The World Heritage-listed Daintree Rainforest has remained largely unchanged over the past 110 million years. It is now home to rare plants that provide key links in the evolution story. In the 56,000-hectare (138,320-acre) Daintree National Park, you will find cycads, dinosaur trees, fan palms, giant strangler figs, and epiphytes like the basket fern, staghorn, and elkhorn. Nighttime croc-spotting tours on the Daintree River vie for popularity with early-morning cruises to see the rich bird life. Pythons, lizards, frogs, and electric-blue Ulysses butterflies attract photographers, and sport fishermen come here to do battle with big barramundi.
Just about everyone who visits Port Douglas takes a guided four-wheel-drive day trip into the beautiful Daintree and Cape Tribulation rainforests. Although they are two separate national parks, the forests merge into one.
You can rent a four-wheel-drive and explore on your own, but you won't understand much about what you are seeing unless you have a guide. Most companies basically cover the same territory and sights, including a 1-hour Daintree River cruise to spot crocs, a visit to the Marrdja Botanical Walk, a stroll along an isolated beach, lunch at a pretty spot somewhere in the forest, and a visit to Mossman Gorge. Some tours also go to the picturesque Bloomfield Falls in Cape Tribulation National Park. Expect to pay about A$140 (US$112/UK£56) per adult and about A$95 (US$76/UK£38) per child. Trips that include Bloomfield Falls cost more. A company that provides an excellent, gently adventurous alternative is Pete Baxendell's Heritage & Interpretive Tours (tel. 07/4098 7897; www.nqhit.com.au). On a daylong bushwalk into a tract of privately owned rainforest with Pete, a naturalist and professional tour guide, you taste green ants (be brave -- it's quite an experience) and other native "bush tucker," discover how to rustle up a toothbrush from a shrub if you forgot to pack yours, learn about bush medicine and the wildlife around you, and clamber up a stream to a waterfall. He takes a maximum of six people at a time. Lunch and Port Douglas pickups are included in the price of A$130 (US$104/UK£52) per person. Pickups from Cairns and the northern beaches can be organized through BTS Tours for an extra cost. Walks run Tuesday and Saturday, leaving Port at 8:30am.
You can charter Pete and his 4WD on other days for day bushwalks for A$185 (US$148/UK£74) per person (minimum of two). A longer "go anywhere" adventure costs A$650 (US$520/UK£260) per day, including Cairns and northern beaches pickups. The charter prices compare favorably to a regular Daintree four-wheel-drive tour if there are three or more of you -- and you get a tailored itinerary, Pete's knowledge, and the vehicle all to yourself. He often takes charter customers inland to Outback gold mining ghost towns, or north to tiny Cooktown, which boasts an excellent museum devoted to Australia's "discoverer," Capt. James Cook. If you have 2 days, he can take you farther west to see Aboriginal rock art and stay at a permanent safari camp, or to the amazing Undara Lava Tubes.
Other established operators are Trek North Safaris (tel. 07/4033 2600) and BTS Tours (tel. 07/4099 5665). As is the case in most tourist hot spots, some tour operators battle fiercely to pay tour desks the highest commission to recommend their tours, even though those tours may not necessarily be the best for your needs. Take tour desks' recommendations with a grain of salt, and ask other travelers for their recommendations. You may not see too much wildlife -- rainforest animals are shy, camouflaged, nocturnal, or all three! Most four-wheel-drive tours will pick you up in Port Douglas at no charge; there is usually a fee from Cairns and the northern beaches. Floods and swollen creeks can quash your plans to explore the Daintree in the Wet season (Dec-Mar or Apr), so keep your plans flexible.
If your chosen safari does not visit Mossman Gorge, 21km (13 miles) northwest of Port Douglas near the sugar town of Mossman, try to get there under your own steam. The gushing river tumbling over boulders, and the short forest walks are magical. (Don't climb on the rocks or enter the river, because strong currents are extremely dangerous and have claimed at least one life in recent years.)
Most four-wheel-drive Daintree tours include a 1-hour cruise on the Daintree River, but if yours does not, or you want to spend more time on the river, cruises are available on a variety of boats, ranging from open-sided "river trains" to small fishing boats. One of the best is with Dan Irby's Mangrove Adventures (tel. 07/4090 7017; www.mangroveadventures.com.au), whose small open boat can get up side creeks the bigger boats can't. Originally from Tonkawa, Oklahoma, Dan has been in Australia for 34 years and is extremely knowledgeable about the wildlife and habitat. He takes no more than 10 people at a time on 2- to 4-hour cruises. It is very important to make advance reservations with Dan (at least 24 hr. ahead, if possible) to determine which days he is operating, departure times, and seat availability. Chances are you will spot lots of fascinating wildlife on his 2-hour night cruise, but even if you don't, it's worth it just to see the stars! A 2-hour trip costs A$45 (US$36/UK£18). The early-morning sunrise tours and night tours leave from Daintree Eco Lodge, 20 Mossman Daintree Rd., 4km (2 1/2 miles) south of Daintree village; day tours leave from the public jetty next to the Daintree River ferry crossing. You can combine both, taking an afternoon tour, followed by a 45-minute break for a snack at Daintree Eco Lodge, then the night tour. Take the Captain Cook Highway north to Mossman, where it becomes the Mossman Daintree Road, and follow it for 24km (15 miles) to the signposted turnoff for the ferry on your right. The ferry is 5km (3 miles) from the turnoff. You'll need a car to get there, as Dan does not do transfers from hotels.
Birders love the Wet Tropics rainforests of which the Daintree and Cape Tribulation national parks are part. More than half of Australia's bird species have been recorded within 200km (120 miles) of this area. Fine Feather Tours (tel. 07/4094 1199; www.finefeathertours.com.au) has a full-day bird-watching safari through the Wet Tropics to the edge of the Outback for A$225 (US$180/UK£90), an afternoon cruise on the Daintree River for A$165 (US$132/UK£66), and other tours.
Rainforest Habitat wildlife sanctuary (tel. 07/4099 3235; www.rainforesthabitat.com.au) is a great place to see the animals that are too shy to be spotted in the wild. Here, 180 animal species from the Wet Tropics are in one place for you to see up close. You can see saltwater and freshwater crocodiles, hand-feed kangaroos, and have your photo taken beside (but not holding) a koala (10-11am and 3-4pm for the cost of a donation). The highlight is the walk-through aviary, which houses more than 100 Wet Tropics bird species, including cassowaries. You'll get the most out of your visit if you take one of the excellent free guided tours that leave every half-hour from 9am to 3pm. Rainforest Habitat is on Port Douglas Road at the turnoff from the Captain Cook Highway. Open daily (except Dec 25) from 8am to 5:30pm (last entry at 4:30pm). Admission is A$28 (US$22/UK£11) for adults, A$14 (US$11/UK£5.60) for kids 4 to 14, or A$70 (US$56/UK£28) for a family of four. Between 8am and 11am, the park serves a champagne buffet breakfast for A$39 (US$31/UK£16) for adults, A$20 (US$16/UK£8) for kids, or A$98 (US$78/UK£39) families, including admission. Allow at least 2 hours here.
