Gibraltar; Monday, 22 August, 2005

Despite being my last day in Gibraltar, I had almost the whole day to do things, as my flight wasn't due out until 19:30. After leaving my luggage at the hotel I caught the bus back out to Rosia to visit the 100 Tonne gun and Parsons Lodge.

The 100 tonne gun has a commanding view over the bay and coast of Spain and, when operational, could have taken out some of the coastal communities. The gun is described as the world’s first “super gun”

From there it’s a short walk to Parsons Lodge, another of the fortresses dotted around the rock. Unfortunately this has an European attitude towards Mondays (i.e. closed)

After doing some souvenir shopping in the centre of town I went for a wander around the botanical gardens. The Alameda gardens located at the foot of the rock have a large range of plants from North Africa, the Mediterranean as well as Central and South America. The back of the park is a small wildlife park that contains animals, birds and reptiles which have been seized by Gibraltar Customs for being smuggled.

After several hours wandering around the park it was time to head back to the hotel and pick up my luggage and then head back to the airport for the flight home.