El Descanso AKA The 'Push'

As you drive around in Panama you notice these places along the road. They invariably have a big high exterior wall with an entrance and an exit. When you peek in the openings as you drive by you will see rows of single garage doors. There are 2 in the 20 km between David and Conception and they are building a third. I couldn't help but wonder why there were so many storage facilities in Panama when people have relatively little to store and there really are not that many foreigners. When some people that we know of were building a storage facility between David and Boquete I wondered, why all the excitement, I mean, didn't they have too many storage facilities here already?

This one is called El Descanso which my dictionary tells me means 'rest, repose, relief from care'.

Here is an entrance shot taken as we whizzed by. You can't quite see the garage doors but you can see the little storage building which houses the storage pods.

Why on earth would they have the bright neon lights and why the hearts?

Well! my friends who are way more savvy than I explained it to me. In Panama there are often multiple families crammed into small houses which leaves very little room for privacy when it comes to intimacy. So enter the 'Push'. The Push is designed for absolute privacy both from what you are doing and with whom you are doing it, handy if you have a friend or two on the side. Here is how it works. You drive in the entrance and approach a garage door. Then you push the button to open the garage door just as you would to open the door to the carwash at home. The door opens and you drive in. Once inside you have access to a room with a washroom like a small motel. Probably nice touches like mirrors on the ceilings and of course TVs with rental flicks and a stock of extras like beer and snacks. The room is rented by the hour, about $5 I am told. You do whatever it is you choose to do in the room paying extra for things like beer or flicks (I don't think they go there to watch soccer games). When you are done you push a button and buzz the office, they in turn deliver your bill through a slot. You then push your money through a slot and they in turn push a button which opens your garage door and you proceed to leave via the exit.

Don't think this doesn't have us North Americans curious. We think we should go there to see exactly how this phenomenon works. They do a brisk business. One of our Panamanian friends told us that a couple she knows went there at 10:00 on a Sat. AM and there were no available stalls. Whoa - crazy!!!