North-Western Australia is renowned for its warm winter weather and natural beauty. From Exmouth to the Bungle Bungles, it's a place of almost unimaginable serenity. The heart beat of the area - Broome - provides hundreds of tourist flights, walks, drives and boat rides to remote areas you'll never otherwise experience in your life.
Cape Leveque from the Safari Tent
Cape Leveque is a three hour drive north of Broome on an unsealed, often boggy road. Located at the tip of the Dampier Peninsula, you quickly get the sense that the developed world has never existed. For those that have been there, your heart never leaves. Cape Leveque is one of the most peaceful, natural and breathtaking areas in the world (that I've seen so far).
There are no shops, no fuel stations, no delis and no markets. The only structures on the cape are a hand full of wooden huts of varying sizes scattered throughout the bush. This grouping of huts is
Kooljaman - a five star eco resort giving tourists the opportunity to experience life at its more relaxing pace.
Sunrise is almost as good as sunset here!
Cape Leveque itself is renowned for it's natural beauty. Red cliff faces give way to golden sandy beaches as far as the eye can see. The warm tropical waters are calm inside the bay and the tides fluctuate quite impressively. At low tide the beach can be as much as 20m wider!
The cape is absolutely teeming with wildlife too. Racehorse Goannas are common amongst all the native fruit trees and fisherman will have no trouble reeling in a big one. Reef sharks, Golden Trevally and Mackerel all frequent the area making for perfect shore angling.
You can take tours around the cape, with indigenous guides showing you around their traditional lands. On these tours you can experience the local cuisine, learn about the rich heritage in the area and, most importantly, learn how to catch mud crabs and fish the traditional way.
Accomodation starts with basic beach shelters. For $65 per night (twin share) you get three log walls and a roof, with only a few metres of sand between you and the tropical coastal waters.
Up the other end of the scale is the Safari Tents. At $270 per
The view from the Safari Tent
night twin share you get a queen size bed plus two singles inside a large African safari style tent perched on top of a timber balcony with stunning views over the cape. Out of everyone who claims to mix nature and luxury to perfection, this is the best.
There are a few other facilities, including dirt cheap camping and a restaurant which in itself deserves a whole review. Every meal from duck to steak was just perfect, well worth the prices (which are rather high due to transport costs). You do have the option of cooking yourself, with barbeques and kitchen facilities provided.
Calm waters in the bay
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Getting there --
The three hour drive, or plane ride are well worth the journey. For anyone wanting to escape the rat race Kooljaman at Cape Leveque is simply stunning.
