I'll be moving, permanently, to Boquete at the end of August. I don’t know, yet, what food items that we’ve been accustomed to will be available in the Boquete area. Does anyone know if I can carry, with me from the US, things such as – bottled spices, packaged dry grains, nutritional yeast, egg replacer, etc?
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Oh Abby....don't know about horseradish sauce. I'm still a wannabe Bouquetian. Maybe a local can fill us in. I'm still trying to convince the boss for a Christmas visit....
We put all kinds of food into our container (nothing fresh like meat, fruit, or vegetables, of course), I have carried pounds of pepperoni and cheese in my suitcase and it never got a glance from customs.
We were given a lot of conflicting information - you can bring food, you can't bring food. We brought it anyway and had no problem getting it in. You might reconsider bringing some of that however, because you can buy a lot of that stuff here. The spices, even the U.S. brands, are even cheaper here. I have never seen nutritional yeast or egg replacer, so those would be worth bringing. Organica in Boquete has a lot of dry grains and other things not found elsewhere.
Super Baru in David has bulk packages of bulgar (cracked wheat) and sesame seeds. They also have sunflower seeds. I have seen pumpkin seeds at Organica (or buy a pumpkin and toast your own). Organica has millet too. Super Baru is at the corner of the Boquete-David road where it goes into the Interamerican Hwy.
Molly Traynor > Judy SaccoAugust 16, 2011 at 10:25am
Thank you, Judy. Our household things are already in our home in Boquete, so I'll be selective about what I bring in my suitcase with me :)
DJ Fearon > Molly TraynorAugust 16, 2011 at 12:46pm
Okay, this is a true story. Back in the 70's we were living in Haiti. Our friends were reassigned to Jamacia. They invited us to come visit. We finally got through on a phone line (way before email or texting) and asked what they needed; what they couldn't get. He said horseradish sauce. In the background we heard her say tampons. I said how much. He said as much as you can bring. I went down to the iron market and bought the biggest suitcase I could find. We filled half with horseradish sauce and the other half with tampons. Guess which suitcase the customs guy wanted to see. With a look of disbelief he looked at us and asked..."And how long will you be staying with us?"
DJ, That is too funny, I think they will feel the same way when they see how many shoes I am bringing. I am really into comfortable shoes. Jim does like his horseradish sauce, is it available?
Judy, You just saved us from getting rid of some things I really wanted to bring, thank you for this post. If you felt your movers were good ones, please post the name here. We will use B. & B. on that end.
Molly, I wanted to bring some seasoning as well. As for herbs, you can grow and dry your own, as you already probably know. Also use them fresh. I am going to plant mine around my patio to help discourage insects. Try mixing some of your own as you can use different amounts to get just the taste you are looking for. I am also hoping to discover some that are unknown to me at this time. I like judy's idea of your own pumpkin seeds, we are doing that here right now, when we can beat the raccoons to them. Good luck with your search. By the way, herbs do really well in big pots. I move mine into the greenhouse here, in late fall.
Abby, our mover is located in Seattle, so unless you live there, it wouldn't help you to give you the name. On the Panama end however, I can recommend an excellent customs broker who can get your container through and sent on to Boquete. Her name is Heidy Kam. The last number I had for her was (507) 6614-0071 (cell) or (507) 236-0018
Judy, Thank you. We are not near Seattle, but will talk with Heidy. Does she arrange for the container as well ? If she is just a broker, I would prefer someone who does it all. Some say a seperate broker is not needed, but of course, I have no way of knowing if this is true, or if these folks just lucked out. We will be bringing the household, so don't want to take any chances.
Replies
We put all kinds of food into our container (nothing fresh like meat, fruit, or vegetables, of course), I have carried pounds of pepperoni and cheese in my suitcase and it never got a glance from customs.
We were given a lot of conflicting information - you can bring food, you can't bring food. We brought it anyway and had no problem getting it in. You might reconsider bringing some of that however, because you can buy a lot of that stuff here. The spices, even the U.S. brands, are even cheaper here. I have never seen nutritional yeast or egg replacer, so those would be worth bringing. Organica in Boquete has a lot of dry grains and other things not found elsewhere.
Super Baru in David has bulk packages of bulgar (cracked wheat) and sesame seeds. They also have sunflower seeds. I have seen pumpkin seeds at Organica (or buy a pumpkin and toast your own). Organica has millet too. Super Baru is at the corner of the Boquete-David road where it goes into the Interamerican Hwy.
Thank you, Judy. Our household things are already in our home in Boquete, so I'll be selective about what I bring in my suitcase with me :)
Judy, You just saved us from getting rid of some things I really wanted to bring, thank you for this post. If you felt your movers were good ones, please post the name here. We will use B. & B. on that end.
Molly, I wanted to bring some seasoning as well. As for herbs, you can grow and dry your own, as you already probably know. Also use them fresh. I am going to plant mine around my patio to help discourage insects. Try mixing some of your own as you can use different amounts to get just the taste you are looking for. I am also hoping to discover some that are unknown to me at this time. I like judy's idea of your own pumpkin seeds, we are doing that here right now, when we can beat the raccoons to them. Good luck with your search. By the way, herbs do really well in big pots. I move mine into the greenhouse here, in late fall.
Abby, our mover is located in Seattle, so unless you live there, it wouldn't help you to give you the name. On the Panama end however, I can recommend an excellent customs broker who can get your container through and sent on to Boquete. Her name is Heidy Kam. The last number I had for her was (507) 6614-0071 (cell) or (507) 236-0018
hkam@cableonda.net
She has a website also. Here is the complete information.
Heidy A. Kam
Grupo Aduanero Kam, S.A.
Centro Bel Air No.11, Via Ricardo J. Alfaro
Panama, Panama.
Tel: (507) 236-0018
Fax: (507) 236-0017
www.gakam.com