Last Ape Standing Dispatch #8: Spain & Portugal

This post was originally published on November 15, 2019 on a previous version of ChipWalter.com.

It’s been a crazy! five months since 2013 showed its face back in January — The release of Last Ape Standing; thrilling trips to Africa, England, Spain and Portugal for National Geographic Magazine (with more to come); wonderful reviews of Last Ape in the New Yorker, New York Times Book Review and many other publications, and, most importantly to me, very kind thoughts from readers and friends all over. I am grateful to the journalists and media who have been kind enough to include me in their shows, or who have published my articles in Slate, The Wall St. Journal, Scientific American and BrainWorld Magazine.

The eye-popping Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. A piece of art in itself.

I’m in Spain now, but soon I’ll head off to Germany for National Geographic to caves where the world’s most ancient sculptures and musical instruments have been found. Two weeks ago I returned from Spain where I saw some of the planet’s most magnificent cave art. Jaw dropping! I’ll post some pictures, but the really good stuff will come when the article is published in 2015. That’s when you’ll see the work of Stephen Alvarez, the article’s photographer. Take a look at Dispatch # 9 for more.

Here are a couple of pictures from my recent trip to Spain and Portugal — both stunningly beautiful countries with wonderful people.

The rickety, magnificent trolleys of Lisbon. They roll like little toys everywhere in the city, up and down hills, through the narrowest streets imaginable. Every city should have these.

A human being made this charcoal drawing of a horse head on a cave wall in Northern Spain 15,000 to 25,000 years ago. It accompanies a whole frieze of wildlife paintings and drawings. The cave — more than a mile deep, is filled with artwork and symbols. What were they doing? Think about it!