July 31, Tarifa Spain

The ride out of Gibraltar was uneventful, although I had a lot of difficulty navigating with Google maps. Any advice on how to make this work, anyone? I was trying to avoid the major highway, but doing so, put me on all kind of back alleys and dirt roads. And, at the end, I had to get on the highway anyhow. It was really busy, with almost no shoulder; quite dangerous. I climbed 340 meters above sea level today. It turns out that meters are a lot harder to climb than feet.

The route took me through a lot of little communities. Horses hitched up outside of business was a common sight. Here is an example of a village:

A village near Tarifa

The land was pretty dry and hot, but with tons of humidity (strange, right?)

A look at the land

I got to Tarifa and used My European camping app to find a place to stay for tonight. It is a nice campground right on the beach! I stuck my toe in the Atlantic, just to say I did. However, I was surprised that there is nothing to sit on, and no tables. Those are standard at any US campground.

Gibraltar was an interesting place! I got a pretty good look at the place in the 6 days that I spent there. Take a close look at the Rock, which is really what I wanted to see:

The Rock of Gibraltar

See all of those little holes on the side? Those are man-made tunnels, put there do defend the place. Here is an example of what it’s like to look out of one:

The Siege tunnel

That’s the Gibraltar airport runway you are seeing. I crossed that thing, on foot, several times each day. Yep–you actually walk across an active runway. When a plane needs to take off or land, a little arms comes down so you don’t accidentally step in from of a jumbo jet.

Crossing The runway

And, there are all of these little monkeys everywhere:

The little monkeys

Really neat!

I needed to save money, so I got the cheapest room I could find, within walking distance of the airport. I found a room in Spain at the Hostel Paris. 5 nights there only cost by about 200 bucks. Looking out of my window, it was just like you would expect; the flashing neon sign and all.

Looking out of my hotel window

My only complaint was that it was incredibly hot; the hottest place I had ever stayed in. There is a common bathroom and toilet for the floor, but I did have my own sink.

Tomorrow, I will begin to make my way towards Seville, where it is supposed to be really hot. Until then,

Scott