ARNHEMLAND SAFARI CAMP

Arnhem Land is Aboriginal owned and sprawls across more than 96,000 square kms [36,923 square miles] of Australia's Top End; it is a wild paradise, unchanged and unchanging. Entry to this region is by Aboriginal permit only, with annual restrictions on visitor numbers.

On the vast Arnhem Land plateau and its surrounding flood plains, some of the world's oldest rock paintings and one of the largest national parks in the world are guarded for posterity by the land's original inhabitants. Arnhem Land offers an incredible diversity of landscapes and an abundance of waterbirds and aquatic creatures including Jabirus, Brolgas, White-breasted Sea-Eagles, Crocodile and Barramundi; its six distinct seasons creating a myriad of patterns and events. Arnhem Land was named after the Dutch ship the Arnhem, which was blown off course near this coast in 1623. To most Australians, the region remains as remote and as unknown today as it was to the crew of that ship more than four hundred years ago.

Fly from Darwin to a remote and beautiful camp located within Aboriginal owned land, gaining spectacular views of the region. Spend your days exploring this pristine wilderness area which is home to more than 240 species of birds, the rare Leichardt and Frill-necked Lizard, giant Crocodile and Water Buffalo. Recorded on walls and inside caves in the area, are some of the most colourful, prolific and oldest examples of rock art to be found anywhere in the world. Most of the caves which permeate the area contain some surprises in the form of rock art, including the 50-foot long Rainbow Serpent, the bones of ancestral burials [the red ochre still visible on skulls of the tribal elders], magnificent Ghost Bats, and artefacts from ancient Aboriginal campsites. We have permission from the Aboriginal owners to explore these areas in the company of a guide. While there are few places left on Earth where one still may feel the rush of discovery, in Arnhem Land there is a possibility that one might stumble upon a new gallery of prehistoric art never before seen by outsiders. Arnhem Land is also one of the most exotically beautiful eco-systems on Earth. Its low mountains, made of porous rock, form a very easily traversed network of walkways and caves that are filled with the magic of ancient Aboriginal culture. In this tropical bird watcher's paradise, accessible only by boat or foot, there are Red-winged parrots, Magpie geese, and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, to name a few of the species that abound here. This is also home to the Black-footed Rock-wallaby, Dingoes, many rare plants and insects, and Crocodiles.

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