Gibraltar: A British Land of Caves and Monkeys

Wild monkeys. Caves. One of the world’s best viewpoints.  Welcome to Gibraltar.  This is where I spent my weekend.

Where is Gibraltar exactly?  It’s a small British colony on the Iberian Peninsula to the south of Spain, also 12 miles from the north coast of Africa.

My travel group consisted of my Spanish roommate, Sagar, and three other friends - Brooke, Hannah, and Kate.  It was an awesome bunch so I knew we’d have a great time.  

The Rock of Gibraltar

Our bus got to La Linea (the Spanish city bordering Gibraltar) fairly early Friday evening, so we did some basic surveying of Gibraltar on Friday night and went to sleep at a reasonable hour so we could wake up early on Saturday. Walking into Gibraltar was really cool because the only way to get through is by walking across the airport runway.

I loved every minute of my time in Gibraltar.  It’s a British colony, so from the second we stepped across the Spain/Gibraltar border, everyone spoke English - and with a British accent.  It was great. I fancied every “blimey,” “bloke,” and “cheers” I heard.  The phone booths were pretty swell too.

Our first mission Saturday morning was to order an English breakfast.  Spaniards typically don’t have large breakfasts (it’s usually just toast), so eggs, bacon, coffee, and orange juice was a nice change in pace.  It was also delicious.

After breakfast, we found a tour guide for the Rock of Gibraltar.  The rock is massive, and we were fairly limited on time, so the additional 12 euros each for a guided tour was well worth it.  Our objectives: to see the caves, monkeys, war tunnels, pillars of Hercules, and viewpoints in less than two hours.  Mission accomplished!

St. Michael's Cave

Eating Carrots

Monkeys on the Rocks

 

Chilling on the Tour Guide's Car

 

Hold a Wild Monkey: Check!

 And the other sights...

Pillars of Hercules

Former War Tunnels

Antique Cannon

View of Gibraltar

Gibraltar also has one of the world's most amazing lookout points.  From the top of the rock, we could see Gibraltar, Spain, and Morocco - three countries, two continents.  Breathtaking, no doubt.

After the tour, we had the obligatory British fish & chips for lunch. Then we shopped around for a while, relaxed for a bit, and then hopped on the bus back to Seville.  The length of the trip was just about perfect, and the weather could not have been any better during our rock tour.  Gibraltar will definitely be one of my favorite memories of study abroad.  And I’ll definitely never forget those monkeys.