Jumping Croc Fiesta

On the way to Kakadu from Leitchfield we took in an amazing, though very touristy, jumping croc boat trip. It was great! You get loaded up in a boat, taken just a little way down the river and the boat captain ties pieces of pig head to a big pole and starts slapping it against the surface of the water. In a few seconds, you see big crocs come swimming up and after about 5 mins one will slowly "jump" out of the water, up to about its waist (if they have such a thing) and snap at the piece of meat. They will repeat this trick about 3 times, with their final attempt earning them the meat prize. We got to witness about 6 crocs doing this trick, one ("Stumpy") was missing an arm.

To sweeten this already great natural show, these big birds come swooping down and try to steal the meat from the snapping jaws of the crocs (Phil got a perfectly timed shot of a bird grabbing a hunk of meat from the pole). It was really great.