I stepped out of the plane into the sun and immediately thought this was the prettiest place I’d ever seen.
This is a story of my 1 week in Gibraltar.
While I knew from the moment my feet left the last step of the aircraft stairs that Gibraltar was probably the prettiest place I've ever seen, the 24 hours leading up to that morning was anything but. Let's go on a trip.
I went to Gibraltar on a Wednesday. On Tuesday at past 6 p.m., I was uneasy about the hotel I booked and wanted to double-check.
I booked the hotel a few weeks back after searching for hours and seeing that, like Belfast, most hotels in Gibraltar cost a little over £1k for a 7-night trip. This hotel is called Ohtels Campo De Gibraltar, which, to my mind, meant it was in Gibraltar, right? I mean, it's in the NAME of the hotel. It's only in Nigeria that people call schools Canada International School of Nigeria when the school has absolutely nothing to do with Canada apart from the fact that the founder went to Canada for a 5-day holiday when they were 12 years old š¤ Plus, they said on the website that the hotel is a 12-minute walk to Gibraltar airport! If the place is close to the airport, it has to be in the same country, right?
But I still felt uneasy because when I read the address for the hotel on the day I was booking, I saw the address was in Spain! Which should have been a red flag, but I thought it was like Ota and Lagos. On some portals, Ota is said to be in Lagos state, but it is actually in Ogun state. So, I decided to double-check the night before the trip like the coconut head that I am!
I realized the hotel was in Spain, not Gibraltar! And this wasn't the 2 weeks before when I booked the hotel. I could no longer deceive myself with stories of geography. By this point, I had passed the window to get a refund for the hotel booking. Instant SADNESS! I was 99% going to arrive in Gibraltar the next day with nowhere to stay, and I was going to lose all the money I paid for the booking. But I was still holding on to less than 1% hope that maybe the hotel translocated to a place between the Spanish border and Gibraltar airport so I could enter easily.
After all my checking, it was now 8 p.m., I was still at the office, and I had not packed my things for the trip. So I went home to pack.
Now to the flight. The flight was to leave at 7 a.m. the following day, which meant I needed to be at the airport by 5 a.m. at the latest, which meant I needed to leave my house at around 3 a.m. (i.e. wake up at 2:30 a.m.)
Cut to 6 a.m. the next morning, I printed my boarding pass from the required machine and tagged my luggage. Time to check in bags, and the self-check-in machines weren't working for me.
I tried several times, and it still wasn't working. I got assistance from the official nearby. They also tried, and it didn't work, so they told me to go to the counter for assisted check-in. At first, I was worried that in the process of printing my boarding pass using the machine, I may have mistakenly selected that I had pressurized substances (like a fire extinguisher) in my suitcase. So I thought maybe that's why I was having trouble checking in.
Only to get to the counter and find out that the plane may be forced to land at Malaga airport in Spain due to difficult weather conditions in Gibraltar.
Some background here: the Gibraltar airport is basically an island. It is bordered by the sea on both sides such that if a pilot slightly misses the runway, passengers will FINALLY have use for the life jackets (i.e. the plane will go from an airplane to a seaplane). So difficult weather conditions are not to be toiled with. Apparently, this happens very often, and when it does, the airline redirects the plane to land in Malaga, Spain.
Back to me, apparently, I had been DROPPED from the flight because I didn't have a Schengen visa and thus couldn't land in Spain.
At this point, I was FED UP! I've been to almost 20 countries (humble brag here š), and NONE of them have ever given me this much trouble! I asked the person at the counter if I could get a full refund for the flight if it didn't end up going. To my mind, I thought at least, if I could recover the flight money and the points I spent to buy the flight ticket and save the money I would have spent on the trip, it would make up for the money I lost to the hotel booking.
Anyway, after over 30 minutes of back and forth (the lady at the counter calling the flight manager several times to find out the status of the flight landing destination) and the flight already boarding, I finally made it on the plane!
But because I had been dropped from the flight, my window seat was reassigned to someone else, and I was given some random seat š. I asked the counter staff if there was anything they could do about it, but she said there weren't any more window seats. Anyways, between the counter and the boarding gate, my seat was changed (again), and I got my window seat and began the journey to Gibraltar.
It was about a 3-hour flight, and for "short" flights like these in Europe, they don't typically serve food to people flying in economy. "Business" class travellers get food, but that's a bad deal because all you're paying for is not to have anyone seat beside you (which can still happen for people in economy if the flight is not sold out) and get flight food (which is usually mid and small). Even if I was paying with points, it's not worth it.
On the flight, I had a nice chat with this nice white man who was a hairdresser before retiring. He complimented my hair and talked about a Nigerian woman he had worked with at his salon. I told him about my hotel situation, and this man COULD NOT comprehend š. Nigerian passport, you do this one o! This man said surely, I can just go to the Spain border, explain my situation and get a 1-week allowance to enter Spain. Which even if it worked for anybody from anywhere in the world, it would not work for a black African, let alone a Nigerian.
