While I had heard of the Rock of Gibraltar, I didn’t know where it was, why it was important, that it’s a British territory, or that the most famous residents of the rock were the wild monkeys which are actually Barbary Apes. What I found out about Gibraltar is that he Rock of Gibraltar, is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern edge of Europe. It is 426 meters high, and the top of the rock is home to almost 300 wild Barbary Apes.The Rock of Gibraltar is one of the two Pillars of Hercules, the other pillar being on the African side of the Strait in Ceuta, Spain.

The Rock of Gibraltar and an oil tanker silhouetted against the morning sky as our ship prepares to dock.  In the very competitive business of bunkering , Gibraltar has become the third busiest bunker port in Europe. ( bunkering is the supplying of fuel for use by ships )

The cable car that takes visitors to the top of the Rock.

View from atop the rock of our Holland America cruise ship docked below.

The “other side” of the rock.

They are technically Barbary Apes, but to the untrained eye, they look like monkeys.

Purple lights illuminate the seating inside the rock.

The apes are considered to be wild, but not so much as this one sits for the background of a selfie.

The British dug many tunnels inside the rock. This one holds a quite large canon that was used to defend the territory.

The four lane Winston Churchill Boulevard passes right through the runway of the Gibraltar airport. Churchill Boulevard is the main connection road between Spain and Gibraltar.