If you’ve seen Australia, the movie, you will know what the appeal of the Top End’s tropical landscape it.

Buffalo, Northern Territory

Of course the Northern Territory has beautiful National Parks: but they don’t cater for 5-star luxury, more the camping and family holiday scene. Now taking note from the luxury African safari model comes to the Northern Territory in the form of Bamurru Plains located on the edge of Kakadu National Park, and only 3 hours drive from Darwin.

Bird Life, Bamurra Camp

The brainchild of adventure tourism entrepreneur Charles Carlow, who also runs the just-opened Sal Salis at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, Bamurru Plains was launched in early 2007. It has been a resounding success making it on to the hotlists of influential US and British travel magazines and providing what could well be Australia’s first African-style safari option. The brags in the visitors book point to adventure aplenty: “We saw a jabiru at sunset with snake in its mouth and dingoes rounding up wallabies”

Bamurru Plains is a safari camp on Swim Creek Station, a privately owned pastoral lease on the flood plains of the Mary River delta east of Darwin. The property runs 10,00 head of buffalo and 1500 brahmin cattle. At only 303sqkm its tiny by Australian standards but the area is a paradise for the visitor looking for the unusual and beautiful.

Fine Dining meets Camping

Camping Glamour Style

Bamurru offers the “glamping” experience as glamour camping is getting know as. There are no tents to put up and not a sleeping bag to be seen. Instead the ensuite fixed tents include lemmongrass-scented ssoads, feather-filled pillows and a powerful shower (hot and cold available) attached to a tree trunk in the tin-and-timber bathroom annex. The lack of noisy generators and the large, mesh covered windows means that you will probably wake early to the sounds of the blue-winged Kookaburras, or the sound of a buffalo splashing around in the floodplains not far from your bed.

With no telephones, TVs, CD players or the typical features of a hotel room to distract you, your focus turns to the surrounding environment. Only 3 of the 9 rooms have air-conditioning and you will have to book it and pay extra too. Meals are family style in the central dining room and menus feature local produce including buffalo and baramundi. So basically camping with a comfortable bed, a hot shower, a guide and cook thrown in - I could get used to that!