Gibraltar - the Only Repeat Port on Our Cruise

Barbary ape carefully walking fence of Trafalgar Cemetery, Gibraltar

Heading westward from Cartagena, we anticipated a second visit to Gibraltar, the only repeat port on our back-to-back cruises.  Having been there on April 7^th as we traveled from Morocco to Spain, we had visited the town and had done a shore excursion that took us around the island.  Because of that, we didn’t have anything planned for our stay in Gibraltar other than, on my part, one short errand.  We had just finished the morning’s trivia challenge (we are on a different team now that 2/3 of our team left in Rome) when we noticed dolphins on the starboard side… and not just a few.  We spent probably close to 20 minutes watching what appeared to be hundreds of dolphins swimming, jumping, diving, and generally playing near the ship.  As one of our trivia teammates commented, with the meeting of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, combined with the ship moving in the water, a lot of nutrients had been stirred up which most likely lured them to join us in our approach to Gibraltar.  (This is day 61 for us, and until now we had seen exactly one dolphin; that was on a shore excursion in Korcula, Croatia back on April 19^th.)   

Once again we found the Rock of Gibraltar shrouded in clouds.  But this time, unlike last month, the clouds remained.  We were glad to have seen it in the glorious sunlight that shone through as the fog seemed to lift like magic last month.  We were sorry that those who hadn’t been with us in April were seeing the Rock in the clouds.

This time instead of taking the wheelchair from the ship for a long walk into the city, we took a shuttle for €2.  That meant that I could ride both ways and Chuck could stay in town to wander unencumbered by me (or the wheelchair), unlike the last time we were here.  In April I had bought a t-shirt that I really liked, but I hadn’t noticed that tag said it could be washed and tumbled dry, but it could not be ironed.  So that t-shirt was ruined after the first washing by the ship’s laundry.  Not their fault: I usually read the labels more carefully!  So I wanted to get another of the same t-shirt.  I had also promised friends from the last cruise who boarded in Barcelona that I would try to pick up a souvenir spoon for them. He had been a career military person (USAF) who had been stationed in England for several years.  During that time, they had been in Gibraltar, but that was before it was commercialized so they had not gotten a collectible spoon. 

So with both missions quickly accomplished, I returned to the ship, leaving Chuck to wander to his heart’s content. When he returned, he commented that he had done a considerable amount of hiking, covering a lot of the city on foot that we had whizzed past on the bus when returning from our shore excursion last month.  He saw the guard stationed in front of the British government building in Gibraltar, visited the cathedral, and walked the busy streets filled with souvenir shops and English pubs.

The “highlight” came when he walked through the city wall and reached the Trafalgar Cemetery which commemorated the soldiers killed in the early 19^th century Battle of Trafalgar.  While old cemeteries are intriguing, the most interesting part was the fact that several Gibraltar’s famed barbary apes had clambered down the vines on the wall and were scampering around the cemetery, and he added, displaying very little reverence for the honored dead.  They were running down the paths, around the tombstones, swinging through the trees and more importantly, entertaining the delighted tourists. Some were running along the fence of the cemetery and onto the sidewalk.  One was fascinated by the litter bin on the street.  Tourists, including Chuck, got a few pictures of the ape in its glory enjoying its “gold mine” in the trash.  We had been warned not to encourage the apes because they would jump on people who had food or things that were handy to grab like hats, glasses, and cameras.  There was a woman there with a bright vest which said “Ape Management” on the back and she was shooting at them with a sort of pellet gun.  One lady asked what she was doing and she explained that the apes weren’t supposed to be in town and in the cemetery since their turf was to be up on the rock and she was trying to coax them to return to where they belonged.  However he admitted he was pleased they had come down to see him since he hadn’t gone to the top of the rock and the only one he had seen on our ship tour in April was one running in the road ahead of our bus.  Interestingly, the next day Chuck was talking with another cruise acquaintance who had also seen all the apes at the cemetery.  She said that she had stopped in a small convenience store near the cemetery and commented on the apes.  The proprietor told her that they were regular (but unwelcome) visitors, who darted into the store, stole candy bars, and were on their way before he could stop them!  So while they were definitely an attraction for the tourists, he was glad for the “ape management” team .e HHHH

We had a late day in Gibraltar before setting sail for Cadiz, Spain, which we had visited on the 2012 Grand World Voyage.  We had enjoyed that city then and are looking forward to visiting it again. 

BT