Hi Bud,
I think the problem was the length of the stay (15 days). That gave me an "invalid length" error on most sites, whether it was the property's own site or one of the Expedia type intermediaries. Because of that I emailed the property owners directly and got no responses after a few days-- that's when I came here. Eventually I tried Casa Alegria via Expedia and voila- everything worked
I suspect that most places are getting booked up already and it boiled down to availability. After all this time locked up the world wants a vacation š
My reasons for choosing Boquete are many and none that you haven't heard, I'm sure. The natural beauty of the area is right there at the top. After that, the more I looked into the area the more boxes it checked... cost of living, access to things that are important to me-- fresh produce (I like to cook), restaurants (I like to eat out too!) coffee (I like to roast and I'm an espresso nerd), big city/medical/airport close enough to be convenient, reasonably priced housing and lots more. Back in 2015 I started going to Cuba and fell in love with that country but living there isn't feasible. It introduced me to Latin America though and from everything I've read the people in Panama are just as friendly as they are in Cuba. Having the expat community in Boquete is a great big bonus