Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Set Net Point

I finally had the opportunity to go to Set Net point, which is one of our more distant boat territories. It is just south of Tasbapauni. However the town of Set Net is not specifically on the Pearl Lagoon, instead it faces the ocean and has no access to the lagoon. This meant that we got to travel across the beautiful blue water of the Caribbean to reach the territory. The sea was fairly calm so it was a pleasant trip. When we arrived we made a "surf landing" which means that we tied the boat to a buoy when we reached shallow water and waded onto the beach.

Set net is also known for its wildlife, being surrounded by jungle and far from other communities. The area is said to have "tigers", but considering that people here often have different names for animals than we are familiar with it seems that what they call a "tiger" is either a jaguar or panther, which are both known to be in the area. We did see some tracks in the mud but I couldn't say for sure that they were from a big cat and not something else, like a large dog.

The people we spoke to were very friendly and welcoming, nearly all of them spoke Creole English. The insects however were not so friendly. Near the beach especially we encountered a larger version of the sand fly. the swarms were so thick you could clap your hands and kill 100 of them at a time. And yes they bite... Strong repellent is definitely a must.

On the shore of Set Net
Many people were not home because of an event in Tasbapauni that they had gone to. (Tasbapauni can be reached by land from Set Net via the beach) We finished fairly quickly with the memorial invitations, and went for lunch. Since the sand flies were so horrendous we couldn't eat our lunch in set net, so how convenient that the pearl cays are directly in front of set net's shore. It took us about 5 minutes to reach Clark Cay which is completely free of the sand flies.

This was the best time of year to visit the cays as well, the water is crystal clear and warm like a bath tub. So we just had to go for a little swim as well.
Clark Cay

Interior of the Island



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