Broome and Dampier Peninsula Tour
Indigenous Culture, Dinosaur tracks, Cetaceans, Birds, Stars, Waterfall Reef and more…
27 July - 5 August 2022
Highlights:
In addition to our usual spectacular local bird and mammal content, this tour offers an amazing diversity of nature and history far beyond that , which includes: Indigenous Culture, Cetaceans, Dinosaur Tracks, cascading waterfall reef and a sky full of stars. This tour is a carefully curated collection of experiences and destinations full of insider knowledge.
Overview:
We are very excited to be offering this itinerary again in one of Australia’s most spectacular locations where it feels like you are in another world. With Broome’s pearling history, diverse multicultural community, strong indigenous living culture, abundant wildlife, and a striking landscape of strongly contrasting colours, this is a very exotic destination. Situated in the far north of Western Australia on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert facing the Indian Ocean, Broome will take your breath away with its turquoise waters, white sandy beaches, rich red pindan cliffs where Brahminy Kite and Osprey soar. Life in this part of the world is organised around the moon cycle and the movement of the tides. Here you will experience the biggest tides in the southern hemisphere. This tour has been designed by Inala team member Kerry, a Broome resident of 30 years who has the benefit of knowing the local’s favourite ‘secret places’, and the best experiences that this location has to offer. An opportunity like this is seldom offered. You will be visiting the lands of and be guided by the indigenous Yawuru, Nyul Nyul, and Bardi Jawi people. You will also be travelling back in time 130 million years to the Cretaceous Era where evidence can be seen today of roaming dinosaurs from their footprints left in the mud of a vast river plain. You will have one of Inala’s expert wildlife guides along with local guides with intimate knowledge and connection to the places we will visit.
Targets for the trip:
Birds - Shorebirds (Far Eastern Curlew, Great Knot, Terek Sandpiper, Asian Dowitcher, Greater & Lesser Sand
Plovers, Red-necked Avocet), Gouldian Finch, Long-tailed Finch (ssp acuticauda), Pictorella Mannikin, Black-tailed Treecreeper, Brolga, Osprey, Cockatiel, Budgerigar, Paperbark & Broad-billed Flycatchers, Lemon-bellied Flycatcher (Kimberley ssp tormenti), Purple-backed (Lavender-flanked) Fairywren (ssp dulcis), Red-winged Parrot, Pheasant Coucal, Mangrove Gerygone, White-breasted Whistler, Mangrove Robin, Red-chested Buttonquail and Yellow Chat.
Mammals - Snubfin Dolphin, Australian Humpback Dolphin, Indo Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin, Sea Turtles, Northern Nail-tail Wallaby, Black Flying Fox.
This small group tour has been designed to follow on from our popular Top End to Eastern Kimberley tour (28 July-5 August 2024) and our Kimberley Kununurra to Broome tour 4-14 August 2024 which allows for maximum flexibility in exploring this remote and little-explored area of Outback North-Western Australia.
ITINERARY OUTLINE:
Day 1 Tue 13 Aug 2024. Arrive Broome and welcome dinner
Day 2 Wed 14 Aug 2024. Broome to Dampier Peninsula - visit the Pearl Shell Church en route.
Day 3 Thu 15 Aug 2024. Dampier Peninsula - birding, Riji talk.
Day 4 Fri 16 Aug 2024. Dampier Peninsula - Djarindjin Lombadina town tour, Buccaneer Archipelago cruise.
Day 5 Sat 17 Aug 2024. Dampier Peninsula - Gumbanan and surrounds
Day 6 Sun 18 Aug 2024. Dampier Peninsula to Broome.
Day 7 Mon 19 Aug 2024. Dinosaur Tracking/Dreaming story with Traditional Owners.
Day 8 Tue 20 Aug 2024. Birding with Broome Bird Observatory: Lakes and Roebuck Plains Station.
Day 9 Wed 21 Aug 2024. Broome Bird Observatory Shorebirds, Bagul Bagul Mangrove tour in afternoon
Day 10 Thu 22 Aug 2024. Snubfin Dolphin tour (finishes 11.30 am) – and depart Broome.
DETAILED ITINERARY
B- breakfast; L- lunch; D-dinner.
Day 1. Tuesday 13 August 2024. Arrive Broome and welcome dinner.
Today has been set aside as an arrival day so you are free to arrive at any time that suits your travel plans. Please make your own way to the hotel. We will meet up for dinner.
