After nearly three months in Belgium, it was time to move on. We needed to get out of the Schengen zone for at least 90 days, and Gibraltar looked like a nice option. Originally an English territory, it is now an independent country, but with strong ties to the UK. It is likely that in the future it will join the Schengen zone given it’s location next to Spain, but for now it is outside the zone. And with weather in the lows 60s (17C) it sounded like a nice option. It is a small country, and feels like a mid size town. (population about 34,000) We originally booked for 5 weeks there, thinking we might stay longer if we wanted, or possibly head down to Morocco for a month or two. When people heard that we were heading to Gibraltar, they generally were surprised that we planned on staying as long as we did. It seems to have a reputation as the place where UK folks fly into for a week, hang out at the bars/beach, then head home. The UK influence is pretty obvious throughout the country, starting with the grocery stores and the available 480 packs of Yorkshire tea.
We had thought we would get some good exercise walking through the Rock of Gibraltar trails, but found we had neglected one very important point. It turned out that the entire Rock is a national park, with daily entrance fees of about 20 dollars per person, per day. No such thing as a monthly or yearly pass. So we only went onto the Rock proper a couple of times. We did find, however, that hiking the quieter city streets and trails leading up to the park entrance allowed us to get in some good walks, averaging 1000 vertical feet (300m) a day.
The South-west entrance allowed us to walk up to the first gun emplacement (picture below) prior to reaching the official park entrance, and it was nice to see the daily changes in the skyline from this vantage point. To the South you can see Morocco, in many of the other photos the nearer land is Spain.
Towards the South side of Gibraltar there was a lovely botanical garden, which we walked to most days.
I found this interesting tree, looking sort of like a pine tree with broader leaves, and the cone along the branch.
And a tree spirit guarding the park.
The Rock of Gibraltar has been heavily fortified. Extensive tunnels were made through the Rock, with gun openings facing in all directions. Tunneling was begun around 1782, eventually leading to 34 miles (55km) of tunnels. (Almost twice as much as all of Gibraltar’s roads!) By world war two, the tunnels were able to house 16,000 troops, with enough food to last for 16 months. General Dwight D. Eisenhower even used the tunnels as his headquarters for the invasion of North Africa, operation Torch.
On the North side of the Rock one can access a large group of fortifications, from stone bunkers to deep tunnels. We spent a couple of interesting days exploring here.
We also found a small zoo, probably the smallest one we have ever visited. They had a few interesting animals, including this lemur who seemed to need a hug.
Up on the top of the rock, we did find the famous macaque monkeys. They are used to people, but are still wild animals, so we kept an appropriate distance. Apparently, macaque bites are a fairly common occurrence. After seeing how some people try to treat them as pets, we’re not surprised.
We saw new things on our daily walks almost every day. Deb spotted this Christmas display.
And this carved wooded plaque on a building wall.
From our apartment, we could take walking paths (mostly stairs) to the East, towards one of the park entrances. Along the way was this amazing octopus house.
And, further along, a small house courtyard filled with plants, and a small cat house.
A church with beautiful wooden doors and decorative stone floors.
And back to the North side, a long stairway leading up to a cave fortification cut into the rock.
From this side, one can also get a good look at the airport, whose only runway crossed the only road into Gibraltar. When it’s time for a flight, they close off the road, inspect the runway for debris, and land the plane. (The other side of the runway is Spain)
This is view of the street and our apartment. Ours was the pale blue apartment halfway down on the left, the first floor in blue just above the grey base.
Speaking of AirBnB apartments, we never know what we’re going to find. They generally make an attempt to decorate it, which sometimes doesn’t work out as well as they might have hoped. We find picture frames where they’ve forgotten to add a picture, for example. “add your family here” And the artwork below, I have tentatively titled “Do you think one coat will cover?”
Fortunately, this is the exception rather than the rule, most places we stay are better decorated, though perhaps with less (inadvertent) humor!
And a final picture of a macaque contemplating life as he looks over Northern Gibraltar.
Given the high costs in Gibraltar (rent especially) we decided to move on after our five weeks. The borders to Morocco had closed due to Omicron, and we were looking for another warmer location were we could enjoy our daily walks. So, off to Cyprus next.
Until next time,
Tim & Deb
