Lake Sentani

Danau Sentani covers around ninety square kilometres in a basin below the Cyclops mountains, close enough to Jayapura's airport that arriving flights bank over it, and it holds a set of islands and peninsulas with Sentani villages built partly on stilts over the water. The culture here is distinctive within Papua: bark cloth painting, maro, made from beaten tree bark and painted in ochre and black with clan motifs, is a tradition of these villages and is sold and commissioned; carved house posts and canoe prows follow the same design vocabulary. An annual Sentani Lake Festival in June brings canoe races and dance from the villages. The Tugu MacArthur above Sentani marks the American headquarters from which the New Guinea campaign was run in 1944.

What you actually see

• Stilt villages on islands - Sentani settlements over the water in the lake.
• Maro bark cloth painting - beaten bark painted with clan motifs.
• The Cyclops mountains - the range rising steeply behind the northern shore.
• The MacArthur monument - the 1944 American headquarters site above the lake.

When to go

All year; June for the lake festival. Two days.

Honest expectations

Boat prices are negotiated. Facilities around the lake are basic. Papua travel requires checking current entry rules, and local political sensitivities warrant discretion.

Nearby

Jayapura is over the ridge; the Papua New Guinea border is east.