What's it like to live in El Valle de Anton, Panama?
Lourdes Townshend
El Valle de Antón is located about 2.5 hours from the main city, Panamá. After you cross the Panama Canal bridge (there are 2 bridges: The Centennial and The Américas), there is a highway called the "Interamericana" that goes all the way through Costa Rica, and beyond. From there there is a second road that has lots of curves that passes by beautiful mountains, villages and hills and that goes to El...
El Valle de Antón is located about 2.5 hours from the main city, Panamá. After you cross the Panama Canal bridge (there are 2 bridges: The Centennial and The Américas), there is a highway called the "Interamericana" that goes all the way through Costa Rica, and beyond. From there there is a second road that has lots of curves that passes by beautiful mountains, villages and hills and that goes to El Valle.
Traditionally, Panamanians inherited houses in El Valle from generation to generation, which is one of the reasons why everyone knows each other, and gets together on weekends and holidays, especially on church on Sunday. They´ve always taken pride in their houses.
Because of the excellent weather all year around, El Valle is very pleasant, and it is customary to have beautiful plants, little bridges through hand made little lakes, or a gap.
Lately, more and more foreigners are looking into El Valle for retirement, which is the reason why it has become more of a sophisticated town, with top hotels, thermal water spas, restaurants and villas, even though it still remains a small town.
There are no apartment buildings or condos; only single family homes, and prices are a phenomenon, meaning you do not find low cost properties anymore, by Panamanian standards.
In the 25 minutes it takes you to drive the road from the main highway to El Valle, you will see many little country villages, very rustic where you can still find some pieces of land to purchase, but you need to investigate carefully regarding noise and infrastructure.
Inside El Valle there is a small health center, hotels, restaurants, Catholic church, bakeries, general store, and public market. Some foreigners are enchanted by this town. The people who live in El Valle are mainly only locals, some of them farmers, and some retirees live there. The rest, especially the million dollars house owners, only come for weekends or holidays.
Posted November 10, 2013
Mark Hurt
El Valle is a laid back type of place. Its a sleepy little town until the weekends, when it can be filled with the very rich that have their 2nd homes here and like to come up and get away from the heat and noise of the city to sit back and recharge from a long work week. The town is growing and some like it some don't.
We got a new bank that is open and running about 5 months now and a new mini mall that is opening new stores this month. El...
El Valle is a laid back type of place. Its a sleepy little town until the weekends, when it can be filled with the very rich that have their 2nd homes here and like to come up and get away from the heat and noise of the city to sit back and recharge from a long work week. The town is growing and some like it some don't.
We got a new bank that is open and running about 5 months now and a new mini mall that is opening new stores this month. El Valle is cooler and that is one of the main draws to this area; not cold mind you, but cooler. I have never had to use a/c or heaters here. We have many places to eat out or buy what you need at the market to cook your own great meal. Many of the ex pats have pet projects that they welcome new comers to join in if you wish. Many do work with cats and dogs to help find them homes to raising money to get them the help they need if they are sick. Another group gets together and walks main street and picks up trash. There are areas where you can hike the mountains, even walk in the middle of a stream that has wonderful views. Just don't do this in the rainy season because that 4 inch deep stream can turn into a raging 40 ft river in a blink of a eye. To live here you just have to have something to keep yourself busy.
Posted November 11, 2013
Neil Stein - Panama Paraiso
Everybody is searching for Shangri-la. However, there are a lot of places that are wonderful to visit but not so great to live, like Monte Carlo or Disneyland.
El Valle is truly a wonderful place to live. Located 75 miles from Panama City, the village is located in the crater of a dormant volcano measuring three miles by five miles across. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, El Valle has a perfect climate of 78 - 80 degrees everyday. It rains...
Everybody is searching for Shangri-la. However, there are a lot of places that are wonderful to visit but not so great to live, like Monte Carlo or Disneyland.
El Valle is truly a wonderful place to live. Located 75 miles from Panama City, the village is located in the crater of a dormant volcano measuring three miles by five miles across. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, El Valle has a perfect climate of 78 - 80 degrees everyday. It rains eight months a year, from May through December, but is very predictable. Almost every morning is clear and sunny with the rain starting around 11:00 or perhaps early afternoon. It will pour for twenty minutes or maybe as much as two hours and then stop suddenly. The sun comes out and the rest of the day is sunny and beautiful again, including the evening.
The local people in El Valle are incredibly friendly, including the Indians from the Guna Tribe who reside there. There is an open market which is open daily but busy on the weekends, where local artisans display their beautiful crafts. It also includes vendors selling fruit and vegetables at very reasonable prices.
El Valle is a special place for people who like the outdoors. There are numerous trails for hiking, horseback riding, roads wonderful for cycling - both road and mountain riding. People from all over the world come for bird watching and to view the near extinct "Golden Frog" at the local zoo. There are waterfalls in abundance and a zip line for the more adventurous. El Valle also has a natural hot springs open to visitors.
Shopping has not been one of the best features of this small village. There are a few local small supermarkets, a library, a hardware store and a few other shops including two internet cafes. The good news is that a wonderful small mall called "Paseo El Valle" has just opened which includes a huge supermarket and will host about 30 other new stores as well.
There are a number of wonderful hotels in El Valle ranging from $40 a night to $200 for the deluxe Los Mandarinos Hotel. There are also quite few excellent restaurants and cafes in town.
I think that one of the best features of El Valle is its close proximity to Panama City, the beaches around Coronado and its access to the Pan-American Highway which is only a half hour away.
El Valle is not for everybody. People come, people go: those who stay find it to be quite exceptional. But then, Monte Carlo and Disneyland are not for everyone either!
Posted November 20, 2013
Shai Gold - International-Triage Medical Networks
El Valle is a charming but small and growing mountain community that is situated in a caldera formation of a massive extinct volcano.
El Valle is undergoing serious growth. Growth in Panama means business opportunities AND the challenges of no master planning for infrastructure needs (a/k/a: urban chaos!) . We like El-Valle and considered purchasing real estate there. Due to growth, prices are escalating fast and in...
El Valle is a charming but small and growing mountain community that is situated in a caldera formation of a massive extinct volcano.
El Valle is undergoing serious growth. Growth in Panama means business opportunities AND the challenges of no master planning for infrastructure needs (a/k/a: urban chaos!) . We like El-Valle and considered purchasing real estate there. Due to growth, prices are escalating fast and in our view it is is no longer an "affordable-living" community.
El Valle remains our favorite location for a fast weekend retreat not too far from the big city. Important to note, only one road leads in/out of El Valle. It is a semi-challenging drive during daylight and a risky drive at night.
If you go to visit El Valle stay at Pension del-Pietro, a storybook type hotel with only 4 rooms all designed and built by Mr. de Pietro, who is a retired engineer. The rooms are NOT for people who are 6 feet and taller.... ENJOY El Valle!
Posted June 7, 2014