Top End Luxury Safaris

Koolpin Gorge – The Jewel in the Crown of Kakadu

Koolpin Gorge is Kakadu National Park’s best-kept secret, and for good reason. Its Aboriginal name is Jarrangbarnmi, from the Jawoyn words “jarrang” (flood or big water flow) and “barn” (rift or gap). This is a carefully protected, restricted area with significant natural and cultural value. Permits are needed, visitor numbers are strictly controlled, and Lords Safaris is one of a limited number of operators allowed access.

The gorge is in the southern part of the park, accessible only by high-clearance 4WD. What you find when you get there is breathtaking – a pristine wilderness of seemingly endless gorges, crystalline waters, waterfalls, plunge pools, and white sandy beaches. Koolpin Creek flows down several hundred feet through a series of cascades and pools often called the “Giant’s Staircase.” You can walk, scramble, or climb through an ever-changing landscape with infinite views.

Trade tip: The restricted access is the selling point here. Your clients will be visiting a place that most people – including most Australians – will never see. It photographs extraordinarily well and the sense of exclusivity is genuine, not manufactured.

Crossing into Arnhem Land & Injalak Arts

Today the group is privileged to enter Arnhem Land, home of Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years. Access is restricted to a select group of tour operators, and visits happen only by invitation of the traditional owners, who may deny access at any time. Lords Safaris has a proud history of more than 25 years working with the Indigenous people of Arnhem Land and Kakadu.

Departing the northern region of Kakadu, you cross the infamous Cahill’s Crossing on the East Alligator River. A 15-kilometre scenic drive to the Gunbalanya Indigenous Community provides some of the best driving views in the Top End – floodplains, billabongs, and the Arnhem Land escarpment stretching out in every direction.

At Gunbalanya, you visit the Injalak Arts and Crafts Centre – a nonprofit Aboriginal-owned social enterprise opened in 1989 where Kunwinjku artists produce traditional art inspired by ancient Dreamtime stories and nearby rock art galleries. This is an intimate setting where visitors watch artworks being created and can purchase paintings on paper and bark, carvings, didgeridoos, fibre works, and special edition prints.

An Aboriginal guide then leads the group up Injalak Hill (Long Tom Dreaming) to view rock art documented as among the finest examples in Western Arnhem Land. Some say in all of Australia. The main gallery features layered paintings created over thousands of years, dating between 100 and 8,000 years old. The view from the summit is simply breathtaking.

The afternoon continues to Davidson’s Arnhemland Safaris, a safari lodge situated in the northwest corner of Arnhem Land adjacent to Kakadu and the Cobourg Peninsula. The lodge sits in natural bush surrounds with communal dining, lounge, bar, library, and an outdoor deck overlooking a sandstone-paved pool.

Trade tip: The Injalak Hill rock art and the meeting with working artists at the centre is the cultural highlight of the itinerary. For clients interested in Indigenous art, this is the real thing – not a curated museum experience. Davidson’s is remote (4WD or flight access only), which adds considerably to the sense of adventure.

Davidson’s Arnhemland Safaris & Mt Borradaile

A full day exploring the extraordinary environment around Davidson’s. Mt Borradaile is a registered Aboriginal sacred site within an exclusively leased 700-square-kilometre area nestled against the Arnhem Land escarpment. The landscape here is remarkable – rugged ranges fringed by billabongs, floodplains, paperbark swamps, and monsoonal rainforests.

Mt Borradaile is still owned and managed by its traditional custodians, the Amurdak people, whose inhabitation of the area dates back 50,000 years. The evidence of that history is everywhere – tools, ceremonial grounds, and rock art paintings are visible across valleys, overhangs, and caves. Magnificent galleries of rock art sit alongside occupation and burial sites, some still being uncovered today.

Activities during the day include fishing, guided viewing of Aboriginal art, and a billabong cruise through waterways populated by birdlife and crocodiles.

Trade tip: The 50,000-year occupation history at Mt Borradaile is not an exaggeration – it is one of the longest continuously inhabited sites on earth. For clients who respond to deep cultural experiences, this day alone justifies the itinerary. The billabong cruise is also excellent for wildlife photography.

Final Morning at Davidson’s & Return to Darwin

The morning is spent continuing to enjoy the sights and experiences around Davidson’s Arnhemland Safaris before departing after lunch for the return journey to Darwin.

Guests have the option to return to Darwin by air rather than 4WD vehicle. The flight offers spectacular aerial views of Arnhem Land and the floodplain systems that are impossible to appreciate from ground level.

Trade tip: The scenic flight return is worth recommending to clients who can accommodate the additional cost – it provides a completely different perspective on the country they’ve just explored on foot. We can arrange onward connections from Darwin to Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, or east coast destinations as part of a broader Australian itinerary.