For Saturday we scheduled a snorkeling trip to the Coral Gardens. A taxi took us down to Soufriere where we hopped aboard a small boat. We dropped off all the rest of the people on board at Anse Chastenet (where we'd spent Thursday morning). Wendy and I and were once again the only two on the trip. The weather was outstanding, sunny and not too hot. Our two guides took us around to the base of the Gros Piton where he slid into a wetsuit.

The Coral Gardens are all along the base of the Gros Piton. You drop into the water in the bay between the Gros and Petit Pitons and let the current carry you down the coast of the Gros Piton. We got into the water and started down the coast. One guide stayed with the boat while the other (clad in his wetsuit) accompanied us in the water. He named all the fish and coral. We saw fire coral, parrot fish and even a school of squid.

The entire Coral Garden area is a protected marine reserve which means no fishing or removing items. However, while we were floating down the coast, our guide met a guy with fishing line in the water sitting on a small rock near the shore. He had caught an octopus earlier in the day. He let Wendy and I touch it (yes, Wendy touched a dead octopus). A little farther down, the guide even pointed out a barracuda. After a couple hours in the water, we got back into the boat and headed back to Soufriere.

 

Saturday was one week since we'd been married and two years since we got together. The bar had special live entertainment that night so we decided to have dinner, then hang out at the bar. Entertainment was a local Soca band and a limbo and fire dancer. After dinner we found a couple chairs at the bar and watched this guy in hammer paints do his show. He would pull people from the audience (there were about 15 of us) and do a little dance with them before having them limbo with him. He kept pushing the bar lower and lower until it was only about 1 foot off the floor. We're still not quite sure how he did it, but he actually limbo'ed under the 1 foot bar.

At one point he lit two molotav cocktails (rags stuffed into bottles) on fire, placed them under the bar and lit the bar on fire. He limbo'ed under the bar, the bottles singeing his back and the bar singeing his chest.

He then cleared the room of his limbo bar and brought out to sticks, each about 2 feet long with small balls on one end. He lit the balls on fire and pulled me out of the audience. He sat me down in a chair and told me to lay my head back. Then he asks me to stick my tongue out. Remember, the man is holding a flaming stick in his hand. He covers my eyes and puts the ball of fire on my tongue. Needless to say I was a little surprised. It didn't hurt at all, but I did test diesel or kerosene or gas or whatever the hell he had on it for about two hours.

The rest of the night Wendy and I danced to reggae. Near closing time, a couple of waiters took the mike and actually did a little freestyle. It was a great way to spend a dual anniversary.