Safari in Kakadu National Park

What an amazing time we have had over the last three days! Our 1200 km safari began on Wednesday morning at 7.30 a.m. when tour guide David collected us in a Toyota Landcruiser with a trailer. We set off for Kakadu, stopping briefly at Fog Dam Nature Reserve where we saw lots of birds. Then we headed into the woodlands of Kakadu National Park. The first place we visited was Ubirr rock where we saw aboriginal rock art which David explained to us in a very interesting way. He was brought up in the territory with many friends who are aboriginals, so he knows about what is real and what is made up for tourists. We walked among the rock up to the top of the plateau where we saw beautiful views over the floodplains. After a picnic lunch we went to a culture centre at Bowali before going to Cooinda in time for the Yellow Water sunset cruise. The cruise was absolutely amazing. We saw birds such as Egrets, Sea Eagles, Kingfishers and Grass Whistle Ducks, we also saw beautiful lotus lilies and paper-bark trees and of course plenty of crocodiles. The crocodiles were mainly lying on the banks of the river or slowly swimming past us, and they looked really menacing! By the end of the cruise the sun was setting and the birds began to get noisier in the twilight. By the time we got back to our bush bungalows at Jabiru it was dark. We had expected something pretty basic but in fact the bungalows were really comfortable and clean. They were like tin huts on stilts with the walls perforated with tiny holes, and canvas stretched over the top to provide shade during the day. They were set in a forest clearing which was very tropical and beautiful. David made us a delicious barbecue dinner and we all cleared up. Not long after we went to bed Jamie heard a crashing noise outside! It turned out to be our bin which was pulled down and ransacked during the night by a dingo! During the night, alongside the howling of dingos we could hear Barking Owls and other strange sounding creatures of the outback.
On Thursday we set off to Jim Jim Falls. This is in the south-east of the park and can only be accessed by four wheel drive, followed by a gruelling hike along Jim Jim Gorge. But my goodness was it worth it! We were very lucky that the falls were still running in the dry season, this was due to the extremely late wet season this year. When we had climbed over the last of the boulders we reached a beautiful pool with a sandy beach, we couldn't wait to get into the water and cool off and we soon clambered up to the next pool which led to the base of the falls. The views were absolutely stunning and we all had a great time swimming about, all three of our boys have always loved the water. 
Our next stop was at Nourlangie rock, we climbed up it to see magnificent views including the nearby Anbangbang Billabong which is surrounded by paper-bark trees and freshwater mangroves. Finally we visited the nearby art site where we saw more intricate rock art which David explained to us. Throughout the safari David also explained about the local flora and fauna, he is very knowledgable and made everything very interesting. He also has a great sense of humour and called Jamie "metro man", Alasdair "hair man", and Davie "fact man" which shows he got to know them well! By the end of the day I was absolutely boiling. The temperature was 36 degrees C and I was delighted to get back to our cosy bush bungalows where I dashed to be first into the shower and cool down. David cooked us Barramundi on the BBQ and we chatted into the evening. David has led a very interesting life and has all sorts of stories to tell, and we all enjoyed chatting with him.
Today (Friday) it was back to waterfalls and swimming. We started by going along a very bumpy road to Maguk (Barramundi Gorge), we had to walk about a kilometre into the waterfall but it was slightly easier going than yesterday, not quite so many boulders! It was so beautiful! The waterfall was not so high as at Jim Jim falls but it gushed out into the pool from the cliffs surrounding it and you could swim right up to and under it. The water was cool and clear with many fishes. Jamie, Ally and Davie climbed up to a rocky outcrop on the cliff beside the pool and jumped off many times! They have no fear! It was a really lovely morning. Then off we went to Gunlom Falls which are part of the South Alligator river system, they were seen in the film Crocodile Dundee. Yet again we could not have got there without 4 wheel drive, it was 40 kilometres of rough, dusty roads and David did a grand job of getting us there safely. On the way we saw a wallaby jumping across the road. Jamie, Ally and James walked up to the top of the falls to the pools there which have views over the countryside, while David and I went to the lower pool at the bottom of the waterfall and swam about there. I couldn't choose which is the best of the three waterfalls which we swam beneath as they are all beautiful and different. Then it was time for the long drive back to Darwin where we arrived back to our hotel dirty, dusty but so delighted with our trip. We said our goodbyes to David and ordered in pizza for tea! We had a discussion about some of David's tales, some of which we suspected to have been rather tall! Such as Queen Elizabeth secretly coming to a nearby small town for unofficial holidays and driving herself about in an old car. Or Australia having a secret squadron of aeroplanes. And there were many more. I thought that it was very funny that we all had our suspicions about some of his stories, but we were all too polite to challenge them. However we agreed that it just added to David's charm. Our safari has been great fun and all five of us loved it.