Pesta Benak (Sri Aman)

The Batang Lupar flows 200km from its source in the Kapuas Mountains to the Teluk Datu of the Soucth China Sea. At its mouth, the river forms the broadest estuary in Sarawak, as well as accomodating the largest of the four benaks (tidal bore in  local Malay and Iban dialect) that occur in Sarawak. The benak of the Batang Lupar first becomes visible in the estuary region of Pulau Seduku. It reaches its peak as it passes the town of Sri Aman, 90km from the estuary. Along the banks of the town a tidal watching festival was inaugurated on the King Tide of 5th May 2001 -the Pesta Benak. This gave the local boatmen an opportunity to show their skills to tourists, surfing the bore in longboats, Prior to the event, several days were spent flushing crocodiles out of the river for the safety of tourists.