Sailing through the strait of Gibraltar, the small passageway between Europe and Africa at the entry point into the Mediterranean was an incredible experience. Both Spain on one side, Morocco on the other were clearly within sight and peacefully coexisting across one another.

We were delayed getting into Gibraltar as the port was congested. I could not understand this announcement at first but once we got closer was stunned by what i saw. I’m not sure we had ever seen such a busy port with dozens and dozens of ships (cruise ships, cargo ships, smaller boats) navigating in and out simultaneously.

Due to the delays we only arrived at 3.30 pm, giving us much less daytime to spend.

We walked from the terminal into town to the main center, surrounded by local vegetation and loads of British pubs. From there we took a taxi to eastern beach, an incredible narrow beach with soft white sand, warm blue ocean waters and giant sea shells right at the foot of the Rock of Gibraltar. It was one of the most unique and fascinating beaches I had ever seen. The image of the rock of Gibraltar right in front of us was incredibly imposing. The top part of the rock had a constant stream of clouds passing around it in an eerie and other worldly way. It was a sight to behold.

As we were leaving the beach we met two local Gibraltarians and had a long and I treating chat with them. Gibraltar is a very small and unique place, most of its territory taken up by the rock and the nature reserve.

Sadly we did not go to the top of the Rock. At the top is a splendid nature reserve, and along the way, you can visit with the Barbary macaques (usually referred to as Barbary apes even though they are monkeys), the only free-living primates in Europe, and the Barbary partridges. Both creatures are unique to Gibraltar.

I’m hoping to be able to return here to go up to the rock, see the monkeys and caves and spend more time on Eastern Beach.

Atlantic & Mediterranean Cruise - Sep 2018