The Route: A week of rugged hiking along an old donkey trail from Mount Plaisir to the small coastal fishing village of Blanchisseuse. You'll traverse beaches and rainforest, climb 3,072-foot El Tucuche, and finish up with a stay at a guesthouse- and tea-garden-endowed Benedictine monastery.

When to go: Year-round

Difficulty: Moderate

Travel advisory: Try to book a trip for April or May to catch both the dry season (January-May) and leatherback-turtle nesting window (April-August).

High/low points:

• Spotting the brilliantly copper-rumped and blue-chinned namesakes of the place the Arawaks called Iere, or Hummingbird Land.
• If you go during the wet season (June-December), glimpsing a waterborne giant anaconda as you both swim across a rain-swelled river.