The answer to the headline is, “You bet we could!” However, since Bob and I are analytical people, let’s go a little deeper than that.
First, this the first place we’ve been in Panama where we both said, “Oh, yes, we love this,” as soon as we drove into town. He liked Coronado. I liked Boquete, neither one of us liked Bocas del Toro (for living—it’s a fine place to visit). We thoroughly enjoyed our time in the city, as Panama City is known, but big city living is not for us.
ADVANTAGES OF EL VALLE
Weather
The climate is magnificent, muy fresco, as we say en español. At about 1,900 feet above sea level, it’s in the 70s most days, and humidity is tempered. Big clouds can grow in the cloud forests on the mountaintops, so it can rain at any time. We visited in dry season but, having lived through wet season in the city, we understand El Valle can get some doozy rainstorms. That’s the tropics for you!
One weird thing while we were there was a big low pressure system sitting on the Caribbean, causing crazy winds, especially at night. Everyone told us it was unusual, and when chunks of the roof blew off the big Catholic church, we believed them.
The Vibe
Talk about laid back! You want to walk slower as you are walking down the street because it feels like the right thing to do. Traffic moves slowly—it has to because of large potholes in the roads! The sun rises and sets slowly over the mountaintops. Everything is mellow and relaxed and comfortable—tranquillo, as we say en español.
The birding
I didn’t know it was possible to walk down the street or sit in the garden drinking coffee and see so many outstanding birds. A toucan, red-legged honey creepers, a golden-crowned tanager, crimson-backed tanagers. The list goes on and on, and this was just walking around and looking in the trees, not really trekking into the forest that is full of motmots and trogons and other special birds. Es muy interesante, as we say en español. I could spend months, maybe years, and not see them all, and I’m up for that challenge!
Gold-crowned euphonia 
Red-legged honey creeper
Crimson-backed tanager 
Blue gray tanager 
Keel-billed toucan
The flowers
Las flores son muy bonitas, as we say en español. More than anything else, the flowers are what struck me as we drove into town. They were everywhere we walked and visited. Almost every hedge, tree, plant, vine or other growing thing, has a bloom of some kind. The colors—reds, pinks, oranges, yellows, purples and every shade in between—truly are dazzling. Many of them smell good, too, which gives the whole town a fresh scent.
Housing availability
Knowing that El Valle is an escape from the city for many wealthy folks, and seeing some of the spectacular homes on a street that is literally named The Street of Millionaires, we were concerned. However, after driving around with Jimmy, a local guy who, along with his brothers, sells real estate, remodels homes, and owns a hotel and five restaurants, we got a good feel for how affordable El Valle can be. No es muy carro, as we say en español. Many lots are available. Some have been cleared, which gives a great idea of the trees and garden possibilities. The municipality has declared no lots less than 2,500 square meters can be sold now, which contributes to the town’s beauty. Modest home with nice gardens can be found within our price range. The houses that go upwards of half a million, well that’s a different story. (Bob wonders if Jimmy didn’t just keep throwing out numbers until he found what we were comfortable with and then started telling us that almost all the modest houses we saw were in that price range. Who knows? We have time to make a decision.)
Mountains and hiking
We love being outdoors, and it’s easy, or muy facil, as we say en español, especially in the dry season, in El Valle. The caldera is surrounded by mountains and laced with hiking trails. Just a few hours away are many more trails, as well as rivers, waterfalls, and jungles to explore. They could keep us going for years.
Proximity to the city
El Valle es cerca de la ciudad, as we say en español. It’s only two hours from Panama City, which is great for things like medical appointments, picking up friends or family who come for a visit, “big shopping,” and going to see our favorite salsa band (http://heathers6wadventures.com/mi-amigo-alex/). If we want to see a concert, visit the Panama Canal, or eat at a restaurant that serves something more exotic than beans and rice or pizza, we can easily do that by driving into the city.
In addition, some great beaches are just thirty minutes away. We have more to learn about the Pacific coast of Panama, and this would be a quick and easy place to do it.
DISADVANTAGES OF EL VALLE
Church
Our biggest concern right now is lack of a place of worship. The only Baptist church in town has an itinerant pastor, and services are in Spanish. Otherwise, we have not yet found a denomination that fits with our beliefs. There is a fairly large expat community, and we may be able to do a home Bible study, if nothing else. This is a big deal for us, though, and something we really need to think about, as finding a faith community is one of our top priorities on where we live.
What Else to Do?
The town does not have a public swimming pool, which is a problem for my swimmer husband, and the nearest movie theaters are at least an hour’s curvy drive away. Would we get bored in El Valle? It’s a tough thing to guess. We met some Canadian expats who have lived there for nine years and said the expat community has a lot of activities. The opportunities to volunteer with the frog foundation (http://www.evaccfoundation.org/index.php/en/home/), the zoo, the schools, or other similar places abound. And if we build Bob a big garage on our big lot and he has a couple of cars to play with, we really won’t need that many other things to do!
It’s not THAT cheap
One of our hopes in retiring overseas is finding a place to live inexpensively so we can spend more money on fun stuff like traveling, charities that are important to us, and “rum and cigars.” While cheaper than Panama City and cheaper than Los Alamos, New Mexico, El Valle would be fairly middle-class America living. Lunches, fruits and veggies, wines and beer, and some groceries are cheap. Many items, like gasoline or shoes, are on par with the states. Others can be quite pricey. So, we’ll just have to learn and adapt should we chose to make this home.
The pros here definitely outweigh the cons, and we still have many places to explore and evaluate. Feel free to share your ideas in the comments. In the meantime, nosotros exploramos mas, as we say en español.
Your Spanish seems to be growing and feeling like this is your language.
Yo practico todos los dias! Some things, like the little town of San Juan de los Dios between El Valle and Penonome, sound so much more melodic in Spanish than in English. Learning the language, poco y poco, is giving me more confidence as we travel around, too.
You have excellent pros and cons. One con you forgot–far from Mom!
Also, before you decide, you should go there in the wet season and see what it is like.
Enjoying the blog very much!
Definitely. Jimmy recommended we rent a place for several months and take time to look around. We will follow that advice (and he probably, just probably, has an apartment we can rent!).