It's always amusing talking about visa struggles with people with passport privilege. They NEVER get it! And fair enough to them because why should they? They've never had (and no one in their families has) to apply for a visa anywhere they've ever travelled to! Their closest experience with a visa is a visa on arrival, which is code for countries to collect money to let people in.
Now, it was time to land in Gibraltar. The pilot was approaching the landing a bit too fast (which meant he would not have been able to slow down before he ran out of runway). So we touched the ground and immediately took back up. I didn't even notice as I was very engrossed in my chat. I only saw that the once descending plane began ascending once again. And I guess if the pilot could not make the landing after several attempts, he would have ended up taking the plane to Malaga, Spain, which would mean that they'd have to take me back to the UK because there's no way Spain would let me pass the border. Which kain waka be this na š
Anyway, the pilot tried again, and we stuck the landing! Applause!
I stepped out of the plane and thought this was the prettiest place I'd ever seen. I passed through the border and had a very sweet conversation with the immigration agent about the pilot's landing and how they saw it from the ground as they stamped my passport.
After that was done, I knew I had to go confirm my 99% suspicion that I had lost the money I spent on my hotel booking by going to the Spanish border.
I went to the Spanish border to try and beg my way in (as the white man suggested), but the people at the border didn't even fluently speak English, so imagine trying to explain tire without evidence to someone who can barely understand you... š¤£ Yea! Omo, I just chalked it up to the game and went to book another hotel.
I ended up finding this relatively cheap serviced apartment (even slightly cheaper than the hotel I initially booked), but they were only available from Friday, and I arrived on Wednesday. So I booked that apartment (well, studio) from Friday to my departure and another OK hotel from Wednesday to Friday. So that was accommodation sorted.
Now I could FINALLY start enjoying my holiday.
Check-in at the hotel was at about 2 p.m., and it was just past 12. The hotel is like a 20-minute bus from the airport, so I sat in the air-conditioned and cool, newly built airport to do some things on my laptop while I waited. This was the first moment of peace I'd had in almost 24 hours.
The time came to go to the hotel; I went to the bus and took my first bus ride to the hotel.
I get to this hotel, and the vibe is vintage chic! Some old stuff, like the window blades my grandma had in her house in the early 2000s š but the TV was "smart-ish". I mean, it had Netflix, so I set up to watch.
This entire holiday in Gibraltar was a swimming holiday for me. I wanted to spend the whole time in a pool. So, as soon as I checked in, I checked my suitcase for my swimsuits, and it immediately occurred to me that I did not pack a single swimsuit! I have several! Yet I forgot all of them, and this was supposed to be my swimming holiday! This was the ONLY thing I needed to bring, and I forgot it!
There's no Primark in Gibraltar, so I had to buy the cheapest swimsuit I could find. And it was about £30! Which is more than what I paid for all my swimsuits COMBINED (cos I bought them in Nigeria, though, but whatever). But that's not commentary on the price of things abroad vs. Naija. It's commentary on how Gibraltar is generally expensive.
Gibraltar is where rich Brits go to retire because the weather is great. It's sunny 300 days a year! I think taxes there are a bit better than in the UK, and it's relatively close to the UK. They have GORGEOUS beaches and good vibes there. So, a great place to retire.
Ok, this blog is starting to sound like woe is me. Let's get to the good stuff. Let's talk about enjoyment.
On my first day there, I found this nice restaurant where I got delicious lasagna! I love lasagna. So that was a great treat. After the long day, I didn't do any swimming that day.
The next morning, I woke up in the pool (literally! Well, not literally, but you get the vibes š )
After officially kicking off my swimming holiday, I went out to see what else this beautiful country had to offer. I walked to the Gibraltar Botanic Garden, a beautiful place with loads of greenery. Strongly challenging Belfast's botanic garden for the most beautiful
After walking around the garden for an hour, I decided it was time to hit the beach! The closest beach was about a 30-minute walk away. I decided to walk there cos I love a good walk.
In Gibraltar, you can walk across the runway. Apparently, until very recently, buses and cars also drove across the runway when planes weren't using it, of course š . It reminded me of Seychelles, where I walked in the Mediterranean from one island to another. Only in this instance I walked from one side of the runway to another. Which was very cool! I walked across the runway on the way to the beach.
Trust Google Maps to show their face. I followed the map, but the beach looked like it was on the other end of the runway. You know, the end where only planes drive. So I turned back and headed back to the hotel. I had a great walk, and where would I ever say I walked across the runway of an airport? Never. When I'm not a plane traffic warden š
I head home and have another dinner at the lovely restaurant. This time, I did Spaghetti Bolognese, which was also delish!
