Big Country

Well the alarm went off at 5.15 which is still the middle of the night in my book; we meandered our way through the casino which still contained numerous gamblers and red eyed folk seeking their fortunes; not sure whether they’d just arrived or been there or all night…

Bill (who I accidentally called Bob a few times…but he didn’t seem to mind) arrived in our Hummer early which was a good job seeing as the weather was perishing; then off to the Venetian to collect 3 more passengers, who luckily for us turned out to be Greek and not Chinese. We stopped off for a lovely bacon and egg sandwich to give us sustenance before heading to the Hoover Dam and going off road across the Mojave dessert. After a couple of hours we finally hit the Grand Canyon where we met Wilford our Hualapai (pronounced Wal-ha-pie) Indian. Wilford told us to make sure we touched the water when we reached the river bed to give us long lives and happiness, we also bought an authentic Indian dream catcher to ward away nightmares.

We boarded our helicopter according to weight and to ensure balance, which luckily for us meant I got a front seat and the prime photographing position. As the helicopter rose and we flew over the start of the canyon the view could only be described as awesome; photographs just don’t do it justice. We flew up the canyon for several miles before landing by the Colorado river for our boat trip.

We returned to the rim to visit the “Skywalk” a man-made semi-circular clear Perspex walkway which juts out over the canyon. It’s quite spooky walking over what appears to be nothing miles in the air. This is the only man-made feature or artificial element for 300 miles and the rest of the area still maintains its full natural beauty.

The only disappointing part of the trip is seeing the huge piles of gravel and preparations to build what will become an international airport on the Nevada side of the canyon. Due to be finished in 2010 you just know that it will bring hotels, casinos, restaurants and the chintz of Vegas with it. Even though the land is now owned by the Hualapai (the government finally returned 100 square miles to them 4 years ago) you can’t help but think that everything is being commercialised and will eventually be spoiled.

Nevertheless, we had an amazing day and enjoyed a once in a lifetime opportunity in experiencing such an amazing part of the world.

Song for the day: Into the Great Wide Open - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Nina & Andy x0x0x

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