"Litchfield Do, Kaka Don't," is the mantra of Darwiners (or Darwinians or Darwinites or whatever they call themselves) when it comes to distant Kakadu National Park v. nearer Litchfield. Even our disappointing Rough Guide quotes the advice.
But the two parks are so entirely different it would be like saying "Visit Yellowstone but skip Teton National Park."
While Kakadu is all about nature and Aboriginal culture, Litchfield is more like a water park. Kakadu has wild wetlands and billabongs; Litchfield has waterfalls and swimming holes. Both parks have bad-ass crocodiles and in this season, at least, much of each park is still inaccessible.
We traveled through Litchfield at the advice of some other caravaners to stay at Litchfield Safari Camp. They told us not to base our opinion of the campground on the derelict reception area and they were right. It was simple, quiet, very "bushy" and only 4km from Wangi Falls, truly picturesque. The water at Wangi was still high enough for salt-water crocodiles to be in the area, so swimming was verboten. But Florence Falls was a different matter. Day-trippers from Darwin climbed down 400 meters of stairs to swim at the base of the falls. We got the last parking spot at Buley Rockholes and the pools were packed with young people partying, not really our scene.
Each of the parks has its own charm so our advice is "Litchfield do, Kakadu too!"
