Liz's Journal - Calpe
Page 30
Calpe: 26-29 May 2003
History:
The Phoenicians called the "Rock of Ifach" the Northern Rock to distinguish it from Gibraltar, the Southern Rock. Today the Rock of Ifach is known to passersby as Little Gibraltar or Gibraltar Pequena.
There are many walks along and up the Rock of Ifach, which has been transformed into a Nature Reserve. The rock measures 332 meters in height and is home to over 300 species of animals, including colonies of sea birds that roost on the upper most cliffs. Unafraid of humans and quite unlike their parents in colour the young seagull wonder out of their nests and into the walking paths. Undistinguishable from their surrounding background you have to watch your feet incase the ground below suddenly moves and waddles away. Jack accompanied us on our climb of the rock and thoroughly enjoyed himself. He could smell the baby birds on the paths before we got to them, which gave me enough time to quietly go up to it and put in the bushes somewhere next to the path. On our way down onto the main road we found a museum about the rock and the local plant and animal life. The Museum was open to the public for free and since we were the only ones there we had a look inside, with Jack. We kept him on a short lead as we had a look around, however it was all dad could do to stop Jack from launching himself at a fish tank as we came around the corner. It really was quite funny to see him continually trying to get at the fish through half inch thick glass. If the fish could have talked they would have been laughing their heads off as they swam past Jacks squished face upon the glass. We left for Calpe after stocking up at Lidl on our way to Formentera, Ibiza