Boquete Country Inn

Boquete Country Inn -- View from the garden.

Perhaps you are the kind of person who likes old hotels -- places which have mellowed over time and perhaps retained in their ancient walls some of the spririt, the hopes, dreams and pleasures of guests from long ago.

If this is the case, you will enjoy the Boquete Country Inn, which, while recently opened, is located in one of the original houses built by pioneers over 100 years ago.

Back in 1898 Boquete was a sleepy mountain village accessible only by a rough trail which climbed 3000 ft. from the hot and humid lowlands, up the slopes of Mt. Volcan Baru and into the cool and green valley of Boquete. In that year a young pioneer arrived on horseback and began building next to a clear running spring. It has been a family estate and gathering center ever since.

In Jan. of 2005 Ron and Yalty Mager purchased the property. After nine months of hard labor the house and property were returned to their former glory and opened as "The Boquete Country Inn".

The Inn is a three minute walk from the town square and is surrounded by two acres of old growth trees and flower beds. A stream runs through the middle of the property. The waterfall, where the first electricity for Boquete was generated, still exists to this day.

As well as the ancient ambiance, guests enjoy direct t.v., wireless internet, and luxuries which the pioneers never dreamed of.

Ron and Yalty met in Boquete in 1969. Yalty is a member of an extensive Panamian family. Her grandmother, who passed away at the age of 108, has more that 350 direct decendents living in this area. Yalty speaks fluent English and has a vast and personal knowledge of the people and history of Boquete.

Ron and Yalty Mager.

She clearly remembers spending her summer vacations as a child at her grandparent´s farm overlooking the Boquete valley. She would ride the old steam train up from the valley below. Her grandfather would meet her at the Boquete train station on his white horse and together they would ride up the mountain to the farm. Ron grew up in northern Idaho. As a young man he spent his leisure time on the back of his trusty horse "Apachy" hunting, fishing and exploring the wilderness areas of that state.

In 1966 he enlisted in the U.S. military. After two years of intense training he became a member of the U. S. Army "Green Berets". He was deployed to Panama in late 1968. On a long weekend pass Ron visited Boquete and met Yalty. It was, "love at first sight" and they married soon after.

Upon returning to the U. S. Ron taught school for several years. In 1979 Ron and his brother Russ, after receiving their U. S. Coast Guard captains licenses, started a salmon fishing charter business on the Seattle waterfront which grew to include harbor tours, dinner cruises and private charters. In 1990, they moved the operation to Alaska and purchased Windjammer Cruise on the Island of Maui. In 1996 Ron and Yalty decided to move to Panama.

They also won and operate a 5ft. yacht and a five room hotel, bar and grill at the remote fishing village of Boca Chica on the Pacific.