Location: Gibraltar
Emerging on deck this morning, we each sized up the towering hulk of rock looming over the marina, far above the masts of Vela. We would soon be tackling those slopes, and from our sea-level viewpoint, those lofty crests looked awfully far away. We swallowed breakfast and shoved a few sandwiches into our packs, and were away up the hillside. Along a few gradually inclined streets, we wound our way towards the Gibraltar Nature Reserve gates. The clouds hung low and motionless above the peninsula, smothering as if a thick, hot duvet were trapping the surface heat and humidity. Wed all soaked through our clothes by the time we reached Jews Gate, so named for the Jewish Cemetery located at the entrance to the Nature Reserve. It must be said that those buried there have a final view to be jealous of, looking out over the Bay of Gibraltar towards Algeciras. We were warned at the gates to be weary of the locals, Macaque monkeys, who have been known to leap onto hikers, clinging to and opening their backpacks in search of food, but for the first and hardest part of our hike, there were none to be seen. And thank goodness! All our attention and energy were needed to scale those steep, loose footing paths along the southern cliffs of The Rock of Gibraltar, and if we werent focused on our foot placement, we were catching our breaths. Hard to know whether the exertion or the lofty views of the Mediterranean had taken our breaths away, but we made sure to take enough time along the way to account for both.
It was a little early for lunch by the time we crested the ridge at OHara Battery, but my personal hiking philosophy is that lunch should always be enjoyed from the highest point on the trail, or at least at a spot with a good view. So we straddled the rocky ridge with a chilled Mediterranean wind blowing up the eastern slope and munched eagerly away at our sambos. Somebody also pointed out that it was wise to eat in the absence of the pestilent macaques. Grub was enjoyed with a marvelous view of the Bay of Gibraltar and Spain beyond to the west, the stretching Mediterranean to the east and Africa buried somewhere in the lazy clouds to the south across the strait. It was also noted that this was the highest elevation any of us had been to since flying into the BVI over two months ago a whopping 450m above sea level!
We carried on along the path until arriving at St Michaels Cabin, the building in front of St Michaels Cave. It was here that we first witnessed the antics of the local Gibraltar Macaque Monkey, a large one of whom was sat atop the store, unwrapping a stolen ice cream and proceeding to chomp away. Curious to know if he got brain freeze for the furious rate of his munching at that frozen, chocolate-dipped treat. I can personally relate to the urge to satisfy a sweet tooth, though! Several juvenile monkeys eyeballed us and our backpacks with heads cocked, too lazy to move until something resembling food packaging was spotted. We made it past inspection and proceeded into the mouth of the cave. The caves were impressive, even for the well-seasoned cave tourist, as they were an easy walkthrough but were entirely illuminated in a dazzling display of colorful artificial light. Theyre also largely unexplored, and ancient stories about their connecting the European mainland to the African continent via deep tunnels and networks are still widely believed. Impressive, again, considering the entrance to the underground chamber is set about 300m up on the side of the great Rock, overlooking the bay. A spectacularly clever light show entertains in the main chamber, casting the story of the caves formation over the years through the processes of freezing, magma scorching, and erosion. The entire cavern resonates with an ethereal rumbling to place the viewer at the center of the earth during its very formation.
We continued again further along the crest towards the Skywalk; a glass platform suspended 400m over the beach below. Fun fact, the Skywalk was inaugurated by Mark Hamil in the 90s, as naturally, he should be the first Skywalker. It was here that I had my very own brush with the Macaques. As Gigi and I left the skywalk, a large male eyed me and came bounding across the platform towards me. Hed launched himself at my back before I was aware of his approach and latched on. He wasnt deterred by my frantic twisting and over-the-shoulder swatting nor by Gigis hysterical shrieks as he clung on as though I were but a branch flexing under him. My only thought was to calm down and hope not to feel the tearing into my flesh of his sharp claws. However, he simply reached into a side pocket of my backpack and extracted an empty packet of Oreos before stepping aside onto the balustrade. He expertly tore the packet apart at the seams, realized it was empty, and handed it back to me! The cheek! And I certainly wasnt the last victim to their nerve either, as Sydney, Jack, and Natalie subsequently also had narrow brushes with the bold apes, escaping with their dignity in tatters, as there are few things more humiliating than a tug of war for your backpack, or even your lunch!
To wrap up the adventure, we wound our way down the mountain and through the botanical gardens, where we all spontaneously, of our own accord, sought out a luscious patch of lawn to lie upon and wriggle out our bare toes. Gigi and her chefs, Zoe and Kayla, then put on a marvelous spread of baked chicken and veggies for dinner, where the Squeeze question was, if not the sharpest, which tool would you be in the shed? Dad, I hope youll appreciate that I would be a good pair of vice grip pliers
Lots of love Xxxxx