The Sinharaja Forest Reserve is the last area of true virgin rainforest in Sri Lanka and an increasingly popular ecotourism destination. The reserve area has been under guard since 1840, when the British first drew a protective line around it. Bar a quick bout of selective logging in the 1970s, the reserve is today as it has been for centuries. For that reason, it's a hot bed of biodiversity and home to some of Sri Lanka's most recognisable and also its rarest flora and fauna.

The Sinharaja Forest Reserve covers an area of around 35 square miles, bordered by two rivers, the Koskulana Ganga in the north and the Gin Ganga in the south. A huge proportion of the birds of Sri Lanka have been recorded in the reserve's thick forest, as well as half the country's mammals, including purple-faced leaf monkey, giant squirrel and Sri Lanka's famous leopards - although they are more commonly seen in the Yala National Park, where the vegetation is more sparse.