All photos this page: ©2007 Scott Doggett, Special to WhozHereNow.com

October '03. Four Americans, 21 years young and college seniors. Three dudes and a hottie just back from study abroad. Dave Harmatz, Dan Saxe and Daniel Smetana of California, Laura Schiff of Texas. Sudden travel junkies all. Their fix: A hostel leaking rain and spewing toilet water in a place they knew only from the Web.

Since then, they've poured TLC into the Mondo Taitu Bar & Hostel and converted it into an Über cool/hip/funky hangout that's a hit with backpackers, including those packing surfboards.

Speaking of surfboards, Mondo rents them. Want to play guitar? There are three on the wall for guests' use. There are hammocks to relax in, sitting areas to sit in, a rooftop deck, a cozy bar with Rastafari bartender, hookahs for the asking ($5 for a bowlful, no pot please), a kitchen for guests, free bike use, clean (though shared) showers and johns.

With nightly rates of only $8 for a dorm bed (there are three 4-bed dorms and one 8-bed dorm) and $9 for a bed in one of the eight private rooms with two singles beds or a double bed in each, it's not hard to see why the Taitu is busy year-round.

Indeed, business has been brisk enough to permit the threesome to bring in a fourth party, Laura, who now runs a second hostel (the Hostel Heike), while the boys run, and own, the Taitu. Is a third child far behind? Stay tuned.

We can report that alcohol played a role in the seniors' decision to buy Mondo Taitu. As the boys tell the story, the notion of running a hostel first came up over a pitcher of beer. Sounds good, they thought, but where?

"We Googled 'island paradise,' and at the time a site about Bocas del Toro topped the list," Harmatz recalls. By Christmas break they knew Bocas as well as anyone could without actually going there.

"This place was perfect for us on paper, but we needed to know if we were going to be accepted and if it was going to work for us as well," says Dan, his gaze sweeping the main room of the Mondo Taitu.

Their research over Christmas Break '03 answered both questions favorably and they lucked out when their interest in owning the Taitu meshed with the former owner's interest to part with it.

"He gave us the keys and within five minutes a toilet overflowed; and it rained and it leaked in places and we were like the Three Stooges running around, not knowing what we were doing," Dan says. But since then "the boys," as they tend to prefer to be called, increased capacity 35% and added the rooftop deck.

Be advised that Friday nights are tops at the Taitu bar, although with a 7-8 p.m. happy hour daily every evening is a good one for the Taitu's watering hole.
Location

Calle 5 at Avenida H

Bocas Town, Isla Colón

Bocas del Toro

Panama