Tropical Dreaming

From Casco Viejo, it’s back to Coronado Villa Victoria for a month. It might seem odd that we’re going back to a place where we’ve already stayed but…

we’re having trouble finding places that are in our price range (which we’ve already increased twice) and meet our criteria. (Interestingly enough, Coronado Villa Victoria was instrumental in helping us define those criteria.)

One reason for this is the “high season”. That’s November through March when snowbirds from the U.S., Canada, and Europe come to Panama to escape the cold weather back home. Demand goes high, supply goes low, prices go up.

Another reason is “los Carnavales” - a Panamanian holiday that’s one big party for the first several days of March. Rental prices go through the roof, highways become parking lots, and certain areas become wall-to-wall people.

While we did try to find someplace different to spend March, places that meet our criteria tend to be long-term rentals and, for obvious reasons, we’re not really ready to tie ourselves down to any one particular area yet. (And when we are ready, we’re going to want to just buy an house; not rent one.) Ultimately, our former hosts made us a nice offer and we accepted. Not only did we enjoy our time there immensely, but Coronado checks most of our boxes and we want to look at houses (to purchase) there before moving on to other areas.