It was Friday, the day to move to the serviced apartment. I walked from the hotel to the apartment building. I walked everywhere on this holiday (averaging about 18,000 steps each day, Israelites on the way to the promised land wetin dey sup š)
I got to the apartment and instantly fell in love! The studio was spacious enough! The pool was MUCH bigger and nicer than the one at the hotel I just checked out of, and the place would have been about the same price as the Spanish hotel I booked. I kept asking myself, "Why didn't I see this place when booking that hotel?" Perhaps it was because the place wasn't available for the dates I selected? Well, that didn't matter, I was in this lovely apartment with a LARGE swimming pool I could really enjoy for my swimming holiday! This was perfect!
The name of the apartment booking agency is Bentley Holiday Apartments. I had an amazing experience! I'd recommend them wholeheartedly to anyone going to Gibraltar!
The day I landed at the serviced apartment complex, I also went to the Gibraltar Eastern beach! The place is soooo beautiful! The sand was stunning. The sea is so blue. So much fun!
The next day, I took a cable car to the Rock of Gibraltar!
An experience like no other! The first thing I saw when I got off the cable car was some macaques (monkeys native to the Rock of Gibraltar).
The view from the Skyline was breathtaking!
I went into St Michael's cave on the Rock, which is stunningggg!
I climbed to the top on a scorching sunny day. Which was quite the climb, similar to the one I wrote about in this blog. At every point, I wanted to give up and turn back around. And almost at every point when I wanted to turn back, I saw some people coming down from the top, encouraging me, cheering me on the climb, telling me the top was worth the climb. So I kept going. Kept encouraging myself that it was worth it.
After about 20 minutes of climbing this slope, I reached the top, and the view was WORTH IT! There was a cool breeze at the top, which cooled off all the sweat I had accumulated from making the climb. As Asake said, it was lonely at the top. It wasn't as crowded as all the other places, because not many people climbed!
The whole experience of climbing to the top of the Rock was such a teachable one. Emphasizing things that many a motivational speaker (including me) have said in the past. I kept saying all the motivational things to myself on the climb and laughing at how silly they sound when people are painfully grinding. But when I reached the top, they all sounded less ridiculous and more true. Also, highlighted how funny and unserious motivational quotes sound when you're struggling, but how true they prove to be when you achieve! Lol!
Anyways, back to the trip. I finished the climb, took the cable car back to the ground and with that, I finished my outings at Gibraltar.
I spent the remaining days working from home and swimming after work š. A truly restful holiday. It was definitely worth all the hassle it took to get there!
The flight back to the UK was less stressful. But the LINE at immigration in London 3 hours longgggg... why this? š Nigerian passport, you do this one again o! If I had a British passport or one from a world power (ex-China, of course, š), I'd be done with immigration in 15 minutes! But see my legs, see standing!
So, what do I think about Gibraltar?
10/10 would recommend every day. Gibraltar is strongly challenging Seychelles as the best holiday I’ve ever had. I only rank Seychelles above because I got to walk from one island to another in the ocean, which I think is an INSANE once-in-a-lifetime experience. Now that I think of it, I also had a bit of hassle with the flight to Seychelles. But that was COVID and Lagos related. Perhaps this means the best holidays start with drama?
The weather in Gibraltar is sooooo good. 300 sunny days every year is fantastic! On the weather, I find it so amusing that when I think of places, one of the top things I think about is the weather. Growing up in Nigeria, this was never something I really worried about. But just 4 years in the UK made weather a serious consideration for me when going anywhere š
Things are a bit expensive, but you'd be fine if you don't buy anything (like I almost did š ), stay in a serviced apartment and cook your meals like I did. The Airbnbs are also costly (with no pool!), but you could also find out for budget-friendly options.
If you have a UK visa, you can enter Gibraltar with it because Gib is technically (and politically) a UK overseas territory. So, I technically was still in the UK when I went to Gibraltar š
You should know that Gibraltar is VERY close to Spain. You'll see the Spanish border to your right when you leave the airport. Most people working in Gibraltar live in Spain because it’s much cheaper to live there and travel into Gib every day to work. If you only have a UK visa and not a valid Schengen visa, as I did, be extra careful when booking your hotel. Because if the hotel is in Spain, you will not be allowed to enter Spain and, of course, access your hotel, and you might end up losing the money you spent booking the hotel like I did.
Also, if you don’t have a Schengen visa, you may be dropped from the flight if the plane has to land in Malaga, Spain, instead of Gibraltar. Which I’m told often happens because the weather in Gibraltar can be iffy when landing.
Last but certainly not least, THERE IS NO KFC IN GIBRALTAR!!! I typed this in caps so you know I'm screaming! Imagine my shock and dismay when I checked Google maps for KFC near me and the only one I could find was in Spain! š So I couldn't update my Global KFC rankings šŖ. Such a shame! But there is McDonalds in Gibraltar and their chicken there is really nice, so you could always check that out.
Gibraltar is great. Definitely the best holiday I've had this year (if you forget the crazy experience I had trying to enter the country). I'd definitely recommend this one to everyone with a UK visa.
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