Excursion to Gouraya, Mountain of the Sleeping Woman

Towering above Bejaia is the mountain of Gouraya which locals have said looks like a sleeping woman. This is a park area with some playgrounds and picnic places and a rather long and strenuous (though well paved) walk to the top. At the top, a partly ruined small fortress exists with spectacular views over the Med. This top part is also a reserve for the endangered Barbary Macaque, a medium sized monkey.

One of the signs to the park

The top fortress looms at summit

Rabah, Rafik and their colleague/advisor, Dr. Djamil Aissani. The men and their wives and Rabah's three children all joined us for a barbeque picnic at the park. The weather was perfect and we enjoyed grilled meat (beef and sausage), cheeses, French bread, and grilled big green peppers.

Preparing the picnic. Like everywhere else in Algeria sadly the park was ridden with trash.

Alice, Randy and Yasmin with Nadjet at right

Rabah's son Amine (a twin)

Rabah's wife and Djamil's wife, Ferida, prepare the small shish kebab meat

Rabah is a master griller

There was a group of women with this man singing traditional songs nearby. The drummer here hams it up for the camera.

Then, Yasmin (Rabah's lively and outgoing 15 year old daughter with excellent English skills) and I journeyed to the top. It was a trek but well worth it with the views from the top and the encounters with the Barbary Macaques.

Alice en route to the top of Gouraya

Panorama along the way

View from near the top of the many ships waiting to unload and load at Bejaia harbor

Alice and Yasmin near the top

One of the human friendly Barbary Macaques near the top

Their fur is luscious and their expressions rather sweet

Another of the wild monkeys

They liked being in the small trees near Gouraya's top

A Barbary Macque climbs on the fortress wall at the summit

One in a tree

Yasmin was extremely wary of the monkeys but braved being near them

A view through a fortress window

We (Rafik, Nadjet, Randy and I) then drove to another part of the park to view from the Monkey Peak, although there were no monkeys in this location. The walk to this vantage point was very much less strenuous than to the top of Gouraya but still impressive with its nearly 360 degrees view of the sea.

Entrance to the Monkey Peak

Alice and Randy on the path to the viewing point

Rafik, Alice and Nadjet

Rafik explains the coastline

Panorama from the Monkey Peak

We joined Rabah's family at Chez Medjoudj in Bejaia. They have a duplex (that is, a two floor flat) in the center that is spacious and modern. We hung out for a while seeing family photos and eating cookies. Then, Randy and I happily ate a low key dinner at the Hotel Royal restaurant. Our favorite waiter took good care of us and we got to try another type of Algerian wine.