It all began with us being dropped off at what looked like the middle of nowhere. There was a arrow pointing to ‘Lost & Found’ with another sign shortly after than said ‘the adventure begins here’. We met another couple of the bus from Boquete and so we commenced the 20 minute hike up together. All in all it wasn’t too bad but I would not have liked it if was raining. A couple of slightly steeper inclines but nothing that lasted more than 5 minutes.

One review on Hostelworld said “anyone could do it unless obese” which put me at ease. Although I have been eating many empanadas.

Once we reached the top we were greeted with cloud and wind. As we were right on the top of a mountain. It is crazy how quickly the weather changed, from scorching heat to blergh. Ollie has been teaching me about weather and that it is the mountains that cause this weather themselves. Nonetheless, the scenery was amazing and the concept of a jungle hostel is epic. After demanding to switch room to one with lockers we sat down in two hammocks and cracked open some beers. Ollie somehow found a machete (I think it was part of the treasure hunt).

The rest of the day we spent lounging about waiting for the 6pm vegan family dinner. We were served some sort of soya curry. It was not great and a few people were still hungry after. Then Ollie and I decided to go to the bar where he persuaded me to drink rum and play beer pong. I won.

In the morning we woke up and had their pancakes for breakfast. The pricing is fixed at $6 for dinner and $5 for breakfast which is more expensive than other places. Nonetheless, I do understand they have to lug all the supplies up to the jungle. The pancakes were also big but had a interesting taste which I covered up by drenching them in maple syrup.

We then had to catch a bus to go to the canyons which meant hiking down which wasn’t too bad. Annoyingly we had to wait about an hour for a bus. We considered hitch hiking. It is amazing how many people fit on, especially since their buses are our vans.

The canyons were heaving with locals all having BBQs and partying. The BBQs all smelled amazing so we had to buy some meat skewers of this woman.

We spent a couple hours sunbathing and swimming. I was as adventurous as some people who were jumping/flipping off the canyons. One boy managed to raft all the way down the river with his blow up inflatable. I was convinced he was going to fall off and bump his head.

The next day we decided to do the fortuna hike with our new friend Tina from Switzerland. The plan was do the hike and then finish at the burger shack at the bottom of the hill. We couldn’t cope with the meals much longer. The night before we had soup which is exactly how you could imagine.

The hike itself was fun and we were right in the depths of the jungle. We went to a viewpoint, climbed orange trees, crossed rivers, and tried but failed to find a hidden cave. It was about 2-3 hours in total. We definately deserved the burgers at the bottom.

In the evening we hung out with everyone. The people at the hostel were great and we bumped into two Irish girls who we met in Medellin that were hilarious. I went to bed soonish after my Mars bar and cup of tea. Ollie stayed up a bit longer playing more beer pong and jenga. I got told the next day that he was crap at them all.

The next day it was time to leave which I was ready for. The weather does take its toll on you and I was now desperate for some sun. We hiked down with our bags which was much harder than the way up and quickly got on a bus to Bocas.