Gibraltar

We followed the Spanish coast round from the Guadiana, passing Cadiz and the river that leads to Seville – no good for wooden boats apparently, as it is full of toredo worms, which can eat through the bottom of ships. We anchored for a night at Sancti Petri, a tidal lagoon that attracts a variety of wading birds, including flamingo. 

Castle at Tarifa

Kiteboarders at Tarifa

Our last stop was at Tarifa, an island that juts out at the western end of the Gibraltar Straits, funnelling the wind, which blows at 30 knots or more for 300 days a year. Unsurprisingly, the beach was full of kite surfers (Mark Trout you would love it!), but unfortunately, the surf crashing on the beach prevented us landing ashore. Instead, Katie and Dave went for a swim round the boat. The water was so clear that they could clearly see the sandy bottom from the surface, 30 feet above!

Off for a swim

Katie braves the water

Next day, we left early in light winds and passed through the Straits in calm seas, with a reminder of the current political climate on the VHF – a ‘Panpan’ broadcast for a raft containing ten people spotted drifting in the Straits. Morocco is only about ten to fifteen miles across the water, we could see its mountaintops poking out through a misty haze. No raft, however, was spotted from our boat and we were soon into Gibraltar Bay, picking our way towards ‘the Rock’ through the dozen or so big ships anchored there, with fast ferries whizzing between.

Fast ferry crossing Gibraltar Bay

Gibraltar across Gibraltar Bay 

We had anchored off the town ten years ago, but since this is not encouraged any more, we picked the nearest of the three marinas to the town centre, and were delighted to find it was only going to cost us £11 per night. Since the sun was shining and strong winds were forecast for the next day, we decided to head straight for the top of the Rock.

Reuben had seen pictures of the monkeys in our pilot book and this was the one thing he really wanted to see! We took the cable car up, and immediately as we got out, there were the monkeys (or barbary apes to be precise). They were obviously well-used to humans cooing over them and were more interested in rooting through each others’ coats for bugs (which they ate) than in us, but we were fascinated.

Uncle Ian!

grooming time

The view from the top was quite spectacular - the calm Mediterranean Sea disappearing in the distance on one side, the misty Moroccan mountains opposite and busy Gibraltar Bay spread out below us. The path led us slowly down the hill, past more apes trying to find shade from the sun, and lizards lapping it up on the rocks to one side.

Morocco in the mist

At the top of the Rock

 

At the ape house, tour guides in white SUVs dropped people off to see the monkeys. We watched one tour guide, armed with nuts, enticing an ape onto a lady’s shoulders, where he proceeded to rifle through her hair for nits! She said afterwards that he was very light and gentle. We saw a family of apes playing together, the ‘babies’ are so full of energy and mischief, the parents tolerate it for a while then sort of ‘bat’ them away, but they come straight back for more!

We then happened upon Michael’s Cave on the way back down, somewhere completely unexpected and incredible. It is a vast network of caves, so big it was known as the ‘Bottomless Caves’ in Roman times. There are so many stalactites and stalagmites inside, and they are of such a mind-boggling size that it is like walking through an enchanted forest of them. Coloured lights enhance the magic of it all. The largest ‘chamber’ was used as a hospital in the war, and is now used for music concerts, it must be an incredible backdrop for a performance.

Stalagmites in Michael's cave

Michael's Cave

  

Michael's Cave

You just cannot comprehend how many thousands of years it took for them to form. One of the large stalactites (about 2m across) had fallen from the ceiling, and a cross-section of it was on display, polished up to show the tree-like ‘rings’ inside. These ‘rings’ were different colours, reflecting the conditions at the time – darker sections reflected dry years, lighter sections were wetter years, and the pale swirls came from the glacial period!

Town entrance near the marinas

Luxury boat hotel at Marina Bay (stationary)

Back in the town itself, Gibraltar is not so remarkable. It is not a particularly attractive town, and high rise blocks have sprung up in a haphazard fashion around the old battalion walls. There are some lovely parts, including a new park near our marina, where the children liked to run over the bridge and look down on carp swimming in the large clear pond. The glass-blowing workshop is fascinating. The workshop adjoins the showroom and you can watch the artisans at work, we could have stayed for hours!

Glassblower statue

But mostly there are cheap booze shops interspersed with electrical ‘gadget’ shops and fancy boutique shops selling jewellery and sunglasses. The majority of the workforce come across the border from Spain – apparently some 10,000 people a day, not to mention the numerous Indian shop-owners. English is heard all around, but in a cosmopolitan variety of accents.

We made the most of the abundance of British goods and have replenished the ships stores, filled up with diesel (31p/litre), and stocked up with Cadbury’s chocolate for Christmas!

Ros Ailither is now pointing her bows towards a new and undiscovered (by us) country…