Joshua Hostal in Bolivia’s lakeside town of Copacabana is not just a place to lay your head or fill your stomach. It is a sustainable lifestyle with a vision and you’re all invited to see…
Sustainability as its core
Joshua Hostal is much more than a hostel, it is a hub of sustainable living. There are two composting toilets outside from which the waste is directly used to fertilise the plants. In fact, an impressive 90% of the waste at Joshua Hostal is reused!
The hostel makes use of eco-bricks which reuse materials such as plastic. No fuel is needed for the manufacture of these bricks and they insulate better than normal bricks. On top of this, rainwater is recycled and used to flush the toilets.
All of the food at Joshua Hostal is homegrown and the garden contains two greenhouses. There are even some resident bees to keep the hostel in their fill of honey!
A spiritual retreat
Joshua Hostal feeds off of the energy from the almighty Lake Titicaca, making it the perfect spiritual retreat. This means that if you’re looking to party, this is the wrong choice for you. The gates are locked at 10 pm every night. If you are going to be out later, you need to arrange this in advance with Carlos, who can give you a key.
As well as the curfew, there is a no smoking rule and drinking alcohol on site is forbidden.
Yoga sessions are available and the garden offers a beautiful space with an incredible view of the lake. This allows for the ideal opportunity to relax for a few days and recharge your batteries in an area that has always been revered as sacred.
The long term plan for Joshua Hostal is to officially make it a spiritual retreat, focusing on the importance of sustainable living and vegan food.
Mind-blowing vegan cuisine
It is impossible to talk about Joshua Hostal and neglect mentioning the food. Owner Carlos is a hugely successful chef and restaurant owner who has travelled all over South America spreading his vegan speciality dishes. As Joshua Hostal is a wellness and health hub, the only food served here is vegan. Don’t be put off though, it is truly delicious!
Breakfast is served every morning and comprises freshly baked bread with homemade peanut butter or jam, fruits and a choice of tea and coffee. The restaurant is also open for lunch and dinner. The menu of the day comes in at a very reasonable 30 bolivianos and includes a soup, main and freshly made juice.
Carlos wants to show his guests that clean eating doesn’t have to be boring and can even provide personalised meal plans to help you adapt to this new lifestyle. Vegan cooking and education classes and run nightly during the week for an additional fee.
Themed rooms
Joshua Hostal offers a range of room types including dorms and private options. Creativity is a hugely important part of the hostel’s ethos and this can be seen from the themed bedrooms.
All of the rooms have been decorated with expansive murals, each dedicated to ideas surrounding spirituality, for example, earth, water and air. These creative touches make the hostel hugely memorable and provide a completely different kind of stay to that which is usually offered by a budget accommodation choice!
How much is it to stay at Joshua Hostal?
A bed in a mixed dorm comes in at 69 bolivianos and a double room with a shared bathroom is around 165 bolivianos per night. You can check availability and book Joshua Hostal here on Booking.com.
Sheree Hooker | Editor @ South America Backpacker + Winging The World
Sheree is the awkward British wanderluster behind wingingtheworld.com, a travel blog designed to show that even the most useless of us can travel. Follow Sheree’s adventures as she blunders around the globe, falling into squat toilets, getting into cars with machete men and running away from angry peacocks.
