Antelope Canyon

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We are behind in our blog entries but many folks have been asking about Antelope Canyon so I wanted to at least provide cliff notes while fresh. With Siena being a couple months old and waiting for her passport to arrive, we decided to take advantage of one of the wonders of AZ. We stopped in Flagstaff on the way up and back to break up the trip which worked well for us. With Brookston being 3 years old, he has about a two hour limit in the car and we love Flagstaff. We found a great restaurant (Nomads Global Lounge) with delicious food where we could eat outside by a fire and watch trains go by.

Antelope Canyon is in Page, which is just under two hours from Flagstaff (or at least is when Shane drives). We found a great AirBNB in Page that was 5 mins from the meeting place to start the tour (I assume anywhere in Page would be close, it's a small town). There are two options for the canyon - Upper or Lower. After researching both, we decided on Upper Canyon primarily as you ride in jeeps to the entrance (Brookston loves jeeps) and then it's a quarter mile tour without stairs which we thought would be easiest for the kiddos. I've had friends that have done Lower and absolutely loved it.

Our guide was very friendly, answered all of Brookston's zillion random questions, and helped with photos, camera settings. etc and was more than happy to help take family pictures which we appreciated (they do work on tips so remember to bring cash).

A few tips:

You need to book your tour in advance (like months) for the best times. We knew the best light was between 10a-1p when were were going l so these times fill up the fastest. At this time there are 5 tour companies to choose from. Our guide told us they are all part of the same family. We used www.navajotours.com and were happy with our choice. We went off yelp reviews and availability.

Our tour was a quarter mile in length but an hour long. That is eternity to a 3 year old in a small space. We kept him pretty entertained with snacks but did leave before the rest of the group was finished to play with toys in the sand outside the canyon. We were also the only ones to have kids with us - many professional photographers that were patient with us:-)

You have to check in for your tour an hour in advance but it's in a dirt parking lot. So, we checked in, drove to Starbucks and had breakfast and went back which worked great.

Everyone is charged the fee. So yes, Siena at 2 months who slept through the entire tour was still $30 (adults $60). Understandable, but noteworthy.

Overall, a really neat experience. Knowing what I do, I might wait until kids are a little older and less fidgety so I could hear more about the history of the canyon.

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Comments

[Catalina Fillipakis]

Looks absolutely amazing!!!
Congratulations, I had no idea you guys had babies. How wonderful. Enjoy every minute. I’m so glad you never stopped traveling and exploring. All our love, Catalina and family