The Grand Canyon

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Woke up at 5.00 and drove up to Yavapi point to catch the sun rise at 5.47. Amazingly got there early but it was quite bright. It was quite cool so we were glad of our sweat shirts. The boys did not think it was that amazing but I got some good photos. We all went back to bed at 6.30 and we left the boys sleeping while Andy and I got up for our helicopter ride. As we were packing the car an Elk came walking by nibbling the vegetation. My camera went into overdrive again as i followed it into the forest and it found its mate. What luck, all I want to see now is a snake. Went and had breakfast in the lodge cafe first (Andy full American, me burritos with scrambled eggs) and then drove down to the airport. Had a safety video first and then went to the helipad for our 10.45 flight. We were in the helicopter with a French family. Take off and the ride was very smooth and not at all like we had imagined. I think we thought it would be a bit more scary and bumpy. The flight went right across the canyon to the North rim and back again, a distance of 10 miles. It made me cry again because it was all so fantastic. The canyon goes down 1 mile and the Colorado at the bottom looks like a little stream but varies from 100ft to 200ft in width. Bought the video and our picture and then went back to pick the boys up who were waiting for us in the cafe. Got the shuttle bus to take us on the red route which goes 7 miles along the rim. Got out at Hopi point and walked to the next point and then got the shuttle back. The views were again amazing. Our route to monument valley meant taking the Desert View road which was fantastic and again some glorious views, especially at Lipan point where a ranger gave us loads of information. Again i would have liked another day at the canyon as the rangers organise lots of talks (would have liked to have done the condor talk) and i would liked to have hung out at the village and the beautiful lodge. The whole area reminded us of Centre parcs.
On the road to monument valley we went through some beautiful vistas. The whole area was the Navajo Indian reservation and again nothing like i had imagined an Indian reservation to be like. I think i thought it would be like a camp with all Indians inside it. Daft what! The reservation is enormous and is dotted with what looks like gypsy encampments; very poor housing, lots of trailers but loads of cars to each encampment. Our hotel was at Kayenta which is on the edge of Monument valley and was another Hampton Inn. The staff were all Indian and the ladies were dressed in typical Indian clothing and all the hotel decor was in the spirit of the Navajo Indians. It was absolutely beautiful. The Indians all have moon like faces and slightly Chinese looking eyes but speak American which seems a bit weird. Ate at the hotel in the lovely restaurant. I had a traditional dish of pork tenderloin stew with a chilli (which was more like a bell pepper) and fry bread with honey. The bread was delicious but I ate it as a pudding. Andy pointed out that there was no alcohol on the menu as we were on the reservation, how weird is that.

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