Accommodation: Broome (hotel room with en suite). Meals Included: D
Day 2. Wednesday 14 August 2024. Broome to Dampier Peninsula - Birdwatching, Town Walk and a visit to the Pearl Shell Church.
Today we leave Broome and travel up the Dampier Peninsula, stopping at Beagle Bay Aboriginal community, home to the Nyul Nyul people en route. We will visit the famous pearl shell church, which first opened its doors on 15 August 1918. We will also spend some time birdwatching around Beagle Bay looking for Red-tailed Black cockatoo, Blue-winged Kookaburra, White-gaped Honeyeater and Great Bowerbird, before proceeding to a working pearl farm 214km from Broome in the heart of Bardi Jawi country. Our stay on the Dampier Peninsula present some of best chances of finding Gouldian Finch, as well as other northern specialties like Lesser Frigatebird, Sooty Oystercatcher, (northern ssp opthalmicus), Beach Thick-knee, Red-collared Lorikeet, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Northern Fantail, Lemon-bellied flycatcher (Kimberley ssp tormenti) and Yellow-white eye.
Accommodation: Dampier Peninsula (Glamping en suite Safari Tent). Meals Included: B, L, D.
Day 3. Thursday 15 August 2024. Dampier Peninsula – bird watching and Riji.
This morning we will explore the Dampier Peninsula. The coastline is varied and changes dramatically with the tidal movements. Mangroves give way to tidal creeks and rocky points, offering fresh oysters. Small sandy beaches are perfect for beachcombing and the bush tracks offer great bird watching and secluded hideaways. Today we hope to come across some of the mangrove bird species including Mangrove Robin, Mangrove Gerygone, White-breasted Whistler, Mangrove Fantail and shorebirds that may be hiding among these salt-adapted trees. Before lunch, we will return to the pearl farm to learn about Riji, the traditional art of carving pearl shells, a practice that has continued for millennia. We will resume birding in the relative cool of late afternoon.
Accommodation: Dampier Peninsula (Glamping en suite Safari Tent). Meals Included: B, L, D.
Day 4. Friday 16 August 2024. Dampier Peninsula – Lombadina town walk and Buccaneer Archipelago cruise.
Our first stop today is the township of Lombadina on Thomas Bay on the western side of the Dampier Peninsula. We will take a walking tour through the community with a local guide to learn about the history of the Bardi culture. The ocean has been pivotal in the lives of the Bardi people for many thousands of years as both a source of food and spiritual significance. Evidence of their saltwater heritage can be found in the traditional artworks and pearl shell designs (riji) on display at the arts and crafts centre. If we have time, we will visit the beautiful white beach to scan the sand and ocean for seabirds.
Later in the day, we will take a two-hour cruise out from Cygnet Bay to King Sound and the pristine ‘thousand islands’ of the Buccaneer Archipelago. The islands were isolated from the mainland only a few million years ago, but the rocks that form them are more than 2 billion years old. The archipelago and the peninsula are both named after William Dampier, explorer and privateer, who landed here in 1699.
Accommodation: Dampier Peninsula (Glamping en suite Safari Tent). Meals Included: B, L, D.
Day 5. Saturday 17 August 2024. Gumbanan and surrounds.
Our destination today is Gumbanan on the north-east coast of the Dampier Peninsula. Gumbanan lies on a headland flanked by mangroves and white sand beaches. It is a stronghold for Gouldian Finch, so we will spend some time looking for them here as well as other species. We will also keep an eye on the sea for dolphins, whales and dugongs, which often swim just offshore. As the tide goes out, the lower water level will reveal the traditional fish trap built from stone. Accommodation: Dampier Peninsula (Glamping en suite Safari Tent). Meals Included: B, L, D.
Day 6. Sunday 18 August 2024. Dampier Peninsula to Broome.
Today we head back to Broome stopping frequently along the way to look for wildlife. Birds of prey are always a possibility whilst driving, so we’ll also be keeping an eye out for species like Square-tailed Kite, Black-breasted Buzzard, Brown Goshawk (northern ssp didimus), White-breasted Sea-eagle, Spotted Harrier, Wedge- tailed Eagle and Brahminy Kites as we drive south to the laid-back Indian Ocean town of Broome, which will be our base for the next few days.
Accommodation: Broome (hotel room with en suite) Meals Included: B, L, D.
Day 7. Monday 19 August 2024. Broome area – Dinosaur Tracking & Dreaming story with Traditional Owners.
