Tourism of Indonesia
Ready to Go to Lake Sentani
Planning to go on a tour or travelling, we definitely want a smooth trip, comfortable accommodation, cheap hotels, good food, cheap plane tickets, close to everywhere, and can rent a motorbike or car.
Attraction
In Lake Sentani, there is natural beauty and unique culture of the local community. There are many uniqueness, starting from the village (desa), sub-district (kecamatan), district (kabupaten) and provincial levels.
In Indonesia, each province has different and interesting characteristics. Each province has a different and unique culture and lifestyle.
Lake Sentani and its surrounding areas was once the training field for amphibious aircraft landings. It was built by the Japanese and taken over by the US Army in 1944.
American war legend, General McArthur was said to have gazed on the lake and its 22 islets, and came up with his victorious island-hopping strategy.
Papua is a spectacular island, and the Lake Sentani is the gate to it.
Travel into inner Papua can be relaxing when commenced with a visit to Lake Sentani, a scenic beauty over glittering water located near Jayapura, capital city of Papua.
The stillness of the water is most peaceful, evoking a peculiar wonder whether such a lake should indeed exist in paradise.
The embracing Cyclops Mountains to the north and the lush vegetation as backdrop, securely protect the twenty four villages surrounding the lake.
The people here are friendly and creative, carving their reputation among the best craft makers in the land of Papua.
To best experience the excitement of boating on the lake, rent a motorized canoe available at one of the villages.
The guide who has taken you on the overnight tour from Jayapura will show you where to get one of the dugout canoes.
Experience the thrill of being caressed by the warm breeze while speeding on the lake, photograph the stilt houses, know the local, and make friends with your guide, and eventually boldly brag about it in the travel blogs.
Remnants of World War II scatter around the lake as it was an important command headquarters during the war.
On one of the hills, on Mount Ifar, a monument has been built to commemorate American General McArthur’s military command in the Pacific and his victory.
Many visitors consider it a must see tourist attraction as it also offers a spectacular view of the lake with as its background the Cyclops Mountains.
Villages around Lake Sentani have different customs, yet originate from a few common cultures as evident from similar beliefs and rites. The Isolo, for example, is a ceremony that unites the diverse cultures in the 24 villages around the lake.
It is a ceremony staged when merchandise are delivered from one village to another. It can be also be seen as part of the Lake Sentani Festival staged during the month of June.
Asei Island is one of the artist’s homes in the vicinity of the lake. Asei islanders are known to create interesting motifs painted on bark cloths. Bark cloth is a traditional apparel for Sentani women, and mostly women are those who catch fish on the lake.
Among the motifs are spirals that symbolize the swirls of Lake Sentani, there is the crocodile, the sawfish or swordfish of Sentani, as well as combined motifs found in the Asmat Tribe like the bipane, a wild boar tusk symbol, and Asmat human figures.
The sale of Asmat motifs at Lake Sentani is one of the unspoken understandings among the Papuan artists.
The Lake Sentani Cultural Festival is a huge attraction staged yearly in Kalkote, Sentani. Conducted at an altitude of 75 meters above sea-level, the festival stages war dances on boats, which is a spectacular attraction for visitors.
Several lake-villages representatives from around Papua and Indonesia participate to show their skills and cultural similarities. Two previous festivals had been successfully staged on the Lake.
The government is taking good care of the preservation of nature and maintaining the condition of the forest.
The environment is also well maintained.
Activity
Visiting Lake Sentani, we will witness routine community activities in unique traditional cultures. And there are special dishes and food as part of culinary tours that are delicious and yummy.
In this place there are also regular events or activities held every year, both national and international.
We will meet the nice local communities that are living as fish farmers, and the close location to the provincial capital, are reasons why most of the population around the lake are open to visitors. Stilt houses with ponds and nets are common landscapes.
The lake is home to at least 33 species of fish, of which almost half of them are native. The Sawfish (Pristis microdon) was once the premier host of the lake, which today is said to have become extinct.
This fish is one of the indigenous ornaments found on Sentani’s woodcrafts. Hang one of these items on your wall as a mark that you have been dramatically introduced to the wilderness of Papua.
In the village of Taturi, stone paintings are a wonder worth visiting. Located on a small hill at the bank of the lake, it is a sight to record while canoeing.
Another village offering a beautiful day trip is the Doyo Lama, a place for rock painting art. It is a fantastic start to understand the culture of Papua.
Accessibility
The journey to Lake Sentani is now very easy. We can enter through various modes of transportation.
The condition of the infrastructure is getting better. Starting from highways, airports, trails, ports, bridges, stairs, even some places can be reached by toll roads.
Access to go to Lake Sentani:
Lake Sentai is about 30 minute driving westward from the city of Jayapura.
All flights land and take off from Sentani Airport, located around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Jayapura. As a capital city of a vast province, Jayapura is well connected to many large cities in Indonesia by air and by sea.
Large airline offices are in this city. It is advisable to always check and double-check your flight as there is a tendency to overbook seats at times.
Outside the airport, minibuses wait for passengers to drive to Jayapura. The price can change variably. Make sure you agree on the price before boarding.
Garuda Indonesia flies to Biak, Makassar, Surabaya, and Jakarta daily. On selected days the airline also flies to Sorong, Manado, Denpasar Bali, and Ambon.
Merpati Airlines Office representative is located next to the Hotel Matoa, Jayapura. Merpati flies daily to Wamena at 7 am. The airline also flies to several cities in Papua and other cities in Indonesia on selected days.
We can visit by plane, car, ship, bus, motorcycle and bicycle. At some point, we can take the train. We can also walk freely.
Amenity
In Lake Sentani, as technology getting better. We can easily find locations for mini markets, shops (warung kedai), ATMs, Bank BRI BCA BNI Mandiri, BTPN Bank Nagari BJB, supermarkets, and restaurants. So we will not starve or lack the necessary items.
If you are sick and need help, you can also visit clinics, drugstore pharmacies (apotek), practice doctors, hospitals, health centers (puskesmas).
In this place we can also look for places of worship such as mosques, churches, and others.
Accommodation
Finding place to stay in Lake Sentani is very easy. We can stay at homestays, hotels, inns, hostels and other places.
To get lodging at a cheap and definitely comfortable price, please see below:
Booking.com
Experience and Reviews
There are already many visitors have visited Lake Sentani, there are many interesting stories that are told. Like feeling satisfied, happy, wanting to come again, sleep well, and almost no one is disappointed or complains to come here.
So, visitors will find out on how to find the best hotels, where is exactly located, why it is amazing, how much is the fare and rate, who are the people, whom to ask, and when is the best time to visit.
We can visit these tourist attractions from Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Redep, Tanjung Selor, Tapak Tuan, Tarakan, Tarutung, Tasikmalaya, Muara Bungo, Muara Enim, Muara Teweh, Muaro Sijunjung, Muntilan, Nabire, Negara, Nganjuk,
That’s all the information we provided, hopefully useful.
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