Before Bob and I took off on our trip around the world, Bob had a special birthday gift for me—A 3-night safari trip in South Africa including a 1-night stay in a treehouse. Yes, a treehouse in the middle of Sabi Sands Game Reserve (Just outside of Kruger National Park), 4 kilometers away from the nearest lodge. I was hesitant about the treehouse stay, not because a leopard could easily climb the tree and eat us, but because of the enormous bugs found in that mostly uninhabited land. I was excited too, though, for the neat experience!
Our entire 3-day safari was awesome! We spent the first two nights in a nice lodge at The River Lodge in Lion Sands Game Reserve going on sunrise and sunset safari drives. We saw the big 5 (Elephants, Buffalo, Lions, Rhinos, and Leopards) and so many other amazing animals too. I was perfectly content in our air-conditioned lodge, but by the 3rd night, it was time for us to move to the treehouse.
The 3 Best Things about staying in the Treehouse
1. The views were serene! We arrived at our treehouse at sunset with a delicious picnic meal
waiting for us. We looked out over the railing of our treehouse and could see nothing but nature. The pink and blue aftereffects of sunset casted over the brush in front of us and it felt like we were in a dream. Bob and I are used to the hustle and bustle of city life so only having light from our treehouse candles, the stars, and the moon was an amazing experience for us!
2. The stars were incredible! We have never witnessed so many clear stars in the night sky before. The entire sky was lit up with millions of stars. We could pick out all of the well-known constellations and could see so many other stars that are not visible on the clearest nights in Minnesota. The stars alone made our treehouse stay the most romantic evening.
3. The animals were amazing! Being able to witness animals like giraffes, elephants, and
antelope in their natural habitat from the comfort of our treehouse was such a cool experience. We watched giraffes eat from trees near us, antelopes interact and bellow at each other, and elephants hang out with each other. We loved every second of watching these animals.
The 3 most Terrifying things about staying in the Treehouse
1. The bugs! If you haven’t picked up on this already, I am not a fan of bugs, and staying outside in the middle of a Game Reserve wasn’t going to do me any favors in that department. Our treehouse had a nice bed with a mosquito net around it, but when you’re staying in a place that is not inhabited by humans, that mosquito net is more of a pleasantry. After our romantic evening eating our picnic dinner and stargazing, it was time for bed—Something I had been dreading since we arrived at the treehouse. Before we even got into
bed, there were about 25 bugs that had sneaked into our mosquito net. These weren’t the size of our friendly Minnesota gnats though; these were the size of small Florida cockroaches. I couldn’t start the night out like that, so Bob and I went on a bug removing spree. After removing all the bugs (that we could see at least), we went to sleep. We actually slept pretty well but when I woke up in the morning, there was a HUGE pragmantus staring me in the eyes. I screamed, jumped out of bed, and counted my blessings that we survived the night.
2. No outlets! Okay, this is to be expected when you’re staying in the middle of a Game Reserve, but I still thought there might be an off chance that I could charge my phone. I had a 20% charge left on my phone so there was no way it would last through the night. Bob had a little more juice on his phone but neither of them would last until the morning. I guess there was no calling for help. We hoped the leopards wouldn’t find their way to our tree that night, not that a phone could help us too much in that situation anyways, but still!
3. Animal noises! The noises we heard throughout the night in our treehouse were nothing short of terrifying. We didn’t know what type of animals were making some sounds, but we definitely knew we heard antelope bellows. Why was hearing antelope bellows particularly scary? We learned that when antelope bellow, it often means they feel threatened and a predator (lion or leopard) is nearby. We really hoped this wasn’t true in our case.
Aside from the terrifying aspects of staying in the treehouse, it was an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything! If you ever have the opportunity to stay in one, don’t pass it up, and make sure to check out our South African Safari Itinerary page to help you plan!