Waking to the New Year in a Treehouse

I woke to the first day of 2007 in a treehouse in Northern Laos.  That set a standard for New Year’s celebrations that I’ll probably never live up to again.  It was just me, my partner Jerry, and all the wildlife of Bokeo Nature Reserve.  We could have joined eight other travelers at the main treehouse for a night of revelry, but we longed for solitude.

You can read more about what we saw and heard on that trip in my short essay, “Looking for Black Gibbons,” published by In the Mist (after you click on the link, you’ll have to click on my name, Elizabeth Enslin, to open the pdf file).

View from Treehouse

On New Year’s morning, we ziplined and hiked through the forest on our own for a few hours.  We didn’t get photos of that.  But here’s a video from a member of our group that captures the general thrill of ziplining.

The ziplines and treehouses are part of The Gibbon Experience.  In their own words, here’s what they do:

….with the local people, we build tree houses and a network of zip lines through the canopy of Bokeo Nature Reserve. We provide accomodation in the treetops and local guides ‘fly’ you over the forest to meet the wildlife. The funds received are reinvested to protect the forest.

What they’re protecting this beautiful forest from is poaching and logging.

Bokeo Forest Reserve

We spent two nights before New Year’s Eve in the main treehouse, an amazing three story structure over 100 feet above the forest floor.

Main Treehouse

To learn more, visit The Gibbon Experience.

Credit for the photos goes to Jerry Gaffke.