Dream Trip Spain: Barbary Macaque (monkeys) of Gibraltar

 We went to Gibraltar and did a tour of the ROCK.  Even before I had ever gotten there I had heard of the Monkeys that lived there.

Barbary Macaque of Gibraltar

Here's some information about the  Barbary_macaques_in_Gibraltar according to Wikipedia.

   Legend  has it that when the last monkey is gone from the island the British will leave the island also.  (This kidna reminded me of the Ravens at the tower of London, because they have a similar legend that if the Ravens ever leave the tower than the British Monarchy will fall.) But getting back to the Monkeys because of this legend, they are carefully watched.  We were told that they even have a veterinarian assigned to their well being and maintenance. For their well being we were told there are hefty fines for feeding them and not give them anything.  If they get sick they even have a hospital that they are taken to.  They also add that from time to time new members are introduced from Africa just to keep the gene pool diversify.  So now a days they have a very healthy and thriving community.
 
  I couldn't wait to see them.  I imagined that they would be in a zoo like setting.  Imagine my surprise when we got there and saw traffic was stopped because the moneys were making themselves right at home with the cars and buses.

Cars stopped by the Barbary Monkeys of Gilbraltar

 Then I thought it might be like other places where you could view them but had to stay in the car.  Which was fine with me.

Barbary Macaque (Monkey) making itself at home on top of a van

 But then they told us to get out.  I couldn't believe I was able to get out and walk right up to this wild monkey. I must admit they are more used to people than I expected but still this was a monkey that lived at this place.  Wouldn't you love having a view like this to look at all the time.

Barbary Macaque (monkey) of Gibraltar

 Here's another one.  A typical day at the Rock.
I should note that these monkeys let me get this close to take their pictures.  I didn't even had to zoom in on them.  It was like I was taking a picture of a friend.

 We went and did a tour of St Michael's cave and this fellow was there at the gate ready to greet us as we came out.  It was almost like he wanted to know if we had a good time in the cave.

One of the patriarchs of the Barbary Macaque clan

 I had fun taking his picture but then got quickly distracted by the kids playing on the guard rail. 

A Barbary Macaque playing on the rail

 Then I noticed momma sitting watching her kiddo intensely.  It was okay for you to watch but she really didn't want you too close to them.

One of the Matriarchs of the Barbary Macaque clan

 As I was watching them.  This bold litter fellow went and grabbed a piece of paper and started to chew on it.  Now I could understand why they warned us about giving them things. I'm sure that wasn't something very healthy for this juvenile to be chewing on.

Juvenile Barbary Macaque (monkey) of Gibraltar

 I heard some commotion and saw that this little one had joined the crowd also.  Everyone was ohing and ahing over him.  He sure was cute and knew it too.

juvenile monkey of Gibraltar

 The next thing we knew a different one jumped up on this girl.  She was really not expecting that at all.
And a couple of others jump on some other peoples heads too. 

A Barbary Macaque (Monkey) on a girls head

 She wasn't the only person those little monkeys decided to visit.  I really think this girl liked having this one come to her.

New best friends

 I was so distracted by watching and taking photos of them, that I didn't notice that a little monkey had come over to me and started to put his hands into my coat pocket and tried to get something from there.  All I had was a package of tissue paper.  I managed to keep it  but was surprised at how bold he was and was just  helping himself to whatever he wanted.  Since I wasn't giving anything to him he went on to someone else.

A monkey going up to a man

 They kept on trying to get something from this guy but he had nothing to give. 

Two Barbary Macaque (monkeys) checking out the jewelry a man was wearing

 The man got away and sat down.  
It was so funny to watch the patriarch of the monkey clan purposely come over to the man,

 sit down next to him and started to gibber to him.  It was almost like he was trying to say "my kids - they'll take everything you have.  I'm glad you didn't give them anything. Us parents have to stick together.'

The Patriarch of the Barbary Macaque having a heart to heart talk

This experience would not have been possible if it wasn't for my husband earning a rewards trip from a certain company that wants to remain anonymous.  And for that I'm extremely grateful to both my husband and  that company. It's something I'll never forget.

 I Muse:  I'm so glad I got to see these Barbary Macaques - I never thought I would have this type of opportunity to.  It's definitely worth a trip back to Gibraltar just to see them again.

Dream trip Spain: & St Michael's Cave, Gibraltar

We went to St. Michael's Cave while visiting The Rock of Gibraltar, (more on Gibraltar later).

Wikipedia has this on  St Michael's Cave and also this on the Rock_of_Gibraltar  .

My hubby about to enter the cave.

Entrance to St Michael's Cave

In the cave they have signs like this to help tell you about things.

Sign at St. Michael's Cave, Gibraltar

I was so excited to see the caves I barely looked at the signs.  All I could think about was seeing the different features in it.

When I think of caves I think of Stalactite  and Stalagmite and wondered what would be there.  I copied this from Wikipedia since I found the diagram to be so helpful.

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Image showing the six most common speleothems with labels. Enlarge to view labels.

A stalactite (UK /ˈstæləktaɪt/, US /stəˈlæktaɪt/; from the Greek stalasso, (σταλάσσω), "to drip", and meaning "that which drips") is a type of speleothem (secondary mineral) that hangs from the ceiling of limestone caves. It is a type of dripstone. The corresponding formation on the floor of the cave is known as a stalagmite.

Well here's the first thing I saw.  I was amazed by it.

stalactite & columns  in St Michaels cave, Gibraltar

 I tried taking a lot of pictures but most of them didn't turn out.  They had a lot of lighting in the cave with artificial colors that in some places helped but for the most part hindered getting good photos for me. Such as this one below.  The lighting accented the stalagmite but it washed out all the Stalactites coming down from the ceiling.

