SEPILOK JUNGLE RESORT,
MALAYSIAN BORNEO
Some of the world’s oldest rainforests
cloak Borneo, the largest island in
Asia. Clouded leopards pad through
its jungles, hornbills soar above the
canopy, and bats pour from caves at
sunset. In northerly Sabah, Sepilok
Jungle Resort has private huts and
dorm accommodation allowing
travellers to doze to the sound of
scampering geckos.
F Rooms cost £18 (sepilokjungleresort.
com). Meet humankind’s near relatives
just a five-minute walk from the resort;
80 orphaned primates swing freely
through Sepilok Orangutan
Rehabilitation Centre.LAPA RIOS, COSTA RICA
Scarlet macaws, sloths and giant
anteaters are just a few species among
Costa Rica’s impressive jungle fauna
(in all, five per cent of the planet’s
biodiversity). Ecolodge Lapa Rios on
the Osa Peninsula, which has the
government’s maximum ‘five leaf’
rating for sustainability, has
bungalows tucked into a 1,000-acre
lowland rainforest reserve.
F Rooms from £535 (laparios.com).
Roads from San José to Lapa Rios are
maintained, or the lodge can arrange air
transport, if you aren’t keen on the
seven-hour drive.CRADLE MOUNTAIN
WILDERNESS VILLAGE,
AUSTRALIA
Cool-climate travellers can plunge
into rainforest wilderness in Tasmania.
Cradle Mountain Wilderness Village
has private cabins hidden among
moss-draped trees, where there’s a
good chance of playing hide and seek
with pademelons (small ,wallaby-like
marsupials). If you hear something go
bump in the night, it might be a wombat.
F Rooms cost from £110 (cradlevillage.
com.au). There are numerous walks
around the resort. To enter Cradle
Mountain National Park, shuttle buses
run from the visitor centre to Dove Lake.
PHOTOGRAPH: JONATHAN GREGSON