My treehouse, March 2009

We built my treehouse in early 2004. So it's now 5 years old. It had withstood several super-strong typhoons, the most recent was the typhoon last May 2008 where about one-fourth of our mango trees were felled and/or killed. And these are 40+, 60+ years old mango trees!

A portion of the cogon roof has been destroyed by termites and rainwater. This is the area under the canopy of the live mahogany tree where the house is anchored. The falling leaves, absence of enough sunlight to dry rain-soked cogon roof, made the roof decay much faster. Since the above condition will not change as the tree will continue growing thicker leaves, we will change the roof under the thick leaves with galvanized iron. The side of the roof that is not covered by the thick leaves will keep its cogon roof.

The absence of walls allow the wind to pass through my treehouse, making it more flexible and withstand strong winds.

The toilet, previously it has slatted bamboo wall. We replaced it with slabs of fallen trees. The above-mentioned typhoon last year felled not only mango trees, it also felled plenty of forest tree species. Some of which have been buried by thick level of soil and sand brought down by the cascading flash flood.

Our farm caretaker's rice paddy beside the treehouse is growing well. So one picture here -- ricefield, a treehouse, and the surrounding trees.