Touring USA, Canada, Caribbean & Mexico 2015 - Grand Canyon, Arizona

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Today was an early start with a 6:05 am bus pickup to take us on a Grand Canyon Tour.
A smaller bus arrived to take us to the depot which was running like a well oiled machine. And we were quickly on our way. It is a 4 hour trip out to the South Rim but our drive Roderick was entertaining and he played recordings of the history of the Canyon and a movie for us to watch.
We had a lunch stop at the National Geographic Centre which was included but the food was ordinary, as expected. There is an iMax theatre here showing a movie of the Grand Canyon History. It was well done and gave us an idea of what the base of the canyon along the river was like without climbing down or getting wet white river rafting.



We diverted to view the Hoover Dam complex. It supplies Las Vegas with 25% of the power output BUT this huge amount of electricity only fills 25% Las Vegas’ actual consumption. It would take 100% of the output of Hoover Dam to light up Vegas. Quite decadent isn’t it? The balance of power goes to California, Arizona and Nevada (I think)
The scenery was sparse along the way. I only saw about 10 cows and no birds at all. Towards the canyon it became denser and filled with small Pine trees and shrubbery. We even saw a huge Elk though what is eats to maintain its’ size is beyond my imagination.
Our destination was Mather Point. This is the deepest and widest part of the Grand Canyon. We, by option, we took the Rim Trail 2.5 miles along to Bright Angel Point. It truly is a sight one has to see as photos do not give the sense of perspective of the vastness of this canyon. It is World Heritage site now and well worth of it.
On the return trip Roderick played 2 movies but I slept through those only waking for a Subway stop. It was 10:30 pm by the time we were back in our room to pack for our flight to Buffalo in the morning.

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