The crocodiles at Kachikally are not behind glass or a fence. They lie on the banks and in the shallows of a small sacred pool in the middle of Bakau, and visitors are encouraged to approach and touch them. Dozens of Nile crocodiles have inhabited this pool for as long as anyone can remember, tended by the same family across generations. The animals are calm in a way that seems almost impossible — the result of ritual feeding and a tradition of treatment that treats them as sacred, not as spectacles.
The pool is a fertility shrine. Women who are struggling to conceive come to bathe in the waters or pray at the site. A small museum at the entrance explains the history of the site and the Cham family who have cared for it. The guides are knowledgeable and the entrance fee is modest.
Go in the morning when the crocodiles are most active and the light is good. Bring your nerve and, if you want, touch one: they really don't move.