The trip to Casablanca was canceled but was not a surprise to many of us. Whether it was Covid cases, paperwork or air space that the Russians use, we did not get the real answer. As far as I could tell, Casablanca had not excepted any cruise ships into the port and we were supposed to be the first ones. Whatever the reason, we didn’t go and ended up going to Gibraltar. When I heard they have free roaming apes there, I was thrilled.
We booked an excursion with the ship, which I normally don’t do. We had to be in the theatre by 8:30am. As we all were herded in there like cattle, with our little sticky numbers, we were told that one tour was canceled and my tour was not going to the top of the rock. With that meant no visit with the apes. Bruce and I quickly decided that we didn’t want the half tour so we bailed out.
We quickly left the theatre and left the ship. No waiting. Yay! A tour guide was waiting outside the terminal ready to take us and six other passengers to the top of the rock for half the money it cost with the ship.
Two of our fellow travelers were Steve and Kim Costa. They own a travel agency, S & K Cruises and Adventures. They mostly do cruise traveling and points of interest at different ports.
We stopped part way up the rock to see the views. Here we came to a monument called the Pillars of Hercules.
Our first stop was St. Michael’s Caves. These caves are a network of limestone producing stalagmites and stalactites with a creative light show and set to music.
The passageways lead to an underground amphitheater which can accommodate over 100 patrons.
After we finished in the caves we met our driver Robert. I also saw my first ape.
Our guide Robert was very knowledgeable and friendly.
We climbed up on the skywalk and took in the breathtaking views.
Our next stop was the ape den where they had just put out food for the apes. These are the only free roaming primates in Europe and are known as the Barbary apes.
The apes and some of the babies kept leaping on to our van. Unfortunately they were so quick I could not get a photo. All in all I was happy with the primate visit.
Our next stop was the tunnels which were created by the British to defend the island.
After the tour, Robert left us in town to walk around. We quickly found a cafe so I could write my blog.
We visited an old graveyard which was quite lovely.
The old mailboxes and phone booths were of an era gone by.
Window boxes on historic old buildings were all around.
We finally headed back to port after a fun day on Gibraltar.
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