Imagine stepping into a place where ancient stories live in the rocks. Rock art tells about the lives of aboriginal groups like the Bininj and Mungguy people that existed up to 65,000 years ago. You will find giant waterfalls, billabongs, caves and ancient rock paintings, and a huge number of exotic animals. Kakadu National Park, in the Northern Territory of Australia, has all of those things. It’s a wild, beautiful place full of adventure and it is a World Heritage Site. A World Heritage Site is a place that is protected because it’s important to the whole world. The park is called one of the most amazing places on Earth.

Why is Kakadu so important? First, Aboriginal people have lived there for over 65,000 years. The Bininj (bin-inj) and Mungguy (moong-goy) people claim this area as their traditional grounds. There are still aboriginal settlements, called outstations, in the national park. There are storytellers and tour guides from these ancient cultures that will help you understand why the area is important, explain the rock art and share legends with you.  A visit to Kakadu, will make you feel like you are walking through history.

Second, the animals. Kakadu is home to hundreds of different animals. There are over 280 kinds of birds as well as giant saltwater crocodiles, wallabies, snakes, turtles, dingoes, and wild buffalo. At wetlands like Yellow Water Billabong you can take boat  cruises to see wildlife, but keep your hands and feet in the boat because there are salt water crocodiles just waiting for a snack to float by. Other animals that live there, like the Northern Quoll — a carnivorous marsupial — are endangered. When an animal is endangered, it means there aren’t very many of them left in the world. Kakadu is a safe place where these animals are protected.

Learning can be an adventure out in the wild. Places like Kakadu that are on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list will teach you a lot of things about a lot of things. At Kakadu National Park you will learn about animals, geography, ancient cultures and more. You will also learn that humans are not always the predators but can also be the prey. Do you want to be lunch for a crocodile or a soccer ball for a water buffalo? You can also  learn how invasive species of plants and animals can be both harmful as well as helpful to the environment.