Prerna Shah reports on Village Ways’ journey in building a new eco-tourism venture with demonstrable social outcomes.
Frog Dreaming Country, Indigenous Australia Community Tourism
Two hours south of Katherine, just off the 2,500km Central Arnhem Highway to Cairns, there is an unsealed, red sand road disappearing into the bush. This dusty track winds 35km through shady gum forests and lush savanna. Kangaroos stare, wild donkeys scatter, and your 4WD enters Country belonging to the Jawoyn, the people of the Frog Ancestors. “This is my mothers country” whispers our guide Long John, “I wasn’t born ‘ere, but this is where I learnt to ride.”