The Rock of Gibraltar

The morning dawned — foggy, cool and a touch of drizzle.  No … not what we need!  The clouds were so low they almost touched the sea.  Should we put off until tomorrow?  The BBC weather forecast claimed that Tarifa was 17C and foggy whereas Gibraltar was a sunny 24 … such a difference in a relatively short distance.  We decided to chance it.

Approaching Algeciras … there across the bay was Gibraltar, clear and bright. Yess!  Parking in La Linea de la Conception was quite simple … perhaps not the parking lot Glen had found for 3 euros a day — but it was close to the border.   Customs was a breeze … and then, we were walking across the air strip … people all around taking photos (despite notices saying “no stopping on the runway” .. who could blame them.

The first thing you saw was a red British telephone box … then The Casemates square — which is filled with restaurants now.  Main Street was a sea of humanity all looking for a duty free deal, or beer, fish and chips, or a curry.  We struggled against the surge and found John  Mackintosh square  – location of our first apartment in Gibraltar.  Of course the building has been totally revamped, but the square still looks much the same.  Then there’s that distinctive accent … British overtones, but with a drawled Spanish twang.  We had bus passes, but there was a major accident somewhere along the line, and the one-way flow of traffic had ground to a standstill . . . British Bobbies directing traffic.

We walked up one particularly congested street crammed with buses cars and taxis, but scooters were determined to squeeze through regardless of pedestrians or vehicle paint.

The cable car up The Rock was busy.  Two options … ride up, look at the view, see some of the Barbery apes and ride back down – 18 Euros.  OR  ride to the top and walk down through the Nature Reserve (pretty much ALL of the upper Rock), St, Michael’s Cave, the World War II and Siege Tunnels, etc.  — 34 Euros each.  Now, you could walk up to the halfway point — it would be a good workout but you still wouldn’t be able to reach the very top.

There were high clouds, but the view was crisp and clear in every direction …  the whole of Gibraltar spread out below.  The west side with the old town within the walls,  docks, marinas and a lot of new apartments and hotels on reclaimed land … the airstrip, and over to La Linea and Algeciras across the bay.  The east side of Gib — the shady side — with Sandy Bay and more new highrise buildings being constructed near the air strip.  Way off into the distance were Estapona and Marbella along the Costa del Sol.

And then there were apes (actually Barbary Macaques) … with attitude …

everywhere.  Posing on walls … grooming each other …. ambling past, checking out the visitors.  Posters and warnings everywhere — Do not carry food or plastic bags which they associate with food … Do not Feed, Touch, Glare at, Make Faces at the apes … they can and will bite.  Even then, one would suddenly leap on some poor unfortunate person, giving them a scare before letting go.  We rescued one such German lady, visiting on her own . . . and shortly afterwards another ambushed Glen (ape that is, not eine Frau).  Mums with tiny babies clinging … large males lounging indolently on a cement barricade, yawning and showing off their impressive inscisors.

The saying goes, that should the apes ever leave Gibraltar, The Rock would fall … so back during WWII, Winston Churchill had reinforcements brought in from the Barbary Coast in North Africa to ensure against this.  For years  they were members of the British Army … had military numbers … and even an army soldier appointed to look after them.  Today, they are cared for by the Gibraltar Nature Reserve.  This link gives you an interesting background and great photos of the Barbary Macaques.   https://gibraltar.com/en/travel/see-and-do/upper-rock-nature-reserve/gibraltar-monkeys.php

Other attractions are the glassed floor viewing area giving hair-raising views over the eastern side, the Windsor Suspension Bridge providing western visas … St. Michael’s Cave – a beautiful Cathedral cavern with amazing limestone structures, however we thought the coloured light show and loud music an unnecessary distraction.

A welcome ice cream to sit and rest weary feet while soaking in the views and watch cheeky ‘monkeys’ balance on top of the constant stream of taxi vans.  Leaving Glen at the table, I wandered off to find the bathrooms, fortunately

having packed away the camera and my glasses first.  Just as well . . . as one of the Macaques swept in and made a grab for whatever was on the table.  Glen hadn’t seen me secure the camera and feared the worst … but the only ‘prize’ was an empty ice cream pot, which was carried off, thoroughly licked out and torn to bits.

Working our way across The Rock, we had left the Great Siege Tunnel till last, only to find it had closed early! At least  we had a great vantage point for the plane just taking off.  Stood chatting with Brigitte – the German lady from earlier – she mostly in German, us mostly in English.   Somewhat older than us, she was happily driving herself about, seeing

the sights — having left her husband behind in Dresden – I gather he had no interest in traveling.  Hope we have her adventuresome spirit in a few years.

A delicious curry and an excellent masala tea … a bus to the border (again a breeze) … the car still where we left it (you don’t want to know the cost after over 9 hours) … and back to Tarifa.  The road up to the house is quite the experience in the dark!