Ape(ISH) Rock(ISH)
Hi there!
My life has changed a bit in the past year and I haven’t been able to push myself to do some writing. I tried to put some videos together from my travels that I have done but those will have to wait a bit longer. So… Finally…. Here’s the first of hopefully many posts about my discoveries in Spain:
Day 2: Gibraltar
I had a couple of adventures with the monkeys in Gibraltar:
- A big monkey stepped in poo and then jumped on me.
- Baby monkeys were play fighting and in the meantime ran across my lap (very cute).
- They looked into my bag and then wouldn’t let me pass.
- Sat on a chair next to a bar and suddenly a short Spanish woman runs across with a broom and shoos a monkey (which is sat above me on the wall) then the woman starts hitting the gate to get them off the roof… A very funny sight. It was a very large monkey.
I wanted to write about finally seeing monkeys ‘in the wild’. But… Due to so many tourists, they know they can find food and interesting things in bags; apart from bags they aren’t interested at all in what’s going on around them; they know exactly how to sit on a human’s shoulder and that they’ll get a treat from a tour guide if they do so. To be fair… I’m not entirely sure what to think of that. It’s amazing how close humans are able to come to nature, and discover such beautiful creatures like the Barbary macaques (interesting name, that I have no idea how to pronounce). However, their nature isn’t any longer as ‘natural’ due to having to adapt to the tourists. They have food prepared for them and sites to spend time in. However, they are cared for and treated well.
Gibraltar has on average 9 million tourists a year (over 11 million in 2011). That is a LOT of people that can go up to the Ape Rock to visit the monkeys.
These apes are actually monkeys, but don’t have tails which is why they are referred to as apes. (Fun fact). And, as I was doing some research on these furry creatures, I discovered that their population is decreasing within the African areas. However, their numbers are growing in Gibraltar. Which means the animal won’t become endangered. Which I’m very glad about.
I do recommend going to Gibraltar. It is beautiful and the nature reserve has a lot of different attractions that teach so much history (that isn’t very specific but I hope to get into the topic in the future). I’m going to kick myself up the bum and try to share with you some more interesting stories and discoveries I’ve made on my travels in Spain!
That story about a monkey jumping on me:
Bye!
The Gab’ Eye