Granny D Climbs Monkey Rock

As part of our family holiday to Benalmadena in 2019, we thought it would be nice for us all to tick off another country off the travel bucket list by going to Gibraltar for a day out.

About the Country

Gibraltar is a tiny, British Overseas Territory found at the bottom of Spain's South Coast, with a population of just 34,000 people where people live in high rise accommodation. The majority of the country is covered by the famous 'Gibraltar Rock' but during our time there, we saw that people who live in Gibraltar are more or less just British Citizens but live in Gibraltar.

We had to set off from Benalmadena early in the morning as it was a 1 hour 30 minutes drive to Gibraltar, we also wanted to get the most of the day.

Once we arrived, we had to park up before walking into Border Control and getting accepted into the country.

Main Attractions

All of the main sight seeing attractions can seen and done in 1 whole day on top of 'the Rock' where you will find the famous Macaquees, Uppoer Rock Nature Reserve, the Skywalk, Apes Den, St Michaels Cave and the Great Siege Tunnels.

Gibraltar Rock

We thought it was beneficial for us all to go up the rock in the cable car, especially for Grandma as you cannot expect a 72 year old to climb up a rock regardless of how fit they are. But you wouldn't believe that she climbed all the way down with no stress what so ever.

Top of the Rock

The Rock is 426 Meters tall and completely dominates the Gib's skyline and is one huge piece of Limestone. We took the short Cable Car ride up to the Top Station, at the top of the summit which has some incredible views where you can see in all directions. In the distance, you can see Morroco, Africa which would be a boat to get across the continent.

The Apes

The Gibraltar Rock famous Barbary Macaques are the most famous residents who live on the Rock and there is estimated to be around 230 of them. They may look like your ordinary, harmless Monkeys, but they are actually tailess apes, who at the sound of a bag russel or see that you have some food then they can get very aggressive and will attack you. Heed the warning signs scattered around the Rock and whatever you do, DO NOT feed them or you will have to pay a fine!

Sure they look cute and innocent when they're grooming each other and jumping through the bushes and across the rock, but they can be very mischievous and intelligent at the same time. It's been known that the Monkeys break into people's homes away from the rock to steal food.

We had a funny encounter with one monkey in particular as one of them latched onto Rachel and tried to pull her away, she was beside herself in fear and they can hold on pretty tightly so in the back of all our minds we were thinking, is this the end of Rachel. Luckily enough though, someone opened their bag and the monkey's attention turned off of Rachel and we ran inside for cover.

St Michaels Cave

From the summit, we walked down to the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, about a 20 minutes down the rock and we cam eto St Michaels Cave covered in amazing Stalagmites and Stalagtites from the roof and the ground of the cave, formed by rainwater millions of yars ago. The Cave also served as a hospital during WOrld War 2, but today it is used as a theatre and for concerts.

Skywalk

Formerly a millitary lookout point but now it is used as a glass walkway where you can test your fear of heights walking over the glass platform. Needless to say that this walk is not ideal for those with a fear of heights.