Article by Wildlife Tourism Australia member Shirley Hamel, Director, Longhorn YOUnique Tours Pty Ltd
If you haven’t explored Kakadu NP do yourself a favour and add it to your bucket list.
Kakadu NP is an amazing place to visit for wildlife and eco-tourism enthusiasts. The landscape is ancient and so is the evidence of indigenous occupation with artefacts in the park dating back 65,000 to 80,000 years.
Ranger guided activities are free and allow tourists to learn more about the local Aboriginals, the Bininj in the north of the park and Mungguy in the south, how they lived, travelled and cared for the country and wildlife before European occupation. They really were the first environmentalists with caring for the land and wildlife fundamental to their culture. A system of management was in place so that their use of plants and wildlife were sustainable into the future.
One of the best ways to experience the diversity of the wildlife in Kakadu NP is to take a cruise of Yellow Waters. We opted for the sunrise cruise as it had the added benefit of watching a beautiful sunrise over Yellow Waters and the birdlife was prolific and active.
We were also lucky to get up close to quite a number of crocodiles with the guide telling us they were just waking up so quite docile. Not that I’d want to test that theory which I think was running through everyone’s mind during the initial safety briefing!
A close encounter with a crocodile
If you haven’t explored Kakadu NP do yourself a favour and add it to your bucket list.
Shirley Hamel, Director Longhorn YOUnique Tours Pty Ltd