Errol Barrow Day at Rockley Beach

Everybody loves a good reason to have a day off. For Bajan’s one of those days lands on January 21, or what is more commonly known as Errol Barrow Day. Everybody seems to know of and speak highly of Errol Barrow, Barbados’ former prime minister. A man who, from what I’ve been told, was not only a fair leader of this island but also a devoted activist who led Barbados to independence and contributed to many great things for Barbados. To commemorate his memory, January 21 has been declared a national holiday in his name and the majority of Bajan’s on the island are free from work and school..

Eager to make the most of this day off classes, we made our way down to a beach on the South coast of the island; Accra. Rockley, technically, but the popular Accra Resort sits on the beach as well. Accra is a hub of activity, near to popular resorts and hotels, restaurants and of course, the beautiful beach. Soft, white sand meets the turquoise sea, making it a great spot to rent a sunbed and umbrella or, like us, lay out some new towels. Some of us only brought one towel with us to the island and had been using one towel as a sort of all-purpose towel for both beach and shower activities, which we couldn’t handle for a single day more.

As soon as our towels were down, we laid back to soak in some sunshine. The sun rays here are so hot, it takes only seconds of laying directly in the sun before feeling like your skin is slowly starting to burn, despite copious amounts of SPF 70. We lasted as long as we could before overheating and having to take a dip in the sea, having fun playing mermaids in the waves! Diving under waves and being crashed down on by others, all the while in big fits of laughter, we stayed out until our eyes and throats were burning from the salt water.

With night approaching, we took ourselves to the nearby boardwalk for a romantic sunset stroll.

The boardwalk was a popular place for tourists and locals alike, with families spending quality time with one another and some people taking a quiet moment in their day.