had the same mission—exploring Boquete as a possible place to retire, as well as a few who had already made their home in the verdant valley along the Caldera River. 

While we explored the town and its environs, we faced this question: Was Boquete simply a wonderful three-day destination, or could we imagine making a life there? We compared it with forested communities we knew in Costa Rica, which we have visited many times, and where we once lived for three months. 

Known as the “Valley of Flowers,” Boquete—while still much warmer than North America and Europe—offers a cooler, spring-like experience than other popular expat communities in Panama and Costa Rica, with daytime highs around 70°F. 

During the wet or “green” season, mornings are often sunny before afternoon storms move through, sometimes followed by another stretch of clear weather. “You can get two mornings here,” an American expat told us. “You run errands during the first morning, and then go outside and enjoy the second one.” 

Plenty of Outdoor Activities

The town still offers a lower cost of living than many comparable North American mountain communities, although prices have risen with expat demand. Its outdoor offerings are more varied than those in many of Panama’s hotter coastal destinations. Travelers can hike mountain trails, tour coffee farms, soak in hot springs and browse artisanal markets and downtown cafés. More adventurous GeezerTrekkers can go whitewater rafting, cliff jumping or ziplining, or climb the slopes of nearby Volcán Barú. 

Boquete punches above its weight as a dining destination, with Italian, Mediterranean, Latin American and Asian-fusion restaurants, along with burgers, pizza and even a U.S.-style brewpub. 

We dined one night at a Panamanian restaurant, Donde Giselle, right in the heart of town. It was the best meal we had in Panama. We enjoyed an appetizer of corn fritters with fresh cheese and mint. I ordered pan-seared sea bass, while Kris chose the restaurant’s signature dish, “El Mono”—shredded beef, plantains, rice and beans wrapped in a green bijao leaf.

For lodging, we chose to stay about two miles above the town on the lush grounds of Boquete Bees and Butterflies, which is near Los Naranjos (“The Orange Trees”). The agritourism eco-farm merges a native bee sanctuary, a large enclosed butterfly pavilion, and a traditional coffee estate into an educational nature destination. 

Butterflies, Bees, and a Garden Full of Life

The property’s covered butterfly pavilion showcases roughly 35 native species, including monarchs, tigerwings, owl butterflies, and blue morphos with their blindingly iridescent wings. 

It was fun to stroll through the facility with numerous “mariposas” flitting about, landing on our hats, hands, and shoulders. My blue shirt proved especially popular with several free-riding cracker butterflies; apparently, I had dressed for the occasion.  

The gardens outside the pavilion are even more beautiful, and we waltzed slowly through them on the way back to our cabin, the “Monarch” bungalow, which had a kitchenette and a lovely balcony from which to spot cloud-forest birds. The grounds form an intensively cultivated ecosystem designed to provide year-round nectar for bees and plants where butterflies can lay their eggs and feed their caterpillars. 

During our strolls we saw citrus trees, shade-grown coffee trees, and an array of tropical plants and flowers, including powderpuffs, firebushes, and butterfly bushes. On the pathway back to our bungalow, hummingbirds buzzed about us, and orange angel trumpets hung over our heads. The garden was a riot of color and life. 

Boquete Bees and Butterflies also offers a full tour of the beekeeping facilities, concluding with a gourmet tasting session featuring more than 20 varieties of raw, single-harvest honeys. The tasting highlights how different flowers and harvests produce noticeably different flavors.

Tasting Boquete’s Famous Coffee

Speaking of tastings, a top Boquete attraction is to tour one of the many coffee farms in the area. Boquete’s relatively high elevation and its rich volcanic soil support numerous operations, among them Finca Dos Jefes, Finca Lerida, and Altieri Specialty Coffee, which is situated inside Volcán Barú National Park. 

Several people recommended Don Pepe Estate Coffee Farm. Founded in 1898, it is the region’s oldest registered coffee farm. Don Pepe sits at nearly 6,500 feet above sea level in an area flanking the volcano. While we waited on the farm’s veranda for our three-hour tour to begin, it was almost cool enough for a jacket. 

Our tour guide, José, introduced us to the varieties of coffees produced at the farm, including Panama’s prized Geisha variety, whose rare small lots have commanded record prices. Exceptional Geisha beans have sold for more than $13,000 a pound.

José explained that Boquete’s volcanic soil, high-altitude winds and mountain mist give its Geisha coffee an unusually floral, tea-like character. I found it light, floral and slightly spicy. Some of my fellow tasters found it too delicate. 

Before adding hot water, José encouraged us to cup our hands around each sample and inhale the aroma of the freshly ground beans. We sipped slowly and carefully and engaged in friendly debate with the other tourgoers about which brew was best. 

We then walked the grounds of the farm and got to pluck ripe red coffee cherries from the plants, chisel them open with our teeth, and squeeze out the beans, which were coated in a sweet, sticky layer called mucilage.

Our Verdict on Boquete

Back in town, we stopped for a different kind of brew at the Boquete Brewing Company. It was fun, but the atmosphere and American rock music made it feel a bit too much like we were back in the States, a far cry from the distinctly Panamanian experience we had at Donde Giselle. The bar may offer a comforting taste of home for expats feeling homesick.

Before journeying to Boquete, we encountered online claims that a couple could live comfortably in the town on $3,000/month with a car, private health insurance, and regular meals out. After talking with a few expats who actually live there, it seemed to us that figure was low. Boquete has become one of Panama’s pricier regions, with strong expat demand contributing to rising costs. 

Our verdict on Boquete: It’s a lovely place to visit, a nice break from the steaming, sultry towns of Panama’s two coasts. While we could imagine spending several months there, we are not yet ready to settle in an enclave where it can be too easy to remain culturally inside the United States. Around town, English was commonplace, and many restaurants and businesses seemed designed at least partly around North American tastes. 

Returning to the hot, sticky air around the lowland airport in nearby David gave me a deeper appreciation for Boquete’s cool mountain climate. What stayed with me most, though, was the vibrant, teeming life of the forest: green mountainsides planted with coffee, iridescent butterfly wings and the long, shimmering tail of the resplendent quetzal.