According to an article featured in the prestigious US Forbes Magazine website the term 'safari' is usually synonymous with Africa. The giant continent grabs the wildlife headlines for being home to the ‘Big Five’ and the Great Migration; one of the most incredible sights in the natural world.

But they ask 'why do we only seem to safari in Africa?' It’s not the only place with unique, beautiful native species that need to be seen to be believed.

Australia, is the perfect alternative.  Its isolation and sheer scale has led to a striking effect on the evolution of the animals who call this place home, giving us some unique indigenous creatures that easily rival Africa or Asia. 

And it seems to be catching on as featured by Tom Marchant on Black Tomato, the hugely popular travel experience website.  He says that there has been a rise in the number of travellers flocking to Australia specifically for its wildlife and seeking out the lesser visited areas in the outback regions.

Have you checked out the region's best photo competition?  

Places like Australia’s third largest island, Kangaroo Island, home to an unbelievable raft of wildlife are increasingly making it onto the safari map.  It’s literally like a big safari park with no fences. Kangaroos hop along the roadside; koalas quizzically laze in the trees munching on eucalyptus, bizarre little echidnas shuffle through undergrowth and the sea teems with sea lions and fur seals.

Port Lincoln on the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula, offers up the Big Five of the ocean; Southern Bluefin tuna, Australian sea-lions, great white sharks, dolphins, humpback and Southern Right whales. Chasing the Big Five under the sea is an adventure like no other and one that deserves just as much fame as the big cats of Africa.

And let’s not forget the mighty living coral reefs. Australia has the largest reef in the world, the Great Barrier Reef, but an equally incredible alternative lies just off shore in Western Australia called the Ningaloo Reef.  Here, just as on the Great barrier Reef, it’s possible to swim with manta rays, turtles and the colossal whale sharks, giants of the sea that can reach up to 14 meters in length.

Further north, Daintree Rainforest has a huge variety of birds. In fact there are 12 species who inhabit this rainforest that live nowhere else in the world!  Then there’s water pythons, turtles, lizards, kangaroos, wallabies, dingoes and the most infamous resident of them all, the saltwater crocodile.

So, as Tom says, "It’s time to dispel those scaremongering shark stories or thoughts of slithering snakes and get up close to Australia’s incredible animals....Move over Africa, there’s a new safari in town". 



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