Adventures at Lost+Found - chilling in a cloud forest eco hostel

So, as some of you may have noticed, I have been completely MIA for the last 3 days. That's because I was up in a cloud forest eco hostel. (I think "eco hostel" is code for "does not have internet"). Besides the awful headaches I got from internet withdrawl (yes, I know I have a problem, but that's the first step to recovery so it's all good), I had a blast!

The Lost + Found Hostel is tucked away on the side of a mountain, a 15 minute hike from the highway, and much further than that from any real vestige of civilization. In other words, this place is all about nature (in case you didn't deduce that from its designation as an "eco hostel"). The first thing I saw was a hummingbird feeding 3 feet away from me. Then I saw the incredible view of the valley below, with Volcán Barú (which I climbed a few days ago) in the distance. Since we were literally in the middle of the wild, we saw lots of cool wildlife - hummingbirds, tons of beetles and moths, a tarantula (!!!) and even olingos and kinkajous (creatures in the raccoon family) which would come and take fruit off the porch.

When not relaxing on the porch, playing dice, poker, shooting the shit with my fellow travelers, or cooking up a meal, I went on several excursions in the surrounding area. We went on a tour of a local farmer's organic farm where he grows coffee, and makes wine. I also went on several hikes, including one to a waterfall, and another to an amazing lookout and a nice river.

Lots of pics below - enjoy!

Sunset over volcán barú, as seen from the hostel porch.

Check it out: triple-bunks! While I normally sleep on the bottom bunk, my inner 10-year-old insisted I grab the top bunk. Which was cool, except when I woke up at 5 am and had to go to the bathroom. . .

This river was 45 minutes hike from the hostel - the water was cold, but refreshing after a hot hike

Great view from the lookout point - this was also about 45 min from the hostel

An olingo (in the raccoon family, but looks more cat-like) grabs some fruit off the hostel porch. Apparently kinkajous would also come here, although the only one I saw was the hostel's pet one, who we got to play with.

Me hiking to a waterfall - I hiked up behind it, which was really cool, although I was nearly blinded by the water getting into my eyes and messing with my contacts

making a sugar cane drink (which was delicious) during our organic farm tour

holy crap - a tarantula! I found this guy a foot from my backpack on the first night. I'm just glad I didn't find him in my backpack!