Mt Borradaile ~ nature and art paradise

Mt Borradaile (Awunbarna) is a registered Aboriginal sacred site in northwest Arnhem Land, Northern Territory (NT), Australia. The traditional owners and custodians of the land have lived at Mt Borradiale for over 50,000 years.

Davidson’s Arnhemland Safaris

Davidson’s Arnhemland Safari Lodge is on a 700km² leased land near Mt Borradaile. Davidsons is the only place to stay when visiting this remote area of Arnhem Land.  The camp was constructed by Max Davidson in 1986. With the permission of the traditional local landowners, the Bunidj indigenous tribe, he started a stunning safari camp in the bush.

The Camp

The camp is very comfortable and well-appointed. The 20 cabins are set out in a circle around the main lounge area and designed to face outwards into the bush. The food was excellent, and a new and exciting three-course meal appeared every night. The guides are knowledgeable and obliging and work hard to ensure everyone has the best experience at Davidsons.

Dining room.
Getting to Davidson’s arnhemland safaris

There are only two ways to get to Davidson’s Arnhemland Safari camp. One is to fly 50 mins via Air Charter from Darwin or Jabiru. During this flight, one will see the vastness of Arnhemland, which is home to around 16,000 Indigenous Australians.

The other option is to drive. During the dry season only, it is a 350km drive from Darwin. In the wet season, waters flood the roads, notably the well-known Cahills Crossing, the only way to access Arnhem Land. 

Most people choose the flight option as it is quicker.

Famous Cahill’s Crossing floods in the wet season with no vehicular access to Arnhem Land.
Activities at Davidson’s Arnhemland Safaris

There is so much to see and do at Davidson’s. A variety of exciting and fun tours await. The guides carefully coordinate all tours to ensure they don’t overlap with other tours.

Here is a list of some of the activities that are offered at Davidson’s Camp

  • Bushwalking
  • Land safaris
  • Aboriginal rock art
  • Billabong cruises
  • Swimming
  • Barramundi fishing
  • Birdwatching
  • Sunrise and sunsets
  • Thousands of waterlilies
Aboriginal rock art galleries

Mt Borradaile has an incredible array of Aboriginal rock art that has been there for thousands of years. The richness is due to the sheltered caves and catacombs. There are so many areas with fantastic rock art; one could spend a whole week seeing and appreciating them all.

In addition, many rock art sites have sacred burial remains that can be viewed but not photographed. Therefore, trained, experienced local guides must accompany all tours from Davidsons Arnhemland Safaris, the only place that offers accommodation and permits to enter this area.

Rainbow Serpent

One of the most significant rock art is the Rainbow Serpent. The origins of the Rainbow Serpent date back to the Dreamtime Era. It then travelled through the land, creating mountains, valleys, rivers, and lakes, and arrived in Central Australia.


Saltwater crocodiles

The Northern Territory waterways are heavily populated with saltwater crocodiles (and estuarine crocodiles). There are more than 100,000 crocodiles in this area. These crocodiles are the most aggressive and dangerous globally and are the largest living reptile. They have large heads, with their eyes, ears, and nostrils in the same area, allowing for good sight, hearing, and breathing while almost entirely submerged. These crocodiles grow up to 7 metres in length and have around 66 teeth visible when their mouth is closed.

Saltwater crocodiles spend most of their life in the water and usually only come on to land to bask in the sun to warm up. Their primary diet is fish, but they eat whatever is in front of them, such as turtles, goannas, birds, cattle, buffalo, small reptiles, mud crabs, etc. Once hunted to almost extinction, with only 300 left in the wild, they were deemed a protected species in 1970. It is now illegal to hunt crocodiles in Australia.

Merton’s water monitors

Water monitors are a lizard found in coastal and inland waters and endemic to Australia’s NT. They are around one metre long, are excellent swimmers, and rarely venture far from their water habitats. Their primary diet consists of frogs, fish, small mammals and insects. However, they have become a vulnerable species in the NT due to the introduction of pesky cane toads. When water monitors eat the cane toads, they die from the poison.

agile wallaby

Agile wallabies are the most common wallabies in NT, Australia. They can grow up to 65 – 80 cm tall, sandy coloured with a dark stripe that runs from their head down towards their nose and black tips at the end of their ears and tail. The agile wallaby is a protected species in NT. However, numbers are decreasing due to the illegal commercial trade and hunting. It is unlawful to hunt, keep or trade wallabies without a permit.

BLACK-FOOTED ROCK WALLABY

Black-footed rock wallabies are smallish wallabies weighing up to around 4.5kg. Their tails (56cm) are longer than their bodies (49cm). They have thick brown fur with a grey stripe on their shoulders and a light brown stripe across their cheeks. Their habitat is in the rocky and steep slopes of escarpments and mountains. A vegetarian diet consisting of leaves and fruits can survive without drinking water.

Feral foxes, cats, and wedge-tailed eagles are the major threats to these cute macropods. Their numbers are declining, placing these animals on the threatened species list. They are hard to find and photograph as they are very timid and don’t sit for long; therefore, keep your camera poised when looking for them!

nankeen night-heron

Nankeen night herons are solid birds up to 60cm long, with a 1-metre wingspan and large eyes well adapted for night vision. This bird is identified by its black cap and chestnut back. It is found throughout Australia, particularly close to waterways, swamps, and billabongs. They feed primarily at night in shallow waters on insects, crustaceans, fish, frogs, and beetles in their local habitats but often can be found scouting for food during the day.

brolga

Brolgas are from the crane family and are the only crane species native to Australia. They are one of Australia’s largest flying birds and are non-migratory. They stand around 1.3 metres tall with a wingspan of up to 2.4 metres and very long legs. Brolgas are very skilled foragers and can hunt for food with their heads underwater. Their diet includes vegetation and small animals, such as wetland plants, insects, frogs and mice.

