Birds
Egrets and herons.
Colin Trainor — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Isabel Nolasco — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Colin Trainor — CC BY-SA 3.0 · ColinTrainor — CC BY-SA 4.0 · ColinTrainor — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Colin Trainor — CC BY-SA 3.0
Ira Lalaro is the largest lake on the island of Timor, a wide freshwater lake in a basin among the Paitchau mountains in eastern Timor-Leste. Its size changes greatly with the seasons: in the dry season it turns to green pasture grazed by buffalo, and in the wet season into a broad lake. The lake lies 334 m up in a huge karst basin of limestone, with caves and springs. Its water covers between 10 and 55 square km depending on the season. It is part of Nino Konis Santana National Park and an important bird area. You walk the shores, watching egrets and herons fishing in the shallows, buffalo in the pasture and rocky mountains around. In the early morning mist wraps the water and trees. Sometimes you see people fishing in the water. The lake is about 16 km in a straight line east of Lospalos and 21 km from Jaco Island. It is free. The last stretch of road is dirt and can be hard going in the wet season.
Egrets and herons.
In the pasture.
In the morning.
Mehara, Tutuala, Lautém Municipality, far east of Timor
In the wet season.
Jaco Island is 21 km away.