Lake Bera

Tasik Bera is the largest natural lake in Malaysia and the country's first Ramsar site, listed in 1994 - though calling it a lake understates the complexity: it is a shallow basin of open water, reed and sedge beds, and flooded swamp forest, threaded by channels that shift with the water level, covering some six thousand hectares of wetland in a much larger catchment. The Semelai, an Orang Asli people, have lived here for centuries, fishing, collecting rattan and swamp products and moving by boat, and their knowledge of the channels is the practical reason to hire a local guide - the maze is genuinely disorienting. The lake holds false gharial, otters, a long bird list and endemic fish. Oil palm and drainage in the catchment have altered the hydrology and the wetland has shrunk, which is documented and unresolved.

What you actually see

• The largest natural Malaysian lake - six thousand hectares of open water and swamp.
• Channels through flooded forest - shifting with the water level, easy to get lost in.
• Semelai boatmen - the Orang Asli community whose knowledge navigates it.
• The first Ramsar site here - listed in 1994 and under pressure since.

When to go

February to October. Two days.

Honest expectations

Go with a local guide - the channels are a maze and people get lost. Mosquitoes are severe and malaria precautions are worth discussing with a doctor. Facilities are minimal. Catchment drainage has reduced the wetland.

Nearby

Lake Chini is north-east; Temerloh is north.