Natural Park

Australia blossoms with unique wildlife flora and fauna. Two of Australia’s most popular wildlife animals are the kangaroo and the koala. The kangaroo is part of the marsupial family, and belongs to a group of animals called macropods. “Macropod” translates to “big foot.” Another type of Australian macropod in the same group as the kangaroo, is the wallaby. The tallest and heaviest kangaroo is the big red kangaroo; they stand about 2 meters tall and can weigh up to 90 kilos. You will discover red kangaroos in Australia’s arid red center.

Many short tracks criss-cross through Kakadu's forests, cliffs, and swamps, providing views of some 60 different mammals and 280 bird species. Among the 74 types of reptiles are the rare Oenpelli python and about 3,500 saltwater crocodiles, as well as a variety of other snakes, freshwater trots, and little lizards which helpfully consume the 5,000-plus bug species. After the Wet season, when lakes and rivers are swollen, the park comes alive with the cacaphony of nesting birds, including Jabiru storks, magpie geese, galahs, kookaburras, eagles, and more. Especially picturesque are the billabongs, which blossom into lily-covered pools of green leaves dotted with colorful birds, frogs, and butterflies. In the fields, cathedral termites are busy adding to their fanciful towers, which create life-size castle walls amid the golden, brushy grasses.

A major wetland surrounds the Yellow Water area, filling a floodplain about 30 mi/48 km south of the town ofJabiru, where a mist-shrouded billabong edged by lush fields and marshes spreads out, flat and placid, beneath a watercolor sky. This four-sq-mi/10-sq-km area, formed by Jim Jim Falls and attractive with blossoming, butter-colored snowflake lilies after the Wet, is a favorite breeding and nesting ground for dozens of Australia's best-known bird species. From early morning until mid-afternoon, pretty little canopied tour boats from the Cooinda Resort glide over the water to observe this unique environment up close (see On the Water, below, for details). You can explore the wetlands on foot, though, along the four-mi/6'f2-km Rockholes Walk, which follows the East Alligator River.

The Mamukala Wetlands, set along the Arnhem Highway about 18 mi/32 km east of Jabiru, take up the eastern edge of the South Alligator River. Two trails wind through the area, providing views of magpie geese in September and October, and other common species year-round. A bird blind lets you observe the activity without disturbing the birds. A convenient educational tool is the mural depicting the various bird species and their seasonal habits, which is located alongside another open viewing deck.

Around 15,000 ancient art sites are scattered along the cliffsides throughout the park, ranging up to 20,000 years old. Only a third have been recorded so far, and visitors are permitted access to a few. At the base of Nourlangie Rock, a blood-red cliffside formation set amid a shady green thicket, cave shelters hide gatherings of handprints along the dark walls, where paint was blown over tribe members' fingers to form silhouettes amid chalk-white clouds. Now look down: those pockets in the floor are actually hollows where the tribes ground seeds and berries eons ago. The 6.8-mi/11-km Barrk Walk trail winds from the parking lot around the highlights of the area, while the .9-mi/1'-km Anbangbang Shelter track takes you to a breathtaking, 20,000-year-old art site. The area is off the main road, a winding 18 mi/32 km south of the Bowali Visitor Centre.

At Ubirr Rock, near the park's northeast corner and 24 mi/40 km north along the main road from Bowali Visitor Centre, is an outdoor Aboriginal gallery of multi-styled rock art – some of it 20,000 years old. Many of the paintings depict classic Australian creatures, including a full exhibit of wallabies, fish, goannas, and even thylacines drawn thousands of years past. Also intriguing are the 1,500-year-old X-ray-style images, and the historical scenes of other tribes and Europeans arriving little more than two centuries ago. During the Dry, rangers give daily talks in the main gallery at 9:30, noon, and 4; at the Namarrkan Sisters at 10:30 and 5:30; and at the Rainbow Serpent at 11:30 and 4.

The circular Warradjan Aboriginal Cultural Centre (Kakadu Hwy, Yellow Water), near Cooinda in the center of the park, provides an excellent array of exhibits, slide shows, and programs that trace the history of Aboriginal art and life in the region. The Binini tribe is featured, which has lived here for thousands of years. Interestingly, the architectural hint for the Centre's name is in its similar shape to the region's warradjan (pig-nosed turtle), not to mention its allusions to tribal ceremonial circles. The Cultural Centre also organizes guided ranger walks to the art sites from May through September. General admission to the Centre is free, and it's open daily 9 to 5. The excellent and comprehensive Bowali Visitors Centre (Arnhem Hwy, at Kakadu Hwy, Bowali, is a complex of museum displays, audiovisual shows, a gift shop area, and a cafe on the park's east end. The Centre also arranges regular Aboriginal "Art Gallery" tours, including both Ubirr and Nourlangie plus other sites. It's free to visit, and open daily 8 to 5.