It’s a little known fact that the Daintree Rainforest, an ancient World Heritage-listed wonderland in our own backyard, is older than the Amazon. It’s here that the velvety green mantle of the forest slopes plunge to the aqua blue Great Barrier Reef marine park, where fringing reefs grow almost to the shore. No where else in the world can you experience these two natural wonders side by side – where the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest actually meet; Rainforest to Reef.

Just an 1 ¼ hour drive from Trinity Beach along one of Australia’s most scenic highways, the Captain Cook Highway, is the village of the Daintree; the perfect base from which to explore the Daintree Rainforest region. You can self-drive or take a day tour with one of the many rainforest tours on offer through your accommodation tour desk.

The wonder of the Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation is on your doorstep. Crossing the Daintree River by ferry begins your journey and is a great experience in itself. There are flora species that have survived almost unchanged for 110 million years. About 3,000 plant species from 210 families are found in the forest. Twelve out of the world’s 19 families of primitive flowering plants grow here and within these families, there are at least 50 species found only in the Daintree.

This area is home to about a third of Australia’s 315 mammal species – 13 of these species are found nowhere else in the world. They include unique green possums, ringtail possums, fierce marsupial cats, rare bats, tree-kangaroos, a rat-kangaroo, melomys and antechinus. There are many spectacular insects including, crustaceans, worms, beetles, ants, spiders, mites, scorpions, amblypygids, centipedes and millipedes, not to mention the snails and slugs.

While the Rainforest region is home to a quarter of Australia’s frogs and a little over a third of the country’s freshwater fish, it is also home to nearly half of Australia’s birds – that’s more than 370 different species.

There are so many different things to see. A guided tour is the best way to experience the Daintree Rainforest as you will be getting information that you cannot glean for yourself.