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Kakadu and Litchfield National ParksKakadu and Litchfield National Parks are situated just East of Darwin in Australia's Northern Territory (or Top End). This area is renowned for its wildlife, scenery and aboriginal culture and a visit here is a must for anyone who's in the area.There are 2 main seasons in this part of the world - the Wet and the Dry, pretty self explanatory. My visit was in October, which is the changeover from the dry to the wet. Its known as the Build Up or, more appropriately, Silly Season. At this time of year the temperature is in the high twenties or low thirties (celcius) and the humidity is generally around 80% or higher. Certainly not a pleasant climate for most of us Europeans! There's no relief from the oppressive climate at night, either. Locals in the area have been known to go mad at this time of year, and I can see why. There's no relief from the heat and humidity and you're constantly sweating. People have been murdered by people suffering from the effects. So, I decided to go to Kakadu at the worst time of year, climate wise! However, we fared reasonably well, no-one on the trip went troppo and we all came back in one piece. It actually rained quite a bit which was good news as it lowered the humidity and meant that the waterfalls were pretty impressive. The landscape of Kakadu undergoes similar spectacular changes to the climate. In the dry season most of the waterfalls and creeks are dry and the floodplains are home to various large animals such as buffalo and pigs. When the rains come the waterfalls become raging torrents and the floodplains do what they do best - flood. We visited after there had been some unseasonably early rain. It wasn't enough to cause widespread flooding, but the grasses on the plains had made the most of the water and were a lush green colour - where there had been only brown the week before. Kakadu National Park is set on land owned by the Aboriginal people and leased back to the government. The park has a lot of sites of Aboriginal art, some of which are sacred and some which can be seen by visitors. Its very interesting to hear about how the Aboriginals believe that the countryside and the wildlife was formed. A time know as Dreamtime was when it all happened. They have legends to explain everything from the land being shaped by giant serpents to young girls turning themselves into crocodiles. The rock art is usually used to tell these stories to the children and so is just a teaching aid. It is a teaching method that is dying out these days. The native people are very shy and don't like us looking on as they do their drawings etc. Newer methods have also taken over to some extent. The main Aboriginal site in Kakadu that is accessible to tourists is at Ubirr. Unfortunately you have to fight your way through droves of tourists to see some of the artwork. I chose to go on a 4 day/3 night camping expedition with a company called Gondwana. They provide all tents and other necessary items as well as the food, we just had to lend a hand with preparing it. Our first night was spent in Litchfield National Park by the banks of the Mary River, where there is a large contingent ot saltwater crocodiles. My first night found me cooking up spaghetti bolognese on a camp fire with hordes of crocodiles not more than 20 metres away!! Quite an experience. After tea and a couple of beers (for courage!) we all grabbed our torches and headed for the river bank. Just like other animals, the eyes of crocodiles reflect light. When you shine a torch into the eyes of a croc they glow red. When we shone our powerful torch out over the pitch black waters all we saw were about 30 pairs of red eyes staring back!! I dread to think what would have happened if any of us had gone in the water. Crocodiles are amazing creatures. They've remained unchanged for millions of years, probably because they've had no need to evolve further. Saltwater crocs are pretty dangerous and will attack humans if they get the chance. They don't even need to be hungry, they eat whenever they can (much like backpackers - you never know where your next meal is coming from!!). They can, however, go for weeks or months without food - they can slow their metabolism right down. I think we all slept rather nervously that first night! We saw other wildlife such as Frilled Lizards, Blue Tongued Lizards, Olive Pythons, Water Buffalo (not native to the area - they were introduced a while back), termites and lots of bird life. The lizards were a common sight sunning themselves on the side of the road. There's a lot of swimming to be done in Kakadu. To see the bottom of Twin Falls you have to swim about 800m up the river. These rivers are potential homes for salties but they all get moved out at the beginning of the season and there are traps set up to catch any ones that stray into the area looking for a tasty morsel. Nothing is 100% gauranteed, though, and I kept a good eye on all the logs that floated past me on that swim! The tour was a great 4 days and still stands out as the best thing I've done so far in Australia. I can thoroughly recommend Gondwana. They have a very good reputation, their guides really know what they're doing and they take small groups of 9 so everyone gets involved. |