Frederica Nature Reserve

Frederica covers around 1,300 hectares of the wooded hills behind Bel Ombre on the south coast, part of an old sugar estate now managed as a reserve, and it is visited on guided tours rather than independently: open safari trucks, quad bikes and buggies run tracks through the forest to viewpoints, waterfalls and the ruins of the Frederica sugar estate abandoned in the nineteenth century. Java deer, introduced in the seventeenth century and now numerous, wild boar and macaques are the wildlife most often seen, along with birds in the native pockets. The reserve borders the Black River Gorges area, and the higher tracks give views down to the south coast and across the interior forest.

What you actually see

• Estate ruins - the abandoned nineteenth-century Frederica works.
• Waterfalls - the falls on the streams crossing the reserve.
• Java deer and boar - the introduced game seen on the tracks.
• Forest viewpoints - the overlooks toward the south coast.

When to go

May to December for drier tracks and better driving conditions. The wet season turns the trails to mud and can cancel quad tours. Mornings are cooler and wildlife more active.

Honest expectations

Access is by booked guided tour only, with quad and buggy options that are noisy and not to everyone's taste. Much of the wildlife is introduced rather than endemic. Tours are priced at resort level. Tracks are rough and dusty in the dry months.

Nearby

Bel Ombre lies on the coast; Black River Gorges is north.