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When i woke up at 6:30 am on a beautiful Vegas morning i knew it was going to be a good day. We got picked up outside Circus Circus and travelled for half hour by mini bus to a small airport just outside of town, where we drove straight through some open gates onto the air field. We were instantly surrounded by hundreds of 10 - 20 seater sight seeing planes. This was incredible itself to see a few square miles littered with millions of dollas worth of small aircraft, never mind what we were actually going to see!
Soon after we arrived we checked in with our tour guide (for about 10 minutes at most), then we were straight into the air with our pilot, who was about 6ft 8" and a really sound guy, giving us some quality running commentry of the skies and ground below. It was a really enjoyable half hour flight to the airport near the Grand Canyon - the skies clear blue and the scenery was fantastic!
Our first sight of the Grand Canyon completely took our breath away - i know this sounds foolish but, it is just so big!
- No picture could ever do it justice or show it as it is meant to be seen.
When we got off we took a short helicopter flight through the canyon where the pilot skimmed the surface of the colarado and rose up (a little too close to) the walls of the grand canyon - an experience i will never forget! Sally, although she had her hands over her eyes most of the time (to flirt with the pilot, i think), thought it was truely mind blowing!
After we landed we walked down the rough alleyways between the trees down to the colarado itself. We got on one of the small sight seeing boats that were continuously gliding up and down the river. We got some more fantastic pictures and relaxed for 15 minutes bobbing up and down on the Colarado, bathing in the mid-day sun. We saw the different coloured marks in the rock that the water had caused when it was higher and the carving of the rock by the wind. We then got to the West Ridge on the Canyon and the views were just unbelievable. The sheer size of the cliffs and
the rocks changing colours in the different lights from reddy browns to purples is something that, once again, i will never forget.
We then went straight to the Grand Canyon Sky-Walk which, for those who don't know, is a great glass curved walkway protruding from the edge of the canyon. Our first tentative steps on to the glass above a 4000ft drop were so un-natural they must have been hilarious for anyone else watching! However, since everybody had to take the plunge, so to speak, no body did. We all had to take our shoes off and wear protective cloth bags over our feet which made the first steps harder and probably all the more funnier. The sensation and scenery is indescribable, so i will let the pictures do the talking!
We got our pictures taken with the Hualapai Chief and by the professional photographers on the skywalk. I was extremely pleased with the photo's we got and i wouldn't take them any other way but as they cost about $100 (i think) and you couldn't take your own camera it was abit of a con, but well worth it! The photos came with some more
post card type pictures on a memory stick along with a mug and some framed pictures. These were actually really good quality and the other photos show rainbows over the canyon and the rock formation that looks like an eagle carved natually into the walls of the canyon.
After the sky-walk we then visited the cow boy ranch and enjoyed the traditional cow boy food which was delicious - although the 'cowboys' who were serving it looked a bit grubby from working in the arizonian sun and dusty canyon all day! Never the less, it's well worth a visit while you're there. We also tried lassoing (standing not on horseback), had western 'quickest to draw' pistol fight, threw horse shoes in a traditional cowboy game, got put in jail and hanged on a full scale traditional cowboy town! We were taught all the games on the ranch by a single toothed, whisky smelling cowboy who (despite first impressions) was actually a lot of fun!
We then went round to the traditional indian section of the West Rim which boasted wigwams and a small amphitheatre where the Hualapai were dancing to indian music. This was great to
see, a young indian boy took centre stage (with a bit of encouragement from his mother) and did a great dance that i can't even descibe due to the limitations of my White-British upbringing. After watching this for a while we walked away from the amphitheate towards a small collection of stalls. This was a mistake on my part, as my shopaholic girlfriend raised her head and clocked the small stands on her shopping radar, i knew i was going to have a challenge here. We went over to the small tables covered in fabric and to my horror i discovered that they were packed from edge to edge with all different types of jewelry and 'accessories'. As Sal started perusing the different items i had a chat with one of the indians running the stalls, she explained that all the diffent shapes and symbols, such as an arrow-head or a horse, meant different things. Well, i must have been stood talking a while because Sally came over having aready bought a few necklaces and was ready to leave looking very pleased with herself. Good Times!
A truely unforgetable day at the Grand Canyon was coming to
The Plane
Thanks and bye!an end but we still had time to fly from one of the natural 7 wonders of the world to one of the industrial 7 wonders of the world - The Hoover Dam. This thing is just enormous and even though we only flew over it i zoomed in on my camera and could see the sheer size of it compared to the trucks parked on top of it. Another very impressive feature of the day.
We arrived back in Vegas in the early evening ready to get changed and go out for a meal. This was a brilliant 21st birthday and i couldn't think of anything better! Enjoy the pictures below fellow bloggers and thanks for reading about mine and Sally's 21st Birthdays in the Grand Canyon.
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Steve
non-member comment
hi web
nice work mate!!