Before coming to Australia, I`d heard about Uluru, who hasn`t, but I have to say I was fascinated by all the history and culture I got to learn on my trip to Uluru.
I`ve had the opportunity to experience Uluru from every angle. I know most people only come for a day trip or 2 days top, but I recommend to take your time, because there`s so much to see out here!
I guess what impressed me most – except from actually standing in front of this massive rock and the beautiful play of colors – was the history and culture behind it. I think I realized it best by joining an Anangu guide on the Liru and Mala walk, getting to know the background from the people themselves. Learning traditional bush skills such as making kiti (bush superglue), starting a fire without matches, holding a spear, throwing it and imagining you are on the hunt, …
Sammy making kiti
Kiti
Tools used by the Anangu
Our guide, Sammy, told us one of the many stories that he knows. This one is about the “Blue Tong Lizard Man”:
Sammy telling the story
There was this man, called the Blue Tong Lizard Man, living close to Kata Tjuta, who was feeling lonely. Because he felt so lonely he decided to travel to find friends. So, he started his journey and after a while he arrived at the east of the rock, Uluru.
In the meantime, there was another man who was hunting for food and tracked an emu. He captured the emu and cooked it, which was a lot of work. And when he arrived back at his camp at the rock, he was exhausted.
The Blue Tong Lizard Man, still looking for friends, found the other man who was asleep by now, because he was so tired from all the hard work. He sees the other man as a new friend with lots of food, but because he`s hungry, he wants to take all the food. To mislead the sleeping man, he puts footprints everywhere and takes all the emu meat.
When the sleeping man wakes up, he`s feeling hungry but sees his emu meat is missing. He follows the right footprints and finds Blue Tong Lizard Man, who denies everything and says he`s just looking for friends. But the other man knows better and they start to argue, there is a fire and the cave fills with smoke, making the Blue Tong Lizard man tumble and die.
This is just one of the many stories that the rock beholds!
Along the rest of our walk, I saw some beautiful Anangu rock art
and some beautiful caves.
A special thanks to Northern Territory for inviting Traveldudes on this trip and to Melvin for giving me the opportunity to represent TravelDudes.
Also a big thank you to Nikon for letting me test the Nikon D3100 and the Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8GII ED camera lens.
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