Looking like a fairy tale brought to life, is Lupe Sina – a tiny treehouse resort in the hills of Tiavi in Samoa that I was lucky enough to visit on my trip to Samoa. ‘Tiny’ is the keyword here, with just two treehouses making up the resort.
The most epic of the two treehouses and the one I’ve photographed is the Samson Suite – a two-story, one-bedroom, pastel green timber house with a palm-thatched roof that’s suspended 12 meters above the ground in a 300-year-old banyan tree. With views overlooking the beautiful Samoan coastline and the rainforest of Upolu, this unique treehouse is unlike any other accommodation on the island.
The entire Samson Suite is impressive. There’s a living room, two bedrooms, a tiny kitchen and a bathroom with hot running water with what could possibly be the coolest shower in the South Pacific. Because who needs wall tiles when you can have ancient banyan tree roots for a shower wall?
The incredible Samson Suite will set you back USD$350 per night. Star Gazer, the second treehouse that has a bedroom with a glass ceiling is USD$250 per night. Nightly rates include breakfast. Details here.
How to get there:
You can fly direct to Samoa from New Zealand and Fiji. To get there from Australia, you’ll need to get a connecting flight to either New Zealand or Fiji from your capital city.
We flew Virgin Australia and had a stop over in New Zealand each way, but you can also fly Air New Zealand and Fiji Airways, or Qantas on the first leg of the flight.
Samoa camera kit courtesy of Canon Australia, The Front and AquaTech:
- Cameras: Canon EOS 5D Mark III (on loan from Canon Australia) and Canon EOS 70D (my personal camera).
- Lenses: Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L II (on loan from The Front – my preferred camera equipment renal company) and Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM (on loan from Canon Australia).
- Underwater housing: AquaTech Elite 5D3 Sport Housing with the PD-85 Lens Port (on loan from AquaTech).
I travelled to Samoa as a guest of World Resorts of Distinction. All opinions and thoughts expressed in this post are my own and remain 100% uninfluenced.
Photos featuring myself by Sera (@Photography_Byron_Bay) and Pip (@SeaGypsea_Photography).
