Panama Day 5: In and around Pedasi

My apologies for how long it is taking to cover my whole trip.  You know how it is… back to work and not much free time.  I have hours of audio notes on my Blackberry that I am going through to make sure I don’t miss anything significant.

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Nice, but rocky, Playa Toro

Hostal Dona Maria is centrally located and convenient, but a bit noisy as well.  Being right on the main road there is a lot of traffic quite early in the morning with some honking of horns and big trucks applying their brakes.  To be fair, my room was right on the front of the building next to the roadway and it may have been much quieter in the back.  While this may be annoying to some, to me it is the sound of commerce and prosperity.  At one point during the day a produce truck stopped by and the owner, Marila, was checking out the cucumbers, onions, citrus and other fruits and vegetables he had to offer.  Marila gives very individualized attention and is very gracious.  Around back there is parking, nice gardens and plenty of space to lounge around.  The wi-fi is strong and you can pay by VISA or MasterCard, which you won't find everywhere you travel in Panama.

Breakfast was very pleasant and cooked to order as guests arrived.  The young lady who handles breakfast provided a menu with six different offerings (complete breakfasts) from which you choose what you want for that day.  I tried three different offerings and all were a great start to the day.  The strong, rich-tasting Panamanian coffee was heavenly.

After breakfast I drove down to Playa Toro (Bull Beach).  As you get to the beach there is a place on the left of the dirt road that has a bar, restaurant and pool; if you want to spend a day at the beach it would be pretty handy since you could go beach combing, play in the ocean, etc. and then have a place to get cleaned up and knock back a few beers.  Even though they were not open at the time I was there, the music was playing and I can imagine it would be a fun place to hang out.  Playa Toro is nice and I enjoyed a great walk checking out the rocks extending out into the ocean and picking up a few shells.  While pretty, this is not a good swimming beach; if you got tossed around in the waves you could easily end up being dashed against submerged rocks, which are everywhere. 

Pedasi Escapes... just a gate and a road

On the way to the beach, if you bear to the right at a fork in the road, you will come to three developments:  Pedasi Escapes, Costa Pedasi and Andromeda Ocean Estates.

Pedasi Escapes is a nice gate and a road.  That’s it.  There are lots of very nice stakes in the ground suggesting lots have been laid out and are already sold.  It’s close to the ocean but unless you have a three-story house and lean waaay out from the window, I doubt you could even see the ocean.  For some people that may be fine, but I would like to be closer.  I don’t know what kind of infrastructure is planned or already in place.  The road was smooth, but basic.

Costa Pedasi has a large gated entrance and some very nice houses either in the process of being built or already completed.  These homes have their own individual septic systems and the development appears, from what I could see from the road, to be very nice.  I’m not sure what the prices are like, but I suspect they are higher than what I can afford.  Besides, I'm just looking for something simple... not a manor with maid's quarters.

Road is graded and almost ready for surfacing

Andromeda Ocean Estates has taken a different approach.  They have their own water and sewer system.   The roads are being built the right way… with a good graded gravel base topped by asphalt.  Quaint looking, gas light-style street lamps are being installed and green spaces are already landscaped and planted.  I watched the men working on the fence and the gate house and my own experience in the remodeling industry tells me that they are doing a first class job.

Since I had managed to get a sun burn while in Bocas, I stopped at the only Farmacia in town and bought some lotion.  I noticed that the town square and the streets surrounding that area were a total mess the night before from the weekend celebrations.  By the time I drove through around 11:00 AM the streets were all swept up and the garbage in piles waiting to be picked up.  When I came back later in the afternoon to do some shopping, it was totally clean.

After my visit to Bull Beach, I stopped in at Panama Property International real estate and met with the agency owner, Alan, a Brit who has lived in Pedasi for three years.  We talked about the highway construction and other developments as well as real estate in the area.  According to Allen, financing is generally available on parcels with 50% down, and on homes or land with building costs with 30% down; rates are in the 6% neighborhood.  Major shopping centers are in Las Tablas and Chitre; Las Tablas is just a short drive away and many locals make a weekly jaunt down the road to do a large shopping and get minor or occasional items at one of the many small stores in Pedasi.  Ground has been broken on a new hospital, a new airport is close to opening and there are plans for a shopping center on the edge of town.  Sheraton has purchased 50 hectares near Bull Beach and they are expected to begin building within two years.  Alan will begin doing general contracting for his clients who purchase lots and he now has a guy who builds pools.

Ready for your electric shower?

