The rock of the apes

Early the next morning we got on the road towards Gibraltar. You can actually see the rock from quite a distance, even driving to Casares we had already seen it. Not really surprising, since itˋs 426 meters high and everything around it is on sea level. It looks quite cool from far away and itˋs only gaining as you come closer.

We parked at the yacht harbor, which is still on the Spanish side, by about 100 meters. After checking out our surroundings a little, my human and Carmelo took off on the bike to explore country number seven! If you want to count it as a seperate country. Which, obviously, we do. And then it is the third smallest in Europe, after Vatican City and Monaco. 

There it is!

Leaving the harbor, you have to take a short road leading to the border. Short only on the bike, for the cars it was a very, very long road. At least it must have felt this way for them. Thatˋs why I stayed where I was. Iˋm not into standing in line, even though itˋs kind of a British line. And thatˋs just what they do, isnˋt it?

The border crossing on the bike is a lot faster, though, and the very original customs question "Anything to declare?" is quickly answered. After clearing customs, there is another obstacle, before you can actually get to Gibraltar. The runway of the airport runs alongside the border and you have to check for passing "traffic", before heading across it.

And then you get to British territory. Which is immediately evident because of all the sun burned people running around, socks up under their armpits, standing outside Irish Pubs, drinking beer. Amazing!

They drove around the country/territory in about an hour, counting in the stops at the mosque and the lighthouse, and the rather strenuous and slow climb up a couple of hills. 

Then they left the bike at the entrance to the pedestrian zone and kept going on foot. Very unlike her, they actually took the cable car to get to the top of the rock, instead of walking. Thanks for asking, she is feeling OK but it was rather hot and she figured, why the hell not?

There are signs everywhere warning you of the monkeys which live up on the rock, Barbary Macaques, to be exact. There is a hefty fine on feeding them and you are advised not to have any food in your hands or visible in your bags. Not a minute after they got up there, a monkey stole a baguette from a guy who then actually tried half-heartedly to get it back. Seriously? What for? Itˋs not like you are going to eat it after the monkey had it, is it?

The views are really good from up there and they could even see my, chilling with all my new friends down at the yacht club. You can also clearly see Morocco, less than 15km across the Strait of Gibraltar. Half the worldˋs seaborne trade passes through here!

The runway slash country line with the harbor and my spot behind it

Over there, that's Africa!

When they saw some people creeping up the hill slowly and painfully, they knew they had made the right decision taking the cable car. Even if 20€ is pretty steep for a three minute ride one way.

After coming back down they sat down at a pub for Fish&Chips, of course. Then they explored the city center for a little while on foot, checking out all the old fortifications and cannons.
Which they obviously didnˋt do Spain any good when Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Ever since then, Gibraltar is part of Great Britain and the locals have repeatedly voted against being turned back over to Spain.

In the late afternoon they want for a quick swim at the closest beach and then my human did some laundry at a conveniently located little salon right at the harbor. The sun goes down right behind the quay wall, so we just sat right where we were and had front row seats as another day blended into the night.

The next morning I got my shot at driving across the border after all. Since Gibraltar has very different tax laws, fuel is a lot cheaper over there, so we had to make use of that. And we were lucky, that morning the line was rather short and we were across in less than five minutes.

After fueling up and some shopping we headed back for Spain. But customs took a great interest in me and wanted to check me out a little closer. Well, what can I say, Iˋm a good looking chap! After three officers gawked at me for a few minutes and my humans ID was checked, we were free to go.