A stalagmite highlighted at St Michaels Cave, Gibraltar

 I think the biggest problem with taking photos was the shear magnitude of the cave.  If you stood back and tried to take a photo it just wouldn't take, even using a flash.  The only ones that seemed to do well were the ones that were close by or the ones were the lighting was good on a particular one or in the stage area.

flowstone at St. Michaels Cave, Gibraltar

 I thought this area was neat because you could actually see the water dripping onto the rock.  The closer I looked at it I kinda got upset because I had seen where some one had carved into it. But then I remembered people used to picnic here and I doubted they realized how delicate a cave really is.  I just hope in time mother nature will reclaim it. 

flowstone with green lighting on it and water dripping on to it.

Everywhere I looked I was seeing incredible things. After awhile I just gave up trying to get a photo and then just walked around and totally enjoyed it.  Every once in a while I would see something and try to capture an image of it.  None of the photo's I took did justice to the magnificence of the cave.  I was just glad I got the photos I did get.

Stalactites & a drape to the right.

 My camera slipped as I took this picture but I thought it was still neat

St Michael's Cave, Gibraltar

Here is how I wanted it to look.

Columns in St Michaels Cave, Gibraltar

Stalactites & straws in St Michaels Cave, Gibraltar

  I really liked this one because you could see the crack in which the water was percolating down  through which was causing these stalactites and straws to form.

stalactites and straws -St Michael's Cave, Gibraltar

column forming  with a possible straw in St Michaels cave, Gibraltar

  This one had the best drapes.  It was over the sitting area of the concert hall and it looked like some of the rocks had been broken off.

Drapes in St Michaels Cave, Gibraltar

 Now a days the cave is used for concerts because of its acoustic qualities.  Here's my husband standing
  near some of the seats.

St Michaels Cave Concert Hall

Look at this column that was in the middle of the seating!  Wouldn't you love having this block your view.  I know I probably would look more at it than the people playing in the orchestra.

A column in St Michaels Cave, Gibraltar

And here I am standing in front of the column. 

I just wished I had taken more photos.  I was surprised that when I looked at them I didn't get a good one of a stalagmite.

I muse:  I would love to hear a concert in this magnificent cave.  I'm sure it would sound incredible.

Dream Trip Spain: Puerto Banus

One night we were on our own to get our own dinner.  To make it easier on us the company did provide transportation to a popular dining and shopping place: Puerto Banus.
In Spain people take siesta from 2-5 and nothing gets done during that time except eating and resting.  They don't even eat what we would call lunch they just have what they call snacks.  Most of the snacks were cheeses, breads, fruits and occasionally we'd see very thinly sliced meat.  The Spaniards like to have their main meal their dinner.  But usually they don't go out to eat until 9 or later.  So most of the places if you wanted to eat after 9 you had to have reservations.
  My husband and I are used to eating around 6:30 and we didn't want to wait until 9 to eat, so we went early to the dining area and was glad we did because it was such an interesting place to see.  Since it was so light out I was able to get some pictures of the area. 

 There was a Virgin Mary holding a baby in this building.  That was something I'm not used to seeing in other ports I've been too.

 At first we thought this was a light house and then it turned out to be a popular restaurant.

El Gran Gatsby

 With the view it must have had I can see why you needed reservations no matter what time you came by.
 Here's another view of it.

El Gran Gatsby

  I forgot who this distinguish gentleman was but he was important enough to have a monument made so I figured it was worth taking his picture.  Could it be Banus himself?

 I was impressed with the size of this anchor.  But then again when you saw the size of some of the yachts that were there I wasn't surprise to see an anchor this size there.

Puerto Banus

  We quickly realized that this was the high end living section of Spain. The cars and yachts we were seeing were incredible.  My husband just had to have a picture of this car to taunt my youngest with since he's always wanted to ride in one.  We didn't ride in it but we did touch it just to see how it would feel.

 We also had to get a picture or two of the yachts we were seeing.

We decided to take a picture next to the thing we liked the most.  So here's what my husband chose. The yacht Aztec.

My husband with the next yacht he'd like to rid on

As for me I had to go with the Mountains.  I just loved seeing them (notice the grin on my face).  I think this is the Sierra Real.  It did seem real to me.

Moi @ Puerto Banus

 Here's another view with me not blocking the port. 

Sierra Real and Puerto Banus

The Mediterranean Sea coast seen from  Puerto Banus

 There was a jetty that stuck out and then we noticed the light house on the end of it. 

light house at Puerto Banus, Spain

All that walking started to make us hungry especially when we kept on passing displays like this in front of the restaurants.  Look at the size of those lobsters and prawns. They even had crawfish!  We couldn't wait until we could try some of these sea food delights.

 Finally we settled on this restaurant:   The Black & White. When we were at the hotel we asked where the concierge would eat if they were going to eat in that area.  They recommended 4 or 5 places and this was one of them.  We picked it over the others because of the view it would have.  We were not disappointed in the food either and of course I had to get something with seafood.   I got a fish that is local to that area.  They called it Brim but its not like the brim I'm used to seeing.

Restaurant Black and White @ Puerto Banus

 We thought we would not see Puerto Banus again, but on the last day we took a catamaran boat ride and sailed into its port and here are the pictures we took as we came into the harbor.

cruising into Puerto Banus

Puerto Banus

Puerto Banus

 
I muse:  I wonder how much that yacht Aztec cost?