Following the thrilling posts by our other staff writers about the town of Pedasi, Panama, and after learning that the story about the “cow with one horn” never even happened, I felt compelled to add my own terrible blog to the pool.

The small village of Pedasi, the first time I passed through it a few years back, resembled a ghost town that had been artfully done. Quaint parks dabbed the main plaza and cutesy houses lined the streets, but aside from the local parrot at the grocery store and it’s Chinese owner, the only real signs of life were two stray dogs with utters the size of small ketchup bottles.

There were two beaches which I explored before locking myself out of my car and a third one I wandered over to while getting new keys at the local mechanic. There appeared to be some action near the local bank where two locals were fighting over a bottle of Gatorade, but other than that, Pedasi seemed to me about as thrilling as an opera. “Go! Go Shakira Go!”

That was then, this is now. Pedasi’s making a serious case for developing town of the year in Panama where, in the small rural town, real estate prices have shot up, hotels are erecting left and right, and larger scale projects like airports, marinas, and commercial compounds are very much in the works. Does anyone know how to say martini in Spanish? 

I suppose I should have felt privileged to know Pedasi before it was a celebrity. It’s now being visited by the likes of Mick Jagger and Brad Pitt and is donning the covers of glossy travel magazines when, in truth, the most I ever thought of it was purely on a pastry basis. “Pedasi” I used to say to myself. “Pedasi, Pedasi, Pedasi.”

(This used to be a weird habit of mine. Saying the same word four times in a row.)

I recently wandered back to that sleepy town to find a lot had changed. Gringos roamed freely, English advertisements lines lots of walls, and the old woman I once saw rocking on her front porch had somehow lost all but one of her front teeth. She waved to me and I could have sworn I saw the thing dangle in the breeze.

“What happened mama?” I wanted to ask her.

Tourism in Pedasi has been in close second to its thriving real estate sector which is truly sky rocketing. While prices have risen significantly, it’s comforting to see that compared to similar pieces of property in Costa Rica, Pedasi is still severely undervalued. It still maintains the same small-town feel I so dearly…observed when I first stumbled along. And there’ll be a lot of people making serious fortunes off of what it’s soon to bring. I’m not exactly sure where or how to end this blog, considering I’m running out of ideas and time. Let’s just say, To Be Continued…

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Filed under: News on February 6th, 2008