Today we walked along the coastline from Bridgetown to Needham's Point to see the lighthouse and to the Savannah Garrison to watch the changing of the sentry and to see the racehorse track. The lighthouse has a stationary light, rather than a rotating one, and was constructed in 1855. While it was in use, it had a red light reflector on one side and a green light reflector on the other so that sailors could tell if they were on the port or the starboard side of Needham's Point.
The Change of Sentry is a ceremony dating back the late 1700s, and features members of the Barbados Legion marching past the sentry post at the Clock Tower of the Garrison with a drum corps, all dressed in colonial attire. The Barbados Legion is made up of retired members of various military units, who were trained by the Barbados Defense Force.
The West India Regiment was the first British Regiment of black soldiers, providing 132 years of service both in the British West Indies and worldwide. The colorful Zouave uniform of the 1st & 2nd West Indian Regiments, and the uniform that the Legion still wear today, was selected by Queen Victoria in 1856 and was modeled after the French Zouave regiments.
After getting our fill of history lessons for the day, we retreated to the beach! We heard some of the locals talking about how the sea turtles have started nesting and noticed that quite a few sea turtle crossing signs have been posted around beach areas:)
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