Chiriqui Gringos

Chiriqui is the westernmost province in Panama. It borders Costa Rica and has what many consider the best beaches, mountains, farms, and people in Panama. It has the highest peak in Panama, Volcan Baru, and it has a large ex-pat community in the coffee growing country near Baja Boquete (or simply Boquete or Paradise as many claim).

Our part of Chiriqui is this finca (farm) that sits at the end of road in a tiny community called Las Nubes (The Clouds) about 300 meters from the entrance to Parque Amistad, the International Friendship Park that spans western Panama and southern Costa Rica. The finca is about 2100 meters high. Las Nubes is on the other side of Volcan Baru from Boquete near the town of Volcan. There are not as many Americans on this side as compared to Boquete, though there seems to be a fair number in Volcan (the Santa we saw in the grocery last week was very much a gringo).

The photo above was shot from the little mountain across the road. This was as far back as we could get with the camera and even so you cannot quite see all of the finca. The bottommost corners are cut off and top left is hidden in the clouds (it is a cloud forest after all). The finca is 14 Hectares (about 35 acres) and slopes upward maybe 200 meters. There are maybe 2.5 Hectares (6.5 acres) that are currently cultivated and most of that is on a steeper slope than we gringos are accustomed. Farming on these steep slopes is the custom here and all the work is done by hand. It is a bit distressing as some are still cutting trees to make more land for growing papas (potatoes). And we are not just talking trees like we gringos are used to. These are ancient trees, grandfather and grandmother trees that are literally so tall you cannot see the tops.

There is also a fair sized block of cultivated land at the top right that passes over the ridge of the mountain. We are told it is “organic.” We bought this finca to be a working farm and while most of the land is in forest, it is plenty enough for us. We will probably keep the cultivated ground in production as the trees are already long since cut. We will grow dahlias on the lower ground. We operate www.dahlia.com and you can see some of our dahlias in Ohio in the photo gallery. We will investigate growing coffee on the steeper and higher ground. This will be borderline for coffee as it is high and wet causing production to be lower and at risk from disease. But without question, we will preserve the forest and at most make trails through it for our friends and family.

The photo on the left was shot from the second terrace above the river. This is where our house will eventually be built and this spot would be our front porch. It is about 50 feet from the stream (this is a branch of Rio Chiriqui) and once there is a proper porch in place, the river will be visible and very audible.