House Hunting In El Valle

Yesterday we walked around the charming town of El Valle de Anton.

We are staying at the Anton Valley Inn, which is very comfortable and centrally located across from the Church and just a couple of blocks from the Millionaire Street where the estates are beautifully landscaped behind fancy gates. There is a bakery right next door to the hotel, an ice cream store across the street and the restaurant here serves delicious food so this last stop has put a few extra pounds on the three of us I'm afraid. Rainy season is starting now so on our walk about we found refuge under archways of private drives while we waited out the brief storms.






We made friends with this monkey named Monica in the city center after visiting the market.
How wonderful it would be to have access to this quality of fruits and vegetables year round!!
Last night during dinner Keith saw a real estate agent drive by and when he stopped to visit with another man, Keith ran up to the car and asked him if he had time today, Thursday, to show us some properties for sale. We are not really serious buyers at this point, but it's a good way to see the town and surrounds. Jaime showed us several houses and lots under $200,000. We are too late to find great value for our money , prices have doubled here in the last five years. This has always been a haven of second homes for people from Panama, but now the word is out internationally about the beauty of the area and super tax breaks., as well as other perks designed to lure retirees to Panama.
The last home we saw was a real beauty, we may even consider renting this home next year. Put your name in now for space.







Tomorrow we will head back to Panama City. Shana Jan flies out early on Saturday morning for SLC; Keith & I leave Sunday for Dallas where we will spend the night before flying on to SLC on Monday morning. We have totally loved this time with Shana and the whole adventure during these last six months, but there's no place like home!