Sunset Cruise

An essential part of your stay in Karumba must be to enjoy the Sunset Cruise which runs nightly.  A family run business, Mum holds the micorphone and tells you about the area, its history, industry, and wildlife, while Dad drives the boat, all the while looking out for crocodiles with his trusty binoculars, and Daughter, who prepares the food and pours big splashes of wine into your plastic glass.  It's a pleasant and social way to spend the evening and is difficult not to get chatting with everyone on board.  A prawn in one hand and a glass of wine in the other makes photography a little difficult, but we managed to grab a few photos regardless.

Along the river, jabirus poke long beaks into the mud in search of a tasty morsel.  Meanwhile, a crocodile hides beneath a large log, a few metres from shore, and, on hearng the boat approach, makes a quick entrance into the water where he quickly disappears from sight.  A few minutes later, two jabrius meet and greet, by facing each other and dancing, wings out and fluttering their feathers together.  All the while, falcons swoop the boat and take small pieces of pilchards which have been put on a platform for them.  As the sun sets across this calm mangrove-edged river, delapidated wrecks of boats, twisted and rusty, reveal themsevles from behind swampy trees.