See Uluru’s Perfect Doppelganger On A Day Tour

Being Australia’s matchless natural landmark there’s no wonder why tourists make a beeline for Uluru day tours in Australia. Immersed in Aboriginal Culture, a guided walk around Ayers Rock is one of the most-recommended things to do in Uluru and an activity you can’t miss on. Standing tall at 348mts (1142ft), Uluru is an inselberg which roughly translates to ‘Island Mountain’. 1-line geography class: Inselbergs are significant blocks of landmasses rising abruptly from the ground and surrounded all sides by flat lowlands.

To the bafflement of many tourists, there is another inselberg nearby that can be easily mistaken for the famed Uluru! Attila (Aboriginal name for Mt. Connor) is undoubtedly the perfect doppelganger to Uluru, discounting one or two obvious features! So you really can’t blame the crowd for accidentally mistaking it for Uluru!

When traveling on a coach for numerous hours and going past sweeping and continuous deserted lands with just Uluru on your mind, there is a hope that you will spot Atilla and fall under the false impression that you’ve arrived at your desired destination! With the general crowd hoodwinked by the same over the years, Attila is known regionally as ‘Fool-a-ru’ and the name and the misconception is a well-known inside joke among the local tourism operators.

Wondering what the obvious features are which you can use to simply tell the difference between Uluru and Attila? Well, for beginners, Attila is about three times the size of Uluru and the peak is more flat-ish and slightly taller, while Uluru has a slight dome-like appearance. Attila, also known as Mt. Connor, greets you first when travelling from Kings Canyon, which can be another characteristic that can tell the two apart.

With both being sandstone structures, and Atilla also sporting same colour changing characteristics at different times of the day and year like Uluru, the similarity facto build up even more. While this transition is mostly visible during sunrise and sunset when both inselbergs glow a deep red. Also, though there are apparently differences in the shape and structure of both, the majority of it isn’t apparent from ground level. When seen from the skies though, Attila has a one-of-a-kind horseshoe-shape that is not very different from that of Uluru. One more feature that is alike is that Uluru has Lake Amadeus nearby, which is a vast salt lake. At the same time, Attila also has a salt lake known as Lake Swanson as its own, though it is much smaller in size when compared.

Unlike Uluru where public entry is not heavily restricted, Attila is located on private property and you will have to receive special permissions to visit the region. Owned by Severins, the latter is situated in a family property even though day trips are conducted around the place. Though you won’t know it at first glance, Attila is also much easier climb than Uluru, with the slopes being less steeper and also offering views of some great fossil relics en route.

If living off the beaten track is what suits you best, head to Attila for a great adventure out on the lush Aussie Outback! Attila may not have the get-go factor that Uluru enjoys, yet you will have numerous tales to relay to your friends and family after your Atilla or Uluru day trip from popular Australian destinations, not to mention the priceless views!

Merlin Jakes traverses the world during her free time, taking her to various exotic places, ticking off her travel bucket list one by one.