It is found in open wetlands, billabongs and rivers. Brolgas are a threatened species mainly due to the loss of their wetland habitats and the introduction of feral foxes who prey on young brolga chicks and eggs.

blue-winged kookaburra

The blue-winged kookaburra is a large kingfisher with a large head, long bill and a pale eye. Their preferred habitat is tropical and subtropical open woodlands, paperbark swamps, and wetlands in coastal areas. Diet is varied and consists of insects, frogs, lizards, fish, spiders, snakes, worms, small birds and mammals. I just managed to get a shot of this blue-winged kookaburra, having snared itself a lizard!

Australasian darter

Sometimes called a snakebird due to its long snake-like neck. These birds live in freshwater wetlands and can swim with their bodies submerged under the water, as in the second image where the darter just came up for air. They can dive to depths of up to 60 cm in search of food using their long, thin, spear-like beak to impale fish. Once fishing in the water, they often perched on a high branch with their wings outstretched to dry.

Black-necked stork

The black-necked stork is the only species of stork that lives in Australia. Despite the name black-necked, this stork often has a green iridescent neck. With their long orange-coloured legs, these birds stand 1.3 metres tall and have a wingspan of around 2 metres. Their long beaks help hunt snakes, frogs, turtles, eels and fish in wetland marshes. It is a wading bird that spends much of its life in wetlands, floodplains and swamps.

Red-tailed black cockatoo

These birds are very active, friendly, nosy, and noisy, often seen in large flocks. They are flighty and will swiftly take off once they know people nearby. Due to the illegal bird smuggling trade, these birds are now on the list of protected bird species.

Rainbow bee-eater

They are beautiful birds with their multi-coloured plumage of green, blue, chestnut and yellow. They are medium-sized birds with a long curved bill, long tail streamers, and red eyes. Their diet consists of insects, particularly ‘bees’, but feast on butterflies, beetles, dragonflies, and moths. I was lucky to capture one of these rainbow bee-eaters with a freshly caught bee!

crimson finch

Crimson finches are chirpy little birds with short star beaks. Their primary habitat is amongst the pandanus and paperbark trees in the swamps and wetlands of NT. They are very flighty birds, and they don’t hang around long to have their photos taken, so one has to be very quick!

olive-backed oriole

The olive-backed oriole is a medium-sized songbird with an orange bill, red eyes, and olive, green, and yellow plumage. Their habitat is in the damp tropical areas of NT.

Magpie geese

Magpie geese are very noisy birds that live in large flocks of up to a thousand birds. They live in the wetlands and flood plains of the NT, Australia.

Magpie geese.
sacred kingfisher

The sacred kingfisher is a medium-sized bird, around 20 – 23 cm long, that lives in wetlands and mangroves. It is called sacred because it is a holy bird for Polynesians. The kingfisher’s diet includes insects, bugs, spiders, frogs, and small fish.

comb-crested jacana

The comb-crested jacana, also known as the lotus bird, spends much time walking around on lily pads. These birds live in coastal and sub-coastal regions of Australia’s wetlands, lagoons, billabongs, swamps, rivers and lakes as long as there is enough floating vegetation. Their long toes allow for walking across lily pads and other floating vegetation.

white-bellied sea-eagle

The white-bellied sea eagle is the second largest raptor (bird of prey). Weighing in at around 2 – 4 kg with a wingspan of about 2 metres. They live in coastal regions of Australia, often perched high up in trees or soaring over waterways and wetlands. In addition, they are very skilled opportunistic hunters who hunt near water and will prey on aquatic animals such as fish, turtles, and sea snakes, but they will often go after birds as big as a swan and small mammals. They also feed on carrion, such as dead sheep, birds and dead fish.

A collection of Cormorants and Australasian Darters perched on an old pandanus tree.
mt borradaile landscapes

The scenery is pristine and stunningly beautiful. Rivers, billabongs, waterways, and wetlands provide endless vistas as far as the eye can see. Below are a few of my favourite images, which I hope will give the reader some idea of the immense beauty of Mt Borradaile.

water lilies

Water lilies are aquatic plants and are the quiet beauty of the pond or lake. There are over 58 water lily species native to temperate and tropical parts of the world. Water lilies are an important spiritual symbol and mean many things in different parts of the world. In Buddhism and Hinduism, the water lily symbolises resurrection because these flowers close up at night and reopen in the morning.

Buddhists also believe the water lily represents enlightenment because the flower emerges from the dark and muddy water. The water lily is the star of the art world as Claude Monet often used waterlilies in his artwork, of which he painted 250 pieces; these became his most famous artworks. Mt Borradaile billabongs are overflowing with these magnificent aquatic flowers.

Having spent three days at Davidson’s, and while I saw a lot, I did not see everything they had to offer. This blog post summarises what I saw and experienced at Davidsons. I will return to this fantastic place and expect to see it again, as well as the places I missed the first time. I am also looking forward to their warm hospitality.

http://www.arnhemland-safaris.com

https://venturenorth.com.au/northern-territory-tourism-blog/arnhem-land-tours-into-%E2%80%8Bmt-borradaile/

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(c) Margaret Weiss 2020