Alan said he had a few obligations already lined up, but we agreed to meet at 3:00 for a drive around the area and to continue our discussion of real estate possibilities.  With some time to kill I wandered across the street to Moreno’s hardware store to check out their prices.  I found that most things are reasonably priced and even though it is a fairly small store, their inventory is pretty comprehensive.  Moreno’s is a chain and larger stores can be found in Las Tablas and Chitre along with similar home centers.  Moreno’s had one of the electric shower heads (you read that right) that was in my room in Bocas and at the Dona Maria.  The idea is actually pretty cool… the shower head heats the water instead of relying on a central water heater.  But it is a bit unnerving to see a wire extending from the wall into the shower head, especially when the wire nuts are exposed!

I stopped in at Smiley’s for lunch and after ordering a pork BBQ sandwich a guy walked in and ordered who clearly was an American.  Since he was also alone I invited him to join me for lunch.  It turns out that Ted is also a realtor (Panama Equity) and had been in the business in Hawaii before coming to Panama three years ago.  Ted is originally from Michigan, but spent most of his adult life in Hawaii.  Even though he had spent a long time in Hawaii, he said it was not a very friendly place to live and do business; if you’re not a native you are always somehow suspect and not a “true” Hawaiian.  He visited a friend in Panama several times before moving here permanently.  We also discussed the area and Ted highly recommended looking outside the developments.  Although he did not come right out and say it, he seemed to imply that you could get more for your money by getting away from the pre-planned expat communities, which makes sense.  He said that Pedasi and the surrounding areas are likely to take off over the coming years and provide a good return on your investment.  But the real attraction, he said, is the quality of life.  He goes spear fishing, enjoys the festivals in Las Tablas and the surrounding towns and although he has yet to take up surfing, it is on his to do list.  Lunch with beers for the two of us at Smiley’s came to a grand total of $11.00.

A typical "living" fence

After lunch I drove further to the west and passed a couple of developments aimed at equestrian aficionados – not my thing but they looked nice.  One of those developments was Hacienda los Gavilanes.  One of the cool things I saw everywhere throughout the Azuero was living fences.  They stick saplings in the ground and attach the fence to them.  Most of these saplings grow and turn into a living fence that they cut the tops off occasionally causing a gnarly ball on the top.  What a great concept -- you never have to worry about rotting fence posts.    During my research before my trip, I got the impression from some web sites hawking real estate that Pedasi was a sleepy little fishing village right on the ocean.  It is not.  Pedasi is a nice little town and is close to the beach, but it is at least a ten minute drive to the coast.  Pedasi seems like a very family friendly town – there is a soccer field, a baseball field and a covered basketball court that had a martial arts class going on when I drove by.  There is a public library next door to the Catholic church.

On the way back into town I stopped at a couple of stores I had seen the night before near the town square and the Catholic church.  The first boutique-style shop I went into is owned by a woman I would guess to be in her late thirties.  As I perused her merchandise I was approached by her daughter who asked, in perfect non-accented English, if she could help.  It turns out the daughter had just moved back to Panama after living with her father in Idaho.  I bought a few things for my colleagues at work... including some really nice locally made soaps containing chocolate and eucalyptus.  The other shop I visited is owned by a woman who I believe is originally French; the accent was definitely not Spanish.  She makes a few things of her own but also buys a lot of items from locals who use native materials.  I bought a cool, hand-carved mask made in Chitre that is used in their local carnival celebration.

A hawk I saw on the side of the road

I went back to Alan’s office a few minutes past 3:00 and there was a sign on the door saying he would be delayed and to come back at 4:30.  I went back to Dona Maria and down-loaded my pictures to my netbook, copied them to a flash drive (you can’t be too careful) and generally killed some time until 4:45.  I got back to the real estate office a little before 5:00 and the same sign was still on the door and still no Alan.  Well, I guess my business is not needed.  You’ll notice that I did not provide the link to his business.

I walked around town a bit more and explored a few more back streets.  Once again, all the streets are paved and in good shape.  The vast majority of houses are humble little abodes with not much land, but generally well maintained.  There are a number of small, family run grocery stores located throughout the community.  I had dinner at Pedasito Hotel.  The food was just OK and the service was unimpressive.  At the risk of sounding like the consummate American, I was a little surprised that the folks in the restaurant spoke zero English and could not tell me what was on the menu.  Pedasito looks like a pretty nice property and the rates are reasonable.  The fact that they are unable to assist gringo visitors seemed like a poor business move.