We have set aside today to go Dinosaur Tracking with local Traditional Owners and listen to Dreamtime stories connected to the trackway. (Bugarigarra – the Dreamtime, is the time before time, but which still exists today.) Broome is one of the few places in the world where there is a strong link between dinosaur tracks and Indigenous creation stories. It is the only place in Australia that has both sauropod tracks and confirmed stegosaur and ankylosaur tracks. It provides our only detailed look at Australia’s dinosaur fauna during the first part of the Lower Cretaceous Epoch (130 million years ago). Broome’s dinosaur tracks are the most diverse and numerous in Australia and are unparalleled globally.
Accommodation: Broome (hotel room with en suite) as for last night. Meals Included: B, L, D.
Day 8. Tuesday 20 August 2024. Birding with the Broome Bird Observatory: Lakes and Roebuck Plains Station.
We have a full day of birding today. In the afternoon we will head 25 km east of Broome to the Broome Bird Observatory, a Ramsar and National Heritage listed wetland on the shores of Roebuck Bay in Yawuru Nagulagun Roebuck Bay Marine Park. Established in 1988 and operated by the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union (now BirdLife Australia) as a research and education facility, its principal aim is to work for the conservation of the migratory shorebirds which visit the Bay. Roebuck Bay is an incredibly diverse and beautiful wetland, with endless mudflats, mangrove forests and otherworldly saltmarsh. This is one of two trips we will make to the Observatory. Today we will journey around the teeming wetlands of Roebuck Plains Station which is dotted with freshwater lakes that fill during the wet season and become a magnet for birds as the surrounding grassland dries out. You will find these wetlands alive with waterbirds and see a host of open-country and woodland species as we travel between them. Conditions are ideal for birds of prey, of which a dozen species may be seen during the day. The tour also provides an insight into the fascinating world and varied landscapes of a Kimberley cattle station. Birding targets today include Black-tailed Treecreeper, Cockatiel, Black-breasted Buzzard, Green Pygmy-goose, Brolga and Australian Pratincole. With luck we might also encounter the rare and localised Yellow Chat.
Accommodation: Broome (hotel room with en suite) as for last night. Meals Included: B, L, D.
Day 9. Wednesday 21 August 2024. Birding at the Broome Bird Observatory – shorebirds, Bagul Bagul mangrove tour.
This morning, we will return to the Broome Bird Observatory to focus on shorebirds. Roebuck Bay hosts around 25 shorebird species at this time of year, often including a few national rarities. Your guides will point out the subtle distinguishing features of species clustered together in the mixed flocks. In the late afternoon, we will join Bart Pigram on a tour of the mangroves. Bart is a Yawuru man, born and bred in Broome who loves to share his Aboriginal and multicultural perspective and stories. You will learn about the different types of mangrove trees and the traditional uses for their wood. At low tide you will see mudskippers (after which the tour is named – bagul bagul is mudskipper in Yawuru Language), crabs and a variety of birds such as Red-headed Myzomela, Brahminy Kite and Broad-billed flycatcher.
Accommodation: Broome (hotel room with en suite) as for last night. Meals Included: B, L, D.
Day 10. Thursday 22 August 2024. Morning Snubfin Dolphin Tour and Depart.
This morning we head out onto the water in Roebuck Bay to view the world’s only resident population of Snubfin Dolphins and a myriad of other marine life. Measuring around 2 metres in length and named for its tiny dorsal fin, this slow-moving species is much smaller than the more commonly seen Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin and was only identified as a unique species in 2005. Other marine life in the Bay includes Bottlenose Dolphins, turtles (Roebuck Bay is home to five out of seven of the world’s sea turtle species), Dugong, seabirds, coastal Manta Rays and sea snakes, as well as Hammerhead, Bronze Whaler and Tiger Sharks.
The tour ends at 11.30 am, after which it will be time to depart.
Accommodation: None. Meals Included: B.
Group size: 8 people with 2 driver/guides
2024 Tour Price: AU $9,000 per person twin share. Single Supplement: AU $1,190 These prices are based on the current rate of GST and may need to be adjusted if there are significant changes
Inclusions: 9 nights en suite accommodation, specialist guiding and transport for day and night tours as outlined above, meals and activities as outlined in the itinerary and GST (VAT).
Exclusions: International or domestic Australian airfares, airport transfers, activities, breakfast and lunch on day 1, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and expenses of a personal nature (snacks, travel insurance, internet, laundry, tips etc).
OTHER NOTES:
Although this is a tropical destination, night-time temperatures in some areas can drop to less than 10C in August Please also bring warm clothing and covered footwear.
