Word: kakadu
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Adam Bowman's "whole life and love," he says, is Kakadu. For 12 years he's been taking tourists into the Northern Territory's world-famous national park, aiming to teach his mainly European clients to love the wild land as he does. A favorite spot on his three-day safaris has long been Twin Falls, where a sandy beach borders a deep plunge pool. After swimming about 250 m up a winding gorge to the pool, eating lunch while afloat on air mattresses was a big hit with travelers, says Bowman: "Most said it was the prettiest waterfall they...
...need the mattresses anymore. Earlier this month, after park rangers failed to find a crocodile they'd spotted in the area last year, swimming in the pool was permanently banned. Kakadu's 15-member management board, which includes 10 traditional owners, says swimming at Twin Falls is too risky. "There is a lot of responsibility on Aboriginal people about all this," says Jessie Alderson, a traditional owner from the Murumburr clan. But the ban has been attacked by some tour operators and local politicians, who see it as an opportunistic attempt to lock up Kakadu. With moves due to hand...
...past two weeks, says Bardia Bodaghi, who runs a backpackers' lodge in Darwin, at least 10 foreign tourists have asked him if Kakadu is closed. The rumor is sending shudders through an industry that each year serves 80,000 backpackers, who spend about $A19 million in Kakadu alone. The Territory Labor government has promised $A500,000 for an international advertising campaign to soothe such concerns. But Bodaghi, president of the N.T. Backpacker Association, doesn't believe the federal government's Parks Australia North, which co-manages Kakadu with traditional owners representing an indigenous population of around 600, takes tourism seriously...
...Even though black clouds loom, there is time for a quick dip before the storm hits. The park's official line is that the only guaranteed safe places to swim are in the hotel swimming pools. But Kakadu's natural pools are far too enticing to be avoided just because it's croc breeding season. Rick leads us on a 3-km walk to nearby Gubara Falls and the still waters of a shady rain-forest pool. There's not a crocodile in sight, but there are enough croc-resembling logs floating downstream to spark the occasional frisson of primal...
...Darkness falls quickly in the tropics and after sundown, there's only one place to be: in one of the park's comfortably appointed accommodations. During the wet season, rates drop considerably. The Kakadu Resort complex, set on a 10-hectare bushland site near the South Alligator River, offers air-conditioned motel rooms (doubles cost $70 a night), powered and unpowered van sites, and a camping area ($3.80 per person); call (61-8) 8979-0166 to book. For those with slightly fatter wallets, there's the Gagudju Crocodile Holiday Inn in the town of Jabiru...