Boquete

Though the surrounding countryside holds most of Boquete's attractions, the town itself is quite appealing, with tidy wooden houses and prolific flower gardens. Around 30,000 people live here, most of them scattered around the valley. The town center holds a simple parque central (central park), officially the Parque de las Madres, surrounded by shops, the town hall, and roads lined with patches of pink impatiens and the pale trumpetlike flowers of the Datura, also known as jimson weed or devil's trumpet. Streams meander through town, and the Río Caldera flows through a wide swath of boulders along its eastern edge.

Make no mistake though: Boquete is booming these days as one of Panama's top real estate destinations. Among the population are now several thousand foreigners who have chosen to make the town their new (or second) home. With a four-lane highway heading out from David and the coming expansion of that city's airport, growth is expected to continue, which longtime residents have mixed feelings about.