My Day at The Rock
Our
cruise stopped off at the Rock of Gibraltar for the day and of course, I had to
take pictures! We rode a gondola up to the top of The Rock and were greeted by
an overly friendly group of monkeys, in fact there were a lot of monkeys up
there - Barbary Macaques to be exact, and they displayed a combination of
amusement and irritation towards all of the tourists. I had found a very sweet
monkey family cuddling and preening in the corner and used my big zoom lens to
take pictures, see what happens when you arenŐt paying attention to your
surroundingsÉ
For you geography buffs, Gibraltar is a British territory located on the south of the Iberian Peninsula, overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar, which links the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. How Barbary macaque monkeys were first introduced to Gibraltar is unclear but according to legend, Gibraltar will fall from British rule if the monkeys cease to exist on the rock. At the end of World War II, the number of monkeys in Gibraltar had dwindled to as few as three. Upholding tradition, Winston Churchill ordered the import of Barbary macaques from Morocco to replenish and maintain the monkey population.