We cruised full steam ahead all night long to try to make up time since we left Lisbon some four hours later than we were supposed to. And it was windy. Really windy. The boat rocked back and forth like mad. We could barely stand up to unpack our luggage. I couldn’t decide if I was getting sea sick or if I was just thinking too much about it, but to be safe I took one of my motion sickness pills. Then I couldn’t sleep all night. Bill says those pills make me wired, which I never realized, but the main ingredient is tobacco. (They’re French.) I should have just turned on the tv when I realized everyone else in the pitch black cabin was snoring.
Despite the captain’s efforts, we didn’t make up four entire hours overnight. Imagine that. At the end of our mustering drill (which had to be held this morning because of the late boarding yesterday), the captain announced that we’d be arriving in Gibraltar about three hours late… but that we’d stay late to give everyone time to see it. We stopped by the line at the excursion desk to ask what time we were supposed to meet, but decided that was a waste of time. They’d tell us eventually and as long as we were cruising, no one was getting off the boat.
When we got to Gibraltar, we headed off on our excursion to see the monkeys. Well, apes. I had no idea until I started looking at the excursions for this cruise, but apes roam the Rock of Gibraltar. Wild. Free. (But taken care of.) Our excursion said it started with a cable car ride up to the top of the rock, a walk down to the ape’s den then some other stuff we were less interested in. Allow me to set the record straight. The cable car was not what I’d imagined. It was not like a cable car in San Francisco… firmly attached to a cable in the ground. No, it was a telepherique that dangled from a cable in the air. I’m getting more used to them. I got in, went to the middle where it swings less, grabbed the pole to hang onto and was ok. Bill and Kaitlyn stood at one end of the car so they could see out. Yuck.
The guide told us before we got on the cable car to be careful of the apes. Don’t poke your finger at them or reach out to them, they will bite. Oh, and they might jump on you. Or try to steal your purse or your bag. Don’t carry a plastic bag, they think there’s food in them and will go to great lengths to get them. Never fear, he assured us… his walking stick reminds the apes of the blow gun used to tranquilize them and he can scare them off if necessary. How comforting.
We spotted some apes as soon as we got off the dangling cable car. They were sitting on the ground picking bugs off each other (I assume, I didn’t get that close). I took a picture of Bill standing near one then he took one of me. Kaitlyn wasn’t interested in that particular photo op.
When I tore myself away from marveling at the wild apes roaming around, I listened to the tour guide pointing out that from where we were standing we could see Spain and Africa. It was pretty amazing. When we were cruising into the port I wondered what it was on either side of us.
Before our walk down to the apes den, we stopped in a little gift shop. Kaitlyn picked out a stuffed monkey she can hang around her neck. I bought a postcard, but they didn’t have stamps for the U.S., so that was silly of me. We also bought a couple of bottles of water, which I was afraid the apes would try to steal. I guzzled mine then couldn’t find a trash can, so I stuck the empty bottle in my jacket and zipped it up. I’d also put my purse under my jacket. I looked like I’d gained 20 pounds in my attempt to hide things from the monkeys. There was a sign in the snack bar warning you not to take your ice cream outside because they’ll take it. (The sign did not mention any unusual ape interest in the water, but I worried anyway.) Some kid in our tour group didn’t believe it… until an ape dashed out of nowhere up onto his head to grab his ice cream and run off. The kid will always have a good story to tell. And I’m sure he’ll leave out the part about there being a warning about carrying food around the apes.
The walk down to the apes den was not exactly what I’d have expected for an organized tour. We walked down an extremely narrow road with a pretty steep drop off on one side… and a steady stream of tour buses driving along it. There were no more apes in their den than there were anywhere else on the rock.
Then we went into some cave. It was ok… but the cave we went to here in France was actually prettier. This one was slippery and the ice-cream-kid’s dad slipped on some stairs and fell on his rear. Granted, there was no warning about slippery stairs. But we are talking about a family that went on a walking tour excursion wearing flip flops and crocks.
The final stop was a walk through a tunnel dug straight into the rock a couple hundred years ago when some governor wanted to put guns in there to defend it. That I could have skipped and been happy. But outside the entrance we could look down and see the airport. It was one runway perpendicular to two seas… and with a road running through the middle. Just on the other side is the border with Spain. The tour guide said they only get like one flight a day and when it is coming or going they simply close that road. How convenient.
I’d have never looked at a map and said hey, let’s go to Gibraltar. But it was really interesting. And now I can say I’ve stood on the Rock of Gibraltar.
Just look what happens when OSHA has no jurisdiction.