July 16: Crocodiles Oh My!
I’m not sure what was more thrilling – hearing the loud snapping sound of a crocodile’s powerful jaws closing on a chicken carcass, swimming in two potentially crocodile infested swimming holes, or hand feeding corned beef to what my guide said were piranhas. Today’s eleven-hour tour to the Adelaide River Region and Litchfield National Park was full of one adrenaline filled activity after another.
Leaving the city of Darwin before dawn, our tour bus drove directly to the jumping crocodile cruise loading area, where our guide somberly admonished us to board the river boat one at a time, keeping our hands inside the steel meshing.
Setting off from the riverbank, we trolled up and down the murky waters, watching the powerful long beasts gliding stealthily along with just their large, scaled eyeballs and tops of their heads showing above the surface, their noses occasionally flaring as they blew out air.
Our guide recognized each crocodile, calling it by name and offering up dead chicken meat on the end of a pole for the reptile to snap at, jump for, and swallow whole. I felt like I was an extra in a movie production of jaws, seeing all the jagged teeth in their ferocious mouths, hearing the loud snapping sounds they made clamping down on the meat, and feeling the water from their thrashing tails splash on my skin.
I’m not sure whose idea it was to combine this tour with our swims in potentially crocodile infested waters. But it sure did add to the excitement.
On our way to two different waterfall swimming holes in Litchfield National Park, the guide explained that the park rangers did a “pretty good” job removing the more predatory saltwater crocodiles from the water and assured us that only the “friendlier” freshwater crocodiles were potentially still in the water.
When we got to the swimming holes we were greeted by signs titled with the striking oxymoron “crocodile safety,” announcing that saltwater crocodiles have been known to move into the area undetected and informing us that “freshwater crocodiles inhabit this area.”
After having just seen how quickly a croc can strike, I decided the main thing was for me to make sure I was not the first person in the water!
The swimming turned out to be delightfully refreshing, especially given the high temperatures in this area. The waterfalls themselves were breathtaking and the clusters of rocks at the base made nice little swimming holes.
At our second waterfall stop, the guide handed me leftover lunch meat to feed to what he called “piranhas” circling around me in the water. When the dark slimy grey creature grabbed the meat from my hand, I could feel his little teeth on my fingers while the others thrashed around next to me hoping for leftovers.
On our way home we stopped to get a better look at a field of magnetic termite mounds, a collection of neatly organized, perfectly aligned rectangular structures that reminded me of headstones in a well-ordered graveyard. Apparently, the insects create these dwelling places so that the thin edges face north-south minimizing the temperature levels inside. What a fantastic day!
