Daintree rainforest & Cape Tribulation trip from Port Douglas/Cairns – Active Tropics Explorer

We booked this trip through Happy Travels, who have a desk at the hostel we stayed at in Cairns – Global Waterfront. With the promise of seeing the rainforest, Cape Tribulation and Mossman Gorge, we couldn’t resist!

The first stop was Mossman Gorge where we were given a quick talk with an aboriginal lady who gave us some information about her rainforest tribe. We used her natural paints to get ourselves looking the part, then it was on a bus and up to the gorge. The gorge is up quite high and there are lots of boulders so it’s too difficult for the crocs to get there, and it’s also patrolled just in case, so you’re safe to have a splash about in the clear mountain water.

We had a lush time jumping into the current spot and being carried 10 metres or so downstream! Although I think the person who most enjoyed it was our slightly nuts kiwi tour guide, Stu, who kept popping up from under the water laughing his head off – loon! The whole day was really fun and this was probably the best bit.

Next up was a river boat tour down the Daintree river to spot some crocodiles. It was so nice taking in the rainforest and seeing the mangroves that line the river, but sadly we didn’t see any full grown crocs. We did see a few baby ones though! And George was delighted to hear our Aussy boat driver describe someone as a ‘drongo’ haha!

It was then up to Cape Tribulation for an enormous burger (included in trip price) and see the beach… Or so we thought. But unfortunately a four metre long salt water crocodile had the same idea as us so the beach was closed and we couldn’t see it, which was a real disappointment. Stu did take us down to see the next beach along the coast though, which was really lovely.

We then had a little walk in the rainforest, which was a little shorter than I’d hoped – about 10-15 mins as Stu was worried about mozzies further along the boardwalk.

It was so cool though seeing the oldest rainforest in the world and all of the tall and strange twisted trees, especially those that had been strangled and hollowed by fig trees. We didn’t really see much wildlife though, just some green bummed ants that Stu got a few people to eat! I was happy to give it a miss though – I’ll stick to the cheese burger thanks!

The trip cost $159 each including pick up/drop off and lunch. We had a really fun day and our guide was really great, but this is quite pricey, it’s probably more cost effective to rent a car and do it yourself!