Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka packs a startling amount of forest into a small island, and the trick is knowing which monsoon you're chasing. The southwest holds the wet-zone rainforest around UNESCO's Sinharaja Forest Reserve near Deniyaya, dense and dripping. The hill country around Ella is misty tea-estate jungle, best reached by the famous Kandy–Ella train. The dry zone fringes the southeast near Yala and the cultural triangle around Sigiriya, drier and more open. Treehouses and eco-cabins line Sinharaja's edge and gather around Ella; elevated jungle camps sit out near Yala and Sigiriya.

The standard way to get around is a private car and driver — it's the norm here, not the splurge. Slot in the scenic trains for the hill-country legs, where the Kandy–Ella line earns its reputation, and use tuk-tuks for short hops. Many jungle properties arrange their own transfers, and most ask for a rough final stretch by 4x4 or on foot, because the good ones are never quite on the tarmac.

The two halves of the island run on opposite calendars, which is the single most useful thing to understand. The southwest rainforest and hill country — Sinharaja, Ella — are best December to April. The dry-zone south and east — Yala, Sigiriya — are best May to September, the inverse. Pick the wrong window and you'll be watching rain through a window. The wildlife rewards the planning: purple-faced langurs, the Sri Lankan leopard at Yala, Asian elephants, endemic birds like the electric-blue Sri Lanka blue magpie at Sinharaja, sloth bears in the dry zone, and the giant squirrel.