The Apes at the Rock

Lanaia and I went down to Gibraltar for the day. The rock itself is huge, with reclaimed land surrounding it's base. There are about 30k UK residents there (it is part of the UK). There are plenty of relics to see, there are cannons everywhere, the old Moorish castle, the St. Michael's caves, the siege tunnels, and the famous Barbary Apes.
The airport is all on reclaimed land built over the peninsula from mainland Spain. Cars and pedestrians have to walk across the airstrip to get onto the rock! Be sure to wait for the walk signal!
We took a tour taxi up the hill to see the caves, the tunnels, the castle and the apes. The caves were cool - very big and pretty well lit. The stalactites were huge in some spots and looked like hanging spears in others. The siege tunnels were used throughout several wars - the guide said they were expanded during WWII to 38 km in length. We saw some of the older parts used during the wars between Spain and England. The engineers made holes in the walls for cannon ports to cover the approaches to the rock. Considering that it was all hand dug, it was a major achievement, even by modern standards. The old Moorish castle was, well, another castle. We have seen a few now and they look pretty standard. This one is still the Gibraltar prison, so we couldn't go in and look around. Last but not least, the Barbary Apes. The sailors in the 16-17th centuries were famous for bringing back all kinds of critters to naval bases. The Barbary Apes are a great example. The males are about 2 feet tall and maybe 30 pounds. The females are smaller, maybe 1.5 feet tall and 15-20 pounds. It's illegal to pet or feed them, but they are pretty friendly. Our tour guide offered to get them to pose on your shoulder for pictures, with no guarantees - they are not potty trained! The apes were good about the pictures and they were a highlight of the trip.
Pictures coming soon!