Right in the heart of Darwin City lies the world’s largest display of Australian reptiles and some of the largest Saltwater Crocodiles in the world – Crocosaurus Cove. We had the chance to visit the place on the first night in Darwin, as there was a Welcome Reception hosted by Silkair in celebration of their inaugural flight to Darwin that evening.
At Crocosaurus Cove, you can come up, close and personal with some of the deadliest creatures in the world. Their famous Cage of Death allows you to enter a pool of crocodiles in a transparent tank. Pic from http://www.crocosauruscove.com:
And we met with this baby croc right after we entered. Even one as little as this could bite really bad, as you can tell. They had to tie up its mouth with a rubber band! The skin of the crocodile was really full of interesting texture to the touch, and actually quite beautiful. I can understand why people would pay so much for their skin!
We next met up with a snake that made me cringe. It was undoubtedly beautiful, but really creepy-looking. The way it slid around the staff’s shoulders just sent chills down my spine. I made sure I kept my distance.
We saw many enclosures with different crocodiles and each had its own story to tell. Many were crocodiles who had lived for a long, long time, went through some battles, or had an interesting encounter. Quite interesting to read about them, as if they were some heroes in history. =)
These bubbles allowed you to have a close-up view of the baby crocodiles. What an interesting concept!
And this was what I saw when I peeked up one of the bubbles! I say crocodiles have really sinister eyes.
Met aboriginals who came to the Welcome Reception to officially welcome us to the Land of Darwin. =) Nice and friendly folks.
There was a platform for interested guests to try their hand at feeding the crocodiles with fishing rods. I also tried feeding! The crocodiles, though not very big, were SUPER STRONG. The moment one croc bit on the bait, I had to shake it violently in order to get the fishing rod back. Kinda thrilling for a city dweller like me. Hee.
It was weird, but at the end of interacting with the crocs, we wrapped up the night with some deep-fried croc meat. They tasted very much like chicken, only tougher.
