Kakadu National Park

On Sunday, we took a tour of Kakadu National Park. The entrance to Kakadu is about 170 km (a little over 100 miles) east of Darwin. It is Australia's largest land national park (the Great Barrier Reef is the largest national park - land or sea).

Most of the park is aboriginal-owned land, and it is leased to the government for use as a national park.

The park consists of such varied landscapes as escarpments, plateaus, coastal estuaries, tidal flats, floodplains, rivers, lowlands, rainforests, hills, and billabongs. A billabong is a "watering hole" that is full of water during the wet season and is dry or almost dry in the dry season.

Kakadu is known for its ancient rock art.

As we rode (we were on a tour bus) through Kakadu, we crossed rivers that were teeming with crocodiles.

We also saw HUGE termite mounds. These mounds were about 7 or 8 feet high and 3 or 4 feet in diameter. Occasionally the bus had to break for wallabies crossing the road. Some of the other wildlife in the park consisted of magpie geese, egrets, herons, wild horses, buffalo, and dingos. Some interesting crocodile facts that we learned along the way is that only about 1% of crocodiles die of old age. The rest die fighting other crocodiles, or from human contact. The two types of crocodiles that inhabit this area are saltwater crocs and freshwater crocs. Saltwater crocs have bigger teeth than freshwater crocs. Freshwater crocs are scared of people and will run away from you; saltwater crocs will eat you. There are no alligators in Australia, only crocodiles. However, one of the rivers that runs through Kakadu is ironically called Alligator River. The story goes that someone had previously visited Louisiana and then while subsequently visiting Australia, mistook the crocs for alligators and so named the river after the alligators. One of the stops that our Kakadu tour made was to visit the ancient rock art of Nourlangie Rock. There we saw aboriginal paintings on the rocks. We also took a short walk to an overlook where we had gorgeous views of the park.

Another stop our tour made was for us to take a 1 1/2 hour boat ride on the Yellow River. Like all rivers in Kakadu, the Yellow River is home to many, many crocodiles. As our boat ride began, our guide went through the mandatory safety rules. At one point, she said, "Should it become necessary to abandon ship..." I can't imagine what this boat would have to look like in order for me to decide that I'd rather be in crocodile-infested waters than aboard the vessel! We were also told not to put our arms outside of the rail because, as our guide noted, "Crocodiles do jump." The ride on the boat was actually a great way to see this part of Kakadu. On the ride, we saw many beautiful birds such as cormorants, eagles, egrets, herons, pelicans, and cranes.

But the highlight of the trip was the crocs. Most of the crocs we saw were swimming in the river, but one in particular was on the bank. Our boat pulled over to the bank and we were probably within 6 feet of him (or her), so we got a nice, close-up look. Back on the bus, on the drive back to Darwin, we watched some DVD documentaries about Kakadu. One showed the different environment at Kakadu during the wet and dry seasons. Another showed some scientists who were tagging crocodiles in order to track their migratory patterns. Also, our bus driver played his didgeridoo for us (not while driving, obviously). He walked down, then back up the aisle of the bus while playing. Upon our return to Darwin, we got off the bus at the local Darwin market, where there were food booths and other booths where local people were selling various wares. It was a great place to sample the local flavor of Darwin, both literally and figuratively.