The Daintree: where the rainforest meets the reef.

Rainforest extending to the beach at Cape Tribulation

I spent the majority of my project trekking around the Daintree Rainforest, looking for snakes. Although there were lots of days I didn't find a snake, I saw amazingly beautiful natural sights and animals every day.

Typical snake-hunting area, along streams in the rainforest

The Daintree is part of the Australian Wet Tropics, which is home to a diverse range of species: "30 per cent of Australia's marsupial species, 25 per cent of its frogs and reptiles, and about 60 per cent of its bat and butterfly species" live there. The area around Cape Tribulation is particularly awesome because it's where the Wet Tropics extends straight to the beach, intersecting the Great Barrier Reef world heritage area. That means you can see the rainforest, the mangroves, and the beach, all in one day.

Mangroves and beach areas are easily accessible from the rainforest. Some of my hikes went through all three ecosystems.

I'll be posting a few of my favorite non-snake sightings, stay tuned.