Bottomless Pits and Wild Monkeys

6-24-2010

After a great breakfast this morning we boarded the bus, luggage and all, and headed off to Gibraltar. Gibraltar is at the tip of Spain and is actually a British territory where the official language is English. We even needed our passport to walk through the gates of the city.

I have to say it is one of the craziest, most interesting places I've ever visited. It's known as "the rock" because, well, it's basically made up of a big rock with caves inside. You can also see Africa from the top! We spent a few hours in the city center just eating lunch and shopping. They get the award for the world's ugliest souvenirs. Don't worry I didn't buy you anything you'll have to pretend you like.

Around 3pm we all boarded 8 passenger vans for the trek up "the rock". Mrs. Dr. Crider told us before we even arrived to beware of the "bottomless pits"...whatever that means. So, we all were freaked out all day that we were going to fall into a bottomless pit and be devoured by wild monkeys. However, our tour guide Maxi was awesome. He gave us the low down and warned us of the vicious monkeys. And, they're only vicious if you have food and they want it. Some girls in our group found this out after the monkeys stole their ice cream and they ran away screaming. It was hilarious and terrifying at the same time.

Wild monkey with an ice cream cone in each hand- haha!

At the top of the rock and without food, the monkeys were really cute and soft and we took turns letting them sit on our shoulders! *Griff, I know you're jealous right now:)

Just chillin' with a monkey on my shoulder

Then we went to visit a huge cave in the rock. It was made by water and looks beautiful inside. They actually even have concerts there because the acoustics are so good.

The view from the top was incredible. At one point, I could see Africa straight ahead (only 14 miles from Gibraltar, so close that I got a text from the mobile provider in Morocco), the Mediterranean to the left, Atlantic and Spain to the right.

Me with "the rock"

Sailboat and Africa in the distance

Lighthouse at the tip of Gibraltar

In the afternoon we left for Torremolinos, a smaller coastal town to the east. We had a feast of a buffet for dinner. After dinner, we went and frolicked in the freezing Mediterranean! The beach is beautiful and the sand is a bit darker than I'm used to. The city is cute and reminds me a lot of the gulf shores of Spain. There's an ice cream shop down the street and a place where we can watch Spain play tomorrow in the Mundial. I also bought a towel, don't worry mom.

Walking into the Med

We have all day free tomorrow to spend on the beach. And I plan on being a beach bum all day long :)