Boquete is in the Highlands of Chiriquí (pronounced Chee-Reh-Kee), about 300 miles west of Panama City, and 55 miles northeast of the Costa Rica border at Paso Canoas. 

From the Lowlands city of David (pronounced Dah-Veed), less than 25 miles away, an unpretentious small city of 80,000, you drive north on a good, paved country road to Boquete.  The roadway slopes gradually upward.  David is at about 100 feet elevation.  The town of Boquete is at around 3,000 to 3,700 feet, and the areas just north of Boquete are at 4,000 to 6,000 feet, with Volcan Baru topping out at 11,411 feet.

As you enter Boquete, the red zinc and tile roofs of the town are spread out in a valley below you.  A good viewing point is the IPAC (Tourism Panama) office, in a handsome building on the south side of town.  The name Boquete means “between two mountains.”  The town has a population of around 5,000, with close to 16,000 people in the entire Boquete district.

Boquete is also nicknamed “the city of flowers and coffee,” and both are in abundance here.  Flowers and tropical plants grow in lush arrays around Boquete.  Wild impatiens cling to the mountainsides, orchids are in the trees, and roses, bougainvillea and colea are in many yards.   Eucalyptus trees, silvery green, add texture to the hillsides. 

About 50,000 acres of coffee is in production in Panama, and the best of the country’s Arabica coffee is grown above 3,000 feet in the Chiriquí Highlands.  The highest quality coffee is shade-grown, organic and handpicked.  Kotowa, Café Ruiz, Hacienda La Esmeralda and Lamastus Family Estates are among the higher quality coffee operations in Boquete.  The coffee beans turn cherry red and are harvested in this area in October and November.   Each January, Boquete celebrates its twin passions with the Festival de Flores y Café.  In April, there is an orchid festival.

The dark, rich volcanic soil makes the Highlands the breadbasket of Panama.  Above Boquete and around Volcan and Cerro Punta large fields of onions, potatoes and other vegetables are intensely cultivated.

With more than 500 American, Canadian and other expats living at least part of the year in Boquete, and with increasing tourism from both foreigners and Panamanians,  a number of new restaurants and tourism activities have sprung up.  The downtown area, basically only two streets wide, has a dozen or so restaurants, a new deli with a selection of imported items, and two well-stocked groceries.

The climate here is dubbed “eternal spring.”  While it is spring like, at times it can get warm during the day, especially in Boquete town and south of town at the lower elevations.  Temps in the high 70s or low 80s F. are not unusual.  At night, though, it cools down.  Most homes require neither air-conditioning nor heat, except perhaps for a fireplace, although interestingly the tourism office in Boquete does have central air conditioning.  At the higher elevations around Cerro Punta and up Volcan Baru, it can get positively chilly, and you may need a sweater at night.  Boquete and the Highlands get considerable rain.  One weather station near Boquete reported an average of about 131 inches of rain annually, two to three times the average in much of the U.S. Southeast.  While rain can come in torrents, often it comes as a bajareque, or drizzle, in the afternoon.  When that happens, rainbows are common. 

Panama is south of the hurricane belt, but earthquakes are possible.  Volcan Baru, while dormant for at least 800 years, could awaken.

Residents of Boquete have access to good medical care at hospitals and clinics in David, about a half hour away.