A lovely room in the rainforest.

One very comfortable double-bed, with hot water shower, toilet, with luscious rainforest outside the door, and the romance of the wild. Bring your own food and refreshments. Located within a sustainable forestry project in the little-visited southern mountains of Puerto Rico, this is perfect for individuals, or couples, for writers, bird-watchers, or anyone needing a quiet retreat from cities and pollution; a perfect get-away. Mountain water and fresh air, what more could you ask for? Established in 1983, the land known as Las Casas de la Selva is the home of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry Project. It is located in the southern mountains of the island, adjacent to the Carité State Forest. It is a spectacular site with steep thickly-forested slopes, and beautiful rivers and waterfalls. The Institute of Ecotechnics initiated this unique project in Patillas, Puerto Rico, pioneering experiments in sustainable rainforest ecology, through line-planting of valuable timber trees. The aim of the project is to maintain the biomass and biodiversity of the ecosystem while the land is utilized, to a degree, for enough profit to encourage local caretaking of the forest. Using this approach, 230 acres of the 1000-acre property have been planted with over 40,000 native and exotic hardwood trees with extremely promising results, working in cooperation with the Puerto Rican Department of Natural Resources, & The International Institute of Tropical Forestry. The valuable contribution of this method to the rainforest environment has seen Las Casas is recognized as an 'auxiliary forest' in the US national park system of classification, and in 2011 the project was certified under The Sustainable Forest Stewardship Program. Staying at Las Casas de la Selva is quite magical. You will be able to relax in our dining room and kitchen, cook your own meal if you want, take a walk in spectacular rainforest, sit in or by a river, or just relax at our comfortable homestead. Bird watchers are welcome. You don't even need to leave our homestead to have a truly satisfying birding opportunity at dawn and dusk. Bring your binoculars. The place is an ideal setting for hiking, loping, writing, creating, meditating, resting, or whatever rejuvenating experience you desire. Poke your nose into the work we are doing here too. Sometimes there may be groups of volunteers staying in bunkhouses on the property as well, and all interaction is welcome. We are always available to assist and interact with our guests. Join us in evening events or music sessions if happening, or hang-out, dance-out, yoga-out on your own. You will be on a 1,000 acre property, of hurricane impacted rainforest. New comers will barely notice the missing trees and the views opened by the tree devastation is truly breathtaking. We can now see the Caribbean Ocean from our dining room which is at 2000feet altitude. You need to have your own form of transport to get here. Plan on at least a couple of nights, to really see and experience the tabonuco forest of the 600m elevation, where the Las Casas de la Selva homestead, and your room, are located, and to explore the region of Patillas, with it's breath-taking views of the Caribbean Ocean from the forested mountain peaks of the Sierra de Cayey. This is a rainforest...and it can rain! It is absolutely essential to bring a headlamp for moving around the homestead at night and for forest night walks. After the hurricane, there are fallen trees, and if you are interested to see the devastation of Hurricane Maria on forest at 600m elevation, this is a truly interesting experience. Our main drive has been impacted by the torrential rains of the Hurricane Maria, so, even though all cars (even rentals), can make it up the road, if you are a nervous driver, please leave your car just inside our main gate and walk the 2 mins up the drive to the homestead. I can always drive it up for you later.