A dash of monkey Business on the Rocks
If you believe the myth, the Rock of Gibraltar was formed when Hercules rustled some magical cattle via the Western Mediterranean. Since then the limestone promontory has been a hangout in turn for holidaying Neanderthals, Moorish conquerors and red-coated British fusiliers merrily sticking two fingers up at Napoleon.
These days, if you ask a Gibraltarian cab driver, they’ll take you up one of the narrow roads to the peak to visit its most recent and most famous residents. Don’t, though.
Sure, you’ll see the Barbary macaques: a delightful colony of the only wild monkeys on the European continent.
In fact they’re one of the main draws of this British Overseas Territory; yet it would make you the laziest primate on the Rock, even lazier than the apes lounging in the hot Iberian sunshine. As a guide explains on a winding hike to the summit, the monkeys are only one of the many fascinations packed on to the 2.6 square miles of this Africa-facing peninsula.
Above us the summit wears a downy quiff of cloud formed by the Levant Blanc, the easterly wind which blows in from the Atlantic and signals pleasant weather.
And so it is; at our destination we find several troops of apes mooching around the peak in the midday heat. It’s the type of warmth where there’s not much for a chimp to do, save glower at tourists who stare too long, and eye up their bags in case anyone’s unwisely brought a chocolate bar with them.
We leave the apes to their loafing, but it wasn’t our last encounter with them.
I couldn’t help but feel a little lazy myself on an ebike tour of Gibraltar on the morning of our arrival; it is, however, the best way to familiarise yourself with this pocket enclave.
Andalusian, Portuguese and Genoese architecture sits alongside British military fortifications converted into restaurants. If you’re looking for a dish which sums up the area it’s Menestra, a vegetable and pasta stew.
Look south over the Straits of Gibraltar and you’ll see the other
mountainous Pillar of Hercules, Jebel Musa, on the north shore of Morocco. You could head to Tangiers via daily ferry but instead I took a trip to see the Strait’s schools of bottlenose and striped dolphins. We drape across the guardrails and cook in the sun. I imagine that, to the dolphins, we look, having spent lunchtime gorging on delicious seafood, like our own variety of lazy primate.
If all the heat is too much for you then the Rock of Gibraltar is home to a cooling network of tunnels.
St Michel’s Cave leads to a pit which was said to either be bottomless, or perhaps even lead to an underground route beneath the Strait all the way to North Africa.the walls of St Michael’s Cave are illuminated with lightshows, the highlight of which is a towering vision on the rocks of an angel spreading its wings, accompanied by the swell of holy music. I’m not religious but it left me slightly agog.
After emerging blinking from the caves we were given another chance to meet the Rock’s most famous residents.
Most tourists see the monkeys when they’re at their most sedentary; they get a bit grumpy after lunch, much like the rest of us. Monkey Talk Gibraltar offers a more intimate glimpse into their lives.
It is run by Brian Gomila, Gibraltar’s only qualified primatologist.i initially thought being three feet away from a pair of rutting macaques was perhaps an intrusion but I suspect they were showing off.
As the sun dipped below the glittering Mediterranean, we tracked the troop down to Windsor Bridge, a newly constructed pedestrian suspension overpass.
It was here the monkeys had a small spat (which we later called The Battle Of Windsor Bridge) which involved lots of screeching followed by reconciliatory mating in close proximity to our group!
Like the rest of Gibraltar there was a lot more going on than first appears; and visitors are of course welcome.
Unless your name is Napoleon, perhaps.
Factfile
Manchester-gibraltar Easyjet return flights from £60pp, Edinburgh-gibraltar from £133pp. The Eliott Hotel, from £140 per room, per night.