After three days at sea, we were excited to be visiting Gibraltar: our first shore run on the Saga Eastern Mediterranean Cruise. The Spirit of Adventure was docking as it was getting light, so there was no chance for any surveying before we reached Gibraltar. The ship cleared immigration during breakfast and we were told we were free to head ashore for the day, up to 16:30 when we had to be back on the ship.
Gibraltar has been a British Overseas Territory since 1713. In 1704, Anglo-Dutch forces captured Gibraltar from Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession and it was ceded to Great Britain in perpetuity under the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Relationships between the territory and Spain have often been difficult, but the Gibraltar population have strongly demonstrated their wish to remain a British territory in referendums in 1967 and 2002. Movement across the border has sometimes been suspended by the Spanish. There is plenty of irony that Spain has two small territories, Ceuta and Melilla, that it has retained on the Northern Morocco coast. Currently, there are discussions for Gibraltar to join the Schengen area, albeit those discussions have not achieved an agreement over the past two years.
Gibraltar is just over three miles long. At the widest it is about a mile and a half, but it is only that wide because the port has been extended out into the surrounding waters. More typically, it is about a mile wide at the Northern end and it rapidly tapers to its narrow Southern tip. The whole territory is dominated by the Rock which is four hundred and twenty-six metres high.
The Rock has constrained the town to be largely on the Western side, although there are some coastal houses on the Eastern side of the Rock. The current population is just under forty thousand.
After a ten to fifteen minute walk up the hill, we reached the Moorish Castle and the entrance to the Gibraltar Nature Reserve. The entrance fee is twenty-five Gibraltar pounds, which is set to parity with Sterling. While it isn't a cheap entrance fee, it does include the entrance to the various attractions within the Nature Reserve. Terry & Karen had both visited the area on previous Saga Cruises as part of the ORCA team and they weren't fussed about another visit. As it was the first visit for Lexie and myself, we decided to have a look around. We couldn't cover the whole of the area and there is enough to make another visit worthwhile, if I'm chosen by ORCA to survey this route on a future trip.
The road goes up past the WW2 Tunnels Museum. We decided to have a look around the Museum on the return journey. A few minutes later, we reached the Military Heritage Centre a bit higher up the Rock. This had some excellent views over the Northern end of Gibraltar.
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary RFA Lyme Bay was tied up on one of the quays.
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The airport is squeezed in a small area of flat land immediately North of the Rock. The road across the runway is open to traffic and pedestrians, when there aren't planes using it. The Spanish border is about a quarter mile to the North of the runway and next to the airport terminal.
Limited time was a problem during the day and it was time to keep pushing further into the Nature Reserve.
Finally, we encountered a party of the famous Rock Apes or to give them their proper names Barbary Macaques. It is thought they were introduced by the Moors in Medieval times. There was a saying that when the Rock Apes disappear from Gibraltar, then the British would also leave. Churchill was worried enough about their declining numbers during WW2, that he ordered more to be sent to the Territory. The population is now stable with around two hundred and fifty to three hundred individuals.
Lexie and I ran into a couple from the ship who were returning from further into the reserve. They mentioned it was worth continuing as there was an excellent cave display at St Michael's Cave, which was another half mile along the road. This was going to eat into the time we had left, but it was time well spent. St Michael's Cave has been in use since Roman times. The British used it to protect the citizens during bombardment by Spanish and French ships during the Great Siege of Gibraltar from 1779. Eventually, the siege was broken in 1783. In WWII, it was used as an ammunition store and emergency hospital. It is now used as an underground concert hall.
There was an fantastic light and music show in the cave. It was a shame they weren't playing some of Jean Michal Jarre's excellent compositions, given the way Jarre has combined music and light shows in the unique one-off concerts he has put on over the years in some of the world's most iconic locations.
It was time to start walking back to the town, albeit we started off on a different path back.
We had seen this suspension bridge on the way to St Michael's Cave, but we managed to miss the track to the bridge. We found the path on the way back.
I had built in a few minutes to have a quick look inside the WW2 Tunnels Museum, which has been created to show off a very small part of the extensive tunnels inside the Rock. The total length of the tunnels is thirty-four miles, which is twice the length of all the roads in the territory. The first tunnels were excavated in the late 1700s as communication passages between artillery positions and to house guns cut into the North Face of the Rock. Over the following years, more tunnels were constructed to allow easier access to remote areas of Gibraltar. Tunnelling continued in the 20th Century when Gibraltar was turned into a massive fortress in WW2. During WW2, Gibraltar was essential to retain, as it controlled access to the Western Mediterranean. Like Malta, had it fallen, then the course of WW2 could have been very different.
I wanted to have a quick look at the Moorish Castle. However, there was no access allowed during our visit. There were a few unidentified Terrapins in a pond next to the Castle.
After an eight mile walk, I was back at the ship.
We were keen that the Spirit of Adventure sailed on time at 17:00, as we would have the best part of two hours on the top deck looking for Dolphins. The waters around Gibraltar are excellent places to see Short-beaked Common Dolphins. One of the local boats which takes visitors out to look for Dolphins are so confident that they will be successful, that they do not charge passengers, if they miss them.
It was a glorious late afternoon and lots of passengers joined us in the expectation of seeing some Dolphins. They were not disappointed. In the end, we saw eighty-nine Short-beaked Common Dolphins, ten Striped Dolphins, four Risso's Dolphins and nine unidentified Dolphins in less than two hours. It was the perfect end to a fantastic day.
