up the Rock!
From Alcaidesa Marina in La Linea, Gibraltar is approximately 15 minutes walk away through a very busy border control and across a runway. It's not everyday that you actually walk across a runway so this was quite a novelty, so much so that we just had to include a photo... Sorry.
crossing the runway
To see the "Upper Rock", tourists can walk, take a cable car or pay for a personalised taxi tour. Having spoken to and read numerous blogs from other cruisers we decided that we didn't want to spend our money on either the cable car or personalised taxi but instead we would walk. It wasn't clear however if we could walk to the upper rock for free - you can!
We started out at the Garrison Library, climbing the steps along the side. This lead us to the Union Jack Steps and onto a rough track, heading uphill. Before long we arrived at Devil's Gap Battery where we stopped to look at two enormous coastal defence guns used in WWII.
Union Jack Steps, dating back to the 1967 referendum
one of the coastal defence guns
We continued, passing under the Cable Car before arriving at the Apes' Den where Bruce met his ancestors both young and old all feeding and grooming each other.
Cute! The Apes are in fact Barbary Macaques, tailess monkeys.
Following a brief respite we then climbed (note, climbed) up the steps of 'King Charles V Wall' to the summit. Along the way there were many notices warning that the Apes can become aggressive if approached and to not feed them so when we saw a group of Apes all huddled together on one of the steps that we needed to pass we became wary. I was walking in front with Bruce following closely behind. As we drew nearer one of the Apes raised its head, looked at us with an expression that said "we were hear first, we're not moving, you'll just have to pass us". We gingerly stepped in the only gap available which was so very close to a little arm wrapped around another Ape (whilst thinking how very easy it would be for one of the Apes to bite us). They didn't flinch.
group hugs
With the steps behind us it was only a short walk to the cafe where we stopped for a well deserved coffee. From here the panoramic views are spectacular with views overlooking the bay, across to La Linea and to the Costa del Sol.
the Med side of the rock
Alcaidesa marina in the distance
We then decided to find the Mediterranean Steps that run from O'Hara's Battery at the top and Jews' Gate, midway down. We didn't realise this at the time, so headed off to Jews' Gate to find the pathway that lead us to the start of the steps. The first part of the walk was straightforward then it became quite demanding as the steps rose steeply uphill. The views were absolutely stunning, the springtime flora and fauna fantastic. Progress was slow as we kept stopping to catch our breath and give our aching muscles chance to recover.
the path just before it turned to steep steps!
looking up, still a long way to go
the Med side of the rock with the Costa del Sol coastline
Finally we reached O'Hara's Battery (426m above sea level) but now we had to get back down! Feeling a bit weary we considered our options - the cable car wasn't one of them. :-( We could either follow the zigzag main road down to the bottom (increasing our walking distance) or retrace our steps down the wall (the most direct route down). Retracing our steps is exactly what we did and by the time we'd walked back to Flirtie we were absolutely cream-crackered. It was satisfying to know that we'd effectively walked up, halfway down, round, back up and finally down the rock... our legs certainly knew about it!
Even though you could argue that we walked the Mediterranean steps the wrong way round, we actually felt that it was a better choice especially for the knees. Note though that these steps aren't for the fainthearted and we certainly wouldn't recommend them to anyone who is afraid of heights or suffers from vertigo.
As for seeing all the tourist attractions on the "Upper Rock" that will just have to wait for another day!
crossing the runway
To see the "Upper Rock", tourists can walk, take a cable car or pay for a personalised taxi tour. Having spoken to and read numerous blogs from other cruisers we decided that we didn't want to spend our money on either the cable car or personalised taxi but instead we would walk. It wasn't clear however if we could walk to the upper rock for free - you can!
We started out at the Garrison Library, climbing the steps along the side. This lead us to the Union Jack Steps and onto a rough track, heading uphill. Before long we arrived at Devil's Gap Battery where we stopped to look at two enormous coastal defence guns used in WWII.
Union Jack Steps, dating back to the 1967 referendum
one of the coastal defence guns
We continued, passing under the Cable Car before arriving at the Apes' Den where Bruce met his ancestors both young and old all feeding and grooming each other.
Cute! The Apes are in fact Barbary Macaques, tailess monkeys.
Following a brief respite we then climbed (note, climbed) up the steps of 'King Charles V Wall' to the summit. Along the way there were many notices warning that the Apes can become aggressive if approached and to not feed them so when we saw a group of Apes all huddled together on one of the steps that we needed to pass we became wary. I was walking in front with Bruce following closely behind. As we drew nearer one of the Apes raised its head, looked at us with an expression that said "we were hear first, we're not moving, you'll just have to pass us". We gingerly stepped in the only gap available which was so very close to a little arm wrapped around another Ape (whilst thinking how very easy it would be for one of the Apes to bite us). They didn't flinch.
group hugs
With the steps behind us it was only a short walk to the cafe where we stopped for a well deserved coffee. From here the panoramic views are spectacular with views overlooking the bay, across to La Linea and to the Costa del Sol.
the Med side of the rock
Alcaidesa marina in the distance
We then decided to find the Mediterranean Steps that run from O'Hara's Battery at the top and Jews' Gate, midway down. We didn't realise this at the time, so headed off to Jews' Gate to find the pathway that lead us to the start of the steps. The first part of the walk was straightforward then it became quite demanding as the steps rose steeply uphill. The views were absolutely stunning, the springtime flora and fauna fantastic. Progress was slow as we kept stopping to catch our breath and give our aching muscles chance to recover.
the path just before it turned to steep steps!
looking up, still a long way to go
the Med side of the rock with the Costa del Sol coastline
Finally we reached O'Hara's Battery (426m above sea level) but now we had to get back down! Feeling a bit weary we considered our options - the cable car wasn't one of them. :-( We could either follow the zigzag main road down to the bottom (increasing our walking distance) or retrace our steps down the wall (the most direct route down). Retracing our steps is exactly what we did and by the time we'd walked back to Flirtie we were absolutely cream-crackered. It was satisfying to know that we'd effectively walked up, halfway down, round, back up and finally down the rock... our legs certainly knew about it!
Even though you could argue that we walked the Mediterranean steps the wrong way round, we actually felt that it was a better choice especially for the knees. Note though that these steps aren't for the fainthearted and we certainly wouldn't recommend them to anyone who is afraid of heights or suffers from vertigo.
As for seeing all the tourist attractions on the "Upper Rock" that will just have to wait for another day!
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