[Indonesia Report] Sentarum Lake recommended for those wishing to enjoy Indonesia’s natural beauty

Sentarum Lake in rainy season (Photo: www.indonesia.travel)

To experience Indonesia’s natural beauty and traditional life, a trip to Sentarum Lake in Indonesian Borneo Island is recommendable, as reported by kompas.com in its article on December 10.

Sentarum Lake is not a usual lake. Located in a national park, Lake Sentarum is a stretch of flooded areas covering 132,000 ha in a form of a collection of lakes, large and small, amounting to 20 lakes.

Sentarum Lake is a wetland with freshwater swamp forests, and flooded tropical rainforest on the island of Borneo. This is a stretch of landscape ecosystems as well as a rare most extensive flooding that is left in a good condition.

For 8 to 10 months of the year, the lake will submerged to a depth of 6 to 15 meters and has inundated the surrounding forest. It is estimated that there are approximately 16 trillion cubic meters of water per year in the region.

There is a unique long dry season during which most of the water will dry lake Sentarum, then transform the area into a barren desert land that is split here and there. Only little puddles left, where fish live in the lake then looking for a place to live in those small pools.

In addition, there are different colors of the lake’s water, black and red, that inundate the vast forests. That’s because the lake water contains tannins derived from peat forests in the vicinity.

Lake Sentarum is presumed to have been formed during the Ice Age (Pleistocene). Currently Sentarum lake is home to about 675 species of flora including 154 species of orchids. There are also 754 types of fauna including 266 species of fish, 310 species of birds, 147 mammals, and 64 species of reptiles and amphibian.

To complete a trip here, boating and watching various birds and other animals would be perfect. There are varieties of animals that can be seen, such as proboscis monkeys, gibbons, orangutans, squirrels, tiger, large squirrels, bears, crocodiles, and the most famous Arowana fish with expensive price in the market for fish enthusiasts.

At the Sentarum Lake National Park, tourists are also treated to a variety of enchanting cultural appeal. Tourists have the chance to interact directly with some of the traditional tribes around the lake, such as the Dayak Iban, Dayak Sebaruk, Sontas Dayak, Dayak Kenyah and Punan Dayak. They live in a traditional house called betang (also known as long or lamin).

Meidyana Rayana Intern Reporter news@theasian.asia