Gibraltar United Kingdom October 2007 - 24 photos - 1112 views

A day visit to the Rock of Gibraltar is a welcome relief from touring another cathedral or castle in Spain. Gibraltar was one of the two pillars erected by Hercules to mark the edge of the world. La Lina, Spain is the primary gateway to Gibraltar and the border crossing is located across from La Lina's main square, the Plaza de la Constitucion. It was fairly easy to cross from Spain into Gibraltar by just waving our passport. Once we get through customs, we get to walk across the airport runway, which could be blocked and used for plane landing in the middle of the road.  
 
We went to the top and visited the St. Michael's Cave. The cave consists of an Upper Hall filled with stalactites and stalagmites, connected with five passages with drops of 40-150 feet / 12-45 m to a smaller hall. During WWII the cave was prepared as an emergency hospital, but was never used, it's entrance is now the tourist exit. There are apes at the exit, lots of them. They were most probably first brought here by the British in the early eighteenth century. The earliest written record of the apes in Gibraltar dates back to 1740. Legend has it that the apes are a symbol of British sovereignty and if they go the British will leave Gibraltar, "That's why we have to feed them". Today there are over 200 apes living free on the Upper Nature Reserve. They are divided into five packs and are quite territorial.