Christmas in a Treehouse
This was truly the trip of a lifetime! Finding it was fairly easy, but you definitely need a 4-wheel-drive vehicle. I’m glad we took Blondie’s advice and let her rent the car for us. We drove down the coast from San Jose, which took about six hours. It was a pretty drive, and there were plenty of places to stop along the way.
Once we arrived we were met by the owner and designer of the treehouse, Michael. He gave us a quick tour, told us how to reach him or the caretakers if needed, and then left us to settle in. It made me feel good to know there was always someone around, but they didn’t intrude on us at all.
It being Christmas, they were very thoughtful and had a small Christmas tree and a few decorations up. We appreciated that, as it was our first Christmas vacation away from home and we had our college-age kids with us.
The treehouse itself and the space around it was amazing. We were awakened at dawn every morning by howler monkeys and scarlet macaws, and lulled to sleep by the sounds of the forest. We enjoyed the dipping pool and trails just a short hike away. One of our favorite activities each evening was watching the leaf-cutter ants crossing the dirt road. We had several visits by spider monkeys — even a mama and baby!
Mike and Blondie have put together a book with treehouse info as well as recommended tours and things to do. We did most of them, and especially loved our time on La Sirena with Captain John and the dolphins, and our visit to the wildlife sanctuary was both educational and fun.
While the kids were a bit freaked out by bugs and bats our first night, they quickly learned to love treehouse life once they realized they were not on the menu.
The kitchen was fully stocked, and we had everything we needed to cook meals — although we did eat out in Puerto Jimenez quite a bit. We especially enjoyed The Iguana Lodge (high end), Restaurant Delphines (mid-priced), and Pizza Mailit was like home away from home. The owner, Josh, made us feel like family, and we enjoyed spending Christmas Eve there with some new friends. The pizza and smoothies were our kids’ favorite.
This is definitely not for the squeamish or anyone who can’t make the climb up the spiral stairs, but for those interested in eco-tourism and immersion into Costa Rican life, it really is an amazing place to stay.