GT Travel Awards 2008: Best indigenous tourism

Anangu Waai, NT
Local knowledge in a foreign land is an invaluable asset to any traveller. Anangu Waai, an indigenous tour company operating in the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, lets visitors see Uluru through the eyes of the people who have been its custodians for millennia. Using Western Desert languages translated by an interpreter, Anangu Waai guides share stories and discuss Aboriginal law and traditions, retrace the footsteps of their ancestors and give demonstrations of bushcraft such as making fire without matches and learning how to hold and throw a spear. Anangu Waai’s remarkable effort to share indigenous culture with outsiders was recognised with a Legacy World Tourism Award in 2004; this is the second consecutive year Anangu Waai has been named Best Indigenous Tourism operator in the Australian Gourmet Traveller Travel Awards.
Anangu Waai, (08) 8950 3030, www.ananguwaai.com.au.

Runners-up: Kooljaman at Cape Leveque, WA; Kepa Kurl Eco Discovery Tours, WA.