A private platform in the African bush, soft bedding, starlight and nature's night-time noises.
Whether it's a raised
star-bed or a treehouse kitted out for sleeping, each of these six
retreats spread across Africa has the elevated experience just right.
Kiboko and Koija Star Beds, Loisaba Wilderness, Kenya
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.
Loisaba Wilderness,
Laikipia, Kenya; + 254 62 20 31070; from $420 per person, per night,
including full board, safari activities and transfers, through Cheli and Peacock (+254 20 600 3090)
The Stilted Lodge, Mandina Lodges, the Gambia
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.
Mandina Lodges, Makasutu, The Gambia; from $2,230 pp for seven nights, half board through The
Gambia Experience (+44 845 330 8708)
The Tree House, Tongabezi, Zambia
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.
Tongabezi, Livingstone, Zambia; +260 213 327450; $620 pppn, incl. full board and safari activities
Chalkley Treehouse, Lion Sands Game Reserve, South Africa
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.
Lion Sands Game Reserve, Sabi Sands, South Africa; +27 13 735 5000; from $250 pppn, incl. picnic dinner
Baines' Camp, Botswana
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.
Baines' Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana; +44 20 7190 7728; from $755 pppn incl. full board, safari activities and transfers, through Sanctuary Retreats
Chole Mjini Lodge, Tanzania
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.
Chole Mjini Lodge, Chole Island, Mafia, Tanzania; +255 784 520799; from $220 pppn, full board
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