From the March issue of The Sunday Times Travel Magazine

MOUNTAIN: Conquer Kilimanjaro

So extreme… Crowned by ice, Kilimanjaro, the roof of Africa, dominates the Masai plains below it. The Chagga people who live at its foot tell of man-eating spirits sending illness and cold to any who dare climb it. But many have chanced the wrath of Kili’s brutal weather system since Hans Meyer first reached the summit in 1889.

Today’s Kili may be ‘Everyman’s Everest’, but conquering the world’s highest free-standing mountain (5,895m) is still strenuous stuff – a test of your own spirit as you head up and up, through rainforest, open grassland, semi-desert and high alpine climate zones.

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So easy… You can’t climb it independently any more, but organised treks take you via the tough, steep Machame route or the easier Rongai, with its gentler gradients. The slower you ascend, though, the easier it is – so consider the ‘original’ Marangu route: a six-day, non-technical climb/hike, where you sleep in mountain huts as you go, which leaves plenty of time for acclimatisation. The final push to the Uhuru Peak summit, on the highest of Kili’s three volcanic cones, happens before sunrise, while the scree is still frozen. Once you’re done punching the clouds or gasping in recovery, you can make a phone call from the top (yes, there’s coverage) to trumpet your triumph. All in all, the perfect challenge for fair-weather explorers too lazy to climb every mountain.

A company offering the Marangu Route is Footloose from £775 not including flights. Explore used to offer the 12-day Marangu Trek, but instead now offer a tour taking the Shira Route, for £2,036 with flights, which takes scenic and quieter routes allowing for greater acclimatisation and thus a higher chance of summit success.

RAINFOREST: Survive the Costa Rican jungle

So extreme… Trees that sting, vines that cut and spiders that kill with a single bite… In the ancient rainforests of the Amazon or Australia, the fauna and flora mean serious business. Go off the beaten track here, and there’s a chance you might not come back. But on Costa Rica’s remote Osa Peninsula, things are slightly more welcoming.

The younger, virgin lowland rainforest of the Corcovado and Piedras Blancas National Parks has few aggressive surprises, so you needn’t worry about being beaten up by the vegetation while exploring. Gaia may be a shade friendlier in this wilderness, but it’s still an experience of a lifetime for intrepid explorers who come to hike, horse-ride and tree-climb in a densely private ecosystem full of natural mystery.

So easy… Arrive aboard a light aircraft, and then travel deep into the rainforest by 4WD. A bone-shaking hour’s off-roading and Bosque del Cabo lodge materialises: a clutch of solar-powered bungalows plunged in extravagant flora, with glimpses of humpback whales breaching off the coast a short walk away.

There’s no hint of the modern world, just a menagerie of jaguars, tapirs and squirrel monkeys – and the comforting sense of being protected by some of the world’s toughest greenery.

Sunvil (020 8758 4774, www.sunvil.co.uk) has four nights’ full board at Bosque del Cabo as part of a 15-night Costa Rica package, from £2,720pp, including flights from Heathrow, transfers and excursions.

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