There’s something romantic about the thought of staying in a wooden cabin in the midst of the rainforest. The notion conjures up images of lush greenery, brightly colored macaws, juicy fruits and hot humid nights.

There’s truth to those images at the Tiskita Jungle Lodge, where guests can enjoy the unparalleled beauty of the tropical rainforest in comfort. Stay in one of the many wooden cabins made of precious woods like mahogany, purpleheart and rosewood, which have fallen to the forest floor.

Dance under a canopy of tropical trees. Or else, take a walk and explore up to 275 species of birds and a variety of other animals on the 800 acre biological reserve. Or grab a horse and take a tour by horseback and fall in love on one of the wilderness beaches. Hungry? The reserve has over 125 different species of tropical fruit to which guests can help themselves.

If being surrounded by all that tropical beauty is too much for you, you can take it all in lying in a hammock on the porch of your cabin. Each of which, let me add, boasts an ocean view.

Tiskita Jungle Lodge is one of the original ecolodges in Costa Rica. The family run business was started in 1978 when Peter Aspinall built his home on the large piece of land and began reforesting. Soon the natural habitat was restored. Now Aspinall and his wife Lisbeth manage Tiskita Jungle Lodge where eco-tourists come to bask in a life that’s wild with beauty.

To indulge in the rainforest visit the Tiskita Jungle Lodge website.

Honduras has been catching up to other eco-destinations in Central and South America as entrepreneurs realize the potential of this country’s large areas of lowland rain forests, gorgeous coral reefs, and jade-green cloud forests. Intact ecosystems are what eco-travelers want to experience and this is what they will find in Honduras. Sure, they will also come across animal-empty banana fields and deforested areas but they will definitely have the chance to visit beautiful, untouched tropical habitats.

Some, roadless areas of the country still require major expeditions to adequately explore them but why do that when you can stay at the Pico Bonito Lodge? You will need a fair amount of money to do so but no more than what you would pay for staying at comfortable hotels in other parts of the world. Most of those other hotels also probably aren’t situated in a lush, rain forest valley filled with colorful birds and exotic animals.

Guests stay in beautiful large, furnished rooms because the lodge was built with comfort in mind, but they will also see dozens of species of birds and other wildlife because it was also designed for this purpose. The nearby rain forest is always in view through large, open windows and balconies, and highly trained local guides are on hand to help visitors see things like colorful Keel-billed Toucans, the incredible blue and purple Lovely Cotinga, Blue-crowned Motmots, Tayras (a large weasel), Coatis, Sloths, tree-frogs, and much more. Birders and non-birders alike will also love the lodge’s canopy platform for the rare glimpse it provides into this little explored level of the forest.

When guests tire of hanging out and relaxing at the lodge and canopy tower, they can hike trails that access the huge Pico Bonito National Park, including one that heads right up to the “Pico Bonito” (Pretty Peak) itself. All hiking should be done with a local guide because despite the comforts of the lodge, this is a true rain forest wilderness that harbors venomous snakes, jaguars (rarely seen but present), and the greatest danger in the forest, the chance to get lost.