Travelling in Panama (Panama City)

We are coming over for a few weeks at the end of February. We will get an hotel in Panama City for the first couple of days as it is a long way from home for us, as we are Brits who currently live in Northern Cyprus. After that we will be looking at getting some sort of accommodation in and around Rio Hato area and also probably Pedasi/Las Tablas. If anyone knows of any holiday rentals that would be good. Also what would be the best way to get from place to place? Are there coaches or buses that we can use. Alternatively, does anyone know how much a taxi would cost? We might get a hire car for part of the time we are there, but we definitely don't want to have to drive in Panama City. It's hard enough driving on the other side of the road without having to cope with city mayhem and no knowledge of where we are going. Any ideas or advice would be gratefully received. Also if there are any ex pat events going on between the 27th Feb and 20th March. It would be good to chat as we are looking to move over in the next year or so.