The Apes of Gibraltar

Being in so close to Gibraltar, it seemed like a perfect day trip for us four and my Dad who also decided to come for a drive. We set off on a road trip along highways that seemed better maintained than the ones I drive here in Australia (with the drawback of having to pass through toll booths every now and then), and it didn’t take long until we reached La Linea de la Concepción, or La Linea as everyone calls it, the Spanish town that borders Gibraltar.

After parking our vehicle we walked to the border between Spain and Gibraltar, where Dad just waltzed past waving his EU passport whilst the 4 of us had to wait in line with the rest of non EU visitors (Brits included) before we were allowed entry to Gibraltar (with a new stamp in our passports). 

Gibraltar is a confusing place to understand, it’s located at the southern tip of Spain, but is not part of Spain but a British Overseas Territory, basically a colony in Spain. Gibraltar has their own self government but aren’t an independent country and are under British control. They are not technically in the EU but still has provisions to help workers travel between Spain and Gibraltar on daily basis (at least at the moment). 

Anyway, after crossing the border our first stop was to ascend the Rock of Gibraltar, the main feature of Gibraltar. We grabbed a local bus that dropped is off at the cable car station where after a long wait in line, finally made it to the top of the Rock. We walked across to the Gibraltar viewing platform to enjoy the views and although we were in the clouds, we still managed to get panoramic views of the city of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, the Bay of Gibraltar and of course the Rock itself, which kept sneaking out of the clouds every now and then.

Whilst at the top, we sat down to enjoy some lunch and since we are in the UK, both my dad and I ordered the Fish & Chips with mushy peas with a local Gibraltar beer. After lunch my Dad decided to stay behind whilst the rest of us left to explore the Gibraltar Nature Reserve. 

Not long after entering the reserve we encountered our first Barbary monkeys, who are clearly used to humans and were seen to be jumping across the vehicles that were driving past and also onto a few of the tourists. Both Xander and Eloise had a laugh seeing them running and jumping past us. 

We continued along and walked across the Skywalk of Gibraltar, which after doing a few of these in Switzerland and also at El Caminito Del Rey, didn’t really provide all that extra for us. We climbed to the Douglas Lookout and Xander, Eloise and I made it all the way to O’Hara’s Battery, whilst Suz waited at the bottom of the steep climb.

We met up shortly again after and continued on towards St. Michael’s Cave, a limestone cave nestled within Gibraltar. Upon entering the cave we observed a display of different coloured lights, all designed to create a captivating illusion and wonder. At the end, both Xander and Eloise wanted an ice cream to cool down and as I was purchasing it, the store attendant told me to be careful with the monkeys. 

We sort of forgot about the monkeys and as soon as Eloise walked outside the store there was a cheeky monkey that started heading towards her. Both Eloise and Xander had to retreat back into the store area where they kept eating their ice cream. Eloise tried walking past the monkey again, this time hiding the ice cream behind her back, but the monkey was aware of this and again veered towards her, forcing her to retreat once again. A few minutes later the monkey was distracted by other food and both Xander and Eloise were able to walk past him and we continued along the trails. 

A short time later, after seeing more monkeys (but not loosing any ice cream), we returned to the cable station and returned to ground level where we met up with Dad and made our way across towards the border once again. At the border, we turned around and walked across the airport tarmac which isn’t something you get to do everyday, before we got our passports stamped again and returned home to Fuengirola. 

I’ve been to Gibraltar in the past and whilst it’s not a place I thought I’d return to, it was fun to show Xander, Eloise and Suz the area. Gibraltar is quite an interesting place to visit as it blends British and Spanish into one, which you see as you drive past the city area. But the main drawcard of the area is clearly the Rock and reserve area that provide beautiful panoramic views of the area together with some very cheeky monkeys in the wild, and all in all, it’s not bad for a day road trip from Fuengirola.