Chalkley Treehouse (South Africa)
A boon for photographers, this treehouse -- fully open to the elements -- is built around an ancient leadwood tree.
Lion Sands has three luxury treehouses in wilderness rich in wildlife.
The Chalkley Treehouse, a timber deck built around an ancient leadwood tree, is particularly good for photographers.
It's high off the ground and exposed, with superb panoramic views.
Kiboko and Koija star beds (Kenya)
Just you, the bed and the heavens above.
These "star beds" comprise wooden platforms with thatched roofs, open decks and big beds.
They're rolled out under the night sky when it's time to sleep, giving guests great views of the thick star clusters, unclouded by light pollution.
The mosquito net draping over the four-poster becomes invisible once you've climbed inside.
You can end up at your star bed after a game drive or other wildlife outing, when staff will be lighting the campfire and preparing pre-dinner sundowners.
Antelope and zebra may be drinking at the Kiboko waterhole in the valley below.
If you stay at one of Loisaba's two sets of star beds you'll have an extra reason to sleep comfortably -- they're part of a responsible tourism project that benefits the local Koija community.
Baines' Camp (Botswana)
At night, you can hear the throaty chuckling of hippos.
Part of a small safari camp on a private concession in the Okavango Delta, the five suites here are built on stilts with decks looking out over wetlands.
On dry, warm nights, you can wheel your four-poster bed out to hear the throaty chuckling of hippos and the high-pitched chirrups of frogs.
Stilted Lodge (The Gambia)
The restroom in this two-story riverside tower is open air too -- though discreetly tucked away.
The ordinary rooms here, set in a mangrove forest, are impressive enough.
But the Stilted Lodge adds something extra -- a thatched two-story riverside tower with open sides, including a (discreet) open-air bathroom, separate bedroom and lounge room open to the skies.
The Tree House (Zambia)
King-size bed, claw-footed bath and the Victoria Falls a few bends down the river.
You can't quite hear the roar of Victoria Falls from The Tree House but they're close.
The broad Zambezi River looks peaceful from the deck at the top of this three-tier treehouse, but a few bends away that all changes.
When it hits the lip of Batoka Gorge, the river hurls itself over at 3,000 cubic meters a second.
The spectacle has drawn visitors to the area since 1855, starting with the explorer David Livingstone.
There are multiple ways to experience the falls, from soaring through the spray in a microlight to rafting the rapids or bungee jumping from the Victoria Falls Bridge.
This riverside eyrie high up in an ebony tree, with king-size bed and claw-footed bath, provides a place to hide out after all that activity.
Chole Mjini Lodge (Tanzania)
Among the fig trees on this islet are half a dozen treehouses making up an off-grid eco-lodge.
Some Swahili Coast aficionados have been to Zanzibar many times but never heard of its little cousin, the island of Mafia.
The name may sound ominous, but Mafia is a perfectly innocent island of sand and shimmering light, around 160 kilometers south of Zanzibar.
Of the few people who make it here, most are divers: in the surrounding waters whale sharks and turtles float above some of the best preserved coral reefs in Tanzania.
Mafia has an even tinier relative, Chole, an islet just over a kilometer long tucked off its southeastern shore.
Hidden among the dense mangroves, baobabs and tangled figs are half a dozen treehouses making up Chole Mjini, a simple off-grid eco-lodge.
Stay in Treehouse No.1, and you may have nesting fish eagles for neighbors.
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