Lost & Found Hostel

I had fallen in love with Nicaragua so much that everything afterwards just seemed lackluster. While I could appreciate Puerto Viejo and Bocas del Toros they didn’t make that voice inside my head say, “Wow, I am so lucky to be here in this moment.” Thankfully, that voice came rushing back the second I stepped foot in the Lost & Found Jungle Hostel, in Chiriqui, Panama. Along with it came an odd feeling of comfort and home, despite the fact that I’d never been there before in my life.

When you first arrive, there’s definitely part of you that wishes you didn’t. In order to get to this amazing hostel in the clouds, you have hike uphill for about 15-20 minutes with your huge pack. To put it bluntly – it’s a bit of a bitch. However, once you make it up and head towards reception the incredible view makes it all worth it. I can sum up my love for this place in 3 points:

The Price
Bocas del Toros gave me serious sticker shock, so I was really pleasantly surprised to find out the 3rd night was free at Lost & Found if you stayed in a dorm bed. I was also really happy to find that there’s ton of cool stuff to do in the area that you can do on our own. There were great paid tours as well, but if you wanted to save some cash you could fill your days with stuff that was essentially free. I did the following things:

Treasure Hunt – The owners at Lost & Found created an amazing treasure hunt in the mountain trails around the hostel. You get a map and have to find and solve clues set up around the forest, which over the course of 4 hours lead you around the entire area, to some amazingly cool sights, and if you complete it – you win free drinks at the end of the day!

Canyon – About a $2 bus ride and a half hour away is an amazing natural canyon and river. The blue water cuts through the rock on both sides and leads into a wide river, filled with lots of fish who may or may not nip at your toes (in a good way, I swear.) It was such an amazing way to spend a day, plus the rain finally went away and it was hot and sunny. We picnicked on the stones, and got to people watch as lots of locals come to this spot to unwind on the weekends. Our favourite one to watch was a local who would scale the wet rock walls like he was Spiderman and even hang completely upside down just from the strength of his feet (like Batman?)

Celestine Waterfall – There are lots of waterfalls you can visit in this area, but the Celestine was the most popular when I was there. It’s about $3 and 45 minutes away by bus and along the way you drive past Panama’s largest hydroelectric dam which was really cool to see. To get to the waterfall you are dropped off a restaurant on the highway, you pay 50 cents to the owner, whose son then shows you where you hop the highway median in order to get to the waterfall. You climb upriver along the rocks and eventually get to end of the waterfall where you’re essentially inside a cave with just the waterfall crashing in. It’s pretty breathtaking. (There’s more to this story – but I’ll save it for the next post.)

The People

I think it’s rare to like everyone at any hostel to you go, but there was a great sense of camaraderie at Lost & Found. Maybe it’s that the type of people attracted to this type of hostel have a certain personality type? Or maybe it’s the fact that slightly thinner air makes everyone happier? Either way, everyone got along and there was a sense of ease. I had great conversations and everyone was just there to relax, explore and do their own thing.

The Peace

I think the most lasting effect of this place is the sense of peace. It’s quiet, there really isn’t anything or anyone else around you. It took me a second to realize their Wi-Fi didn’t have a password – because you obviously don’t need one when your closest neighbour is a 15 minute hike downhill. There were a couple mornings where I just grabbed a cup of coffee and stared off the main balcony at the view above, and just looked. I didn’t really need to do anything else but be there in the moment. It was also nice to have a break from other hostels or cities with party atmosphere, where you constantly felt like you should be out doing or seeing something. And Lost & Found you can just be.

The moral of the story is this: I would have completely missed out on this experience if I hadn’t asked a friend from college (who now lives in Panama) for suggestions. Googling is all well and good, and is how I’ve planned most of my travels up to this point – but asking around once you’ve arrived somewhere, or if you know a local is always the best way.

Thanks to Elise Straver for the photos from our Treasure Hunt day.