Brekkie in the morning was at the Toasted Owl cafe. It was a very cool place with owls and owl things everywhere. Everything was for sale, even the light shades (of which there were many). Kevin was our waiter and we waited often. A lady at the table opposite us was doppelgänger for Carla (Fairy Princess Stardust) and so I tried to take a few sneaky peak photos. There was also a toddler, who was cute the first couple of times he came over but the shine wore off after that. It was a really good brekkie though, and we enjoyed our time there, even if Kevin took twenty minutes to remember to bring a takeaway box.
After brekkie with Shea, we headed off on the three hour drive to Page (which is really a four hour drive due to a daylight saving change. Page is only small and there are only so many hotels you can choose from. This has probably been the dodgiest hotel we’ve stayed in (aside from that one where you couldn’t lift your arms up in the shower at Pompeii). It looked all nice and modern, but then the bed was a think mattress and you could hear absolutely everything that happened in the next room, which included snoring and toilet habits. TMI? Yeah, it was for us too. But anyway, that was at night - I have the whole day to explain first.
So Page and the Navajo camps can be on different times. We had to work out which we were on - my watch said one thing, the iPhone said another, and it ended up being my watch that we needed to go by. So we had enough time up our sleeves to have a quick lunch and freshen up before the tour. We found a cool little crepe cafe and shared a crepe of raspberry, banana and almonds smothered in whipped cream and melted chocolate. Yes, it was good. Mark tried for a coffee again, I think he’ll give up soon enough.
On to the tour. we jumped into the back of an open truck that had a row of seats on either side facing out towards the landscape. Somehow, I ended up in the very end seat, which I guess has given me a get-ready for the roller coaster at Disneyland. It was bumpy and dusty and I thought I would fall out on more than one occasion. Luckily for me, they’ve been doing this a while now and haven't lost a customer yet. Rosie was our Navajo tour guide and she grew up in the area and seemed a bit tired and a little cranky to start with, but we worked out that was more about a rather stubborn Chinese lady than anything else.
We arrived at Antelope Canyon - we didn't really know what to expect. We’d seen a heap of photos online, and they all looked very professional. We weren’t ready for a place that made taking a bad photo impossible. There was a crack in a big rock, and that’s what we walked in to. I don’t know how to describe it, you’ll just need to look at the photos. I can only say, I wish I had worn sneakers as the dirt/dust was very fine. We wound our way through the canyon, a crevice in the rock is probably the best way to describe it. Rosie said that the canyon was formed by water rushing through. She gave us a demonstration later with some of the sand outside and Mark’s water bottle. Again, it’s hard to explain. Anyway, the swirling, rushing water wore away parts of
I feel like I should be able to write more about Antelope Canyon, but it’s one of those places that is more seen and felt than something that can be put into words. The photos don’t do it justice, but then again, the photos are amazing.
After the canyon, we took off to see Horseshoe Canyon before sunset. We’d seen a mile of cars there on the way in to Page and thought we wouldn’t make it back there until morning, but we had some spare time. We found a park (amazing in itself) and walked up the steep hill with everyone else. We got to the top (very exciting when you reach a crest) thinking we’d be at the canyon, only to find that it was a climb down almost twice as far and twice as steep. Oh well, what can you do. we made or way down, and the light was just lovely on all the rock faces around us. At the end of the trail, people were lined along the rim of the canyon for at least a km. Mark had gone on ahead to take some photos while I meandered (old age) and took photos of plants and rocks and all the other things I like to take photos of. I found him on the line of people, and well, I don’t like getting close to the edge of anything really. He was right on the rim and ended up with some amazing photos. People were sitting on the edge of the rim (like Mark!) and leaning out taking crazy selfies and all sorts of things. How nobody falls over is beyond me. Then again, it’s nice not to be in a nanny-state that would have barrier up. Take responsibility for yourselves people and if you fall over, bad luck!
It’s called horseshoe bend because it’s shaped like a horseshoe. Go figure! I just asked Mark how far he thought the drop off to the bottom of the canyon was and he just laughed. No idea. Probably somewhere between 500-800m. At the bottom, the Colorado River. It was a wonderful shade of blues and greens. Again, this is a place where it’s hard to take a bad photo. We watched the sunset and change the colours on the rock face and then made the trek back up the hill.
Just an end to the post - as we drove back, there was a slow driver ahead of us who was obviously uncomfortable with driving. A lunatic sat right on the back of our car, revving up and being a dick. We decided to turn right at a roundabout when it came up (first chance to turn anywhere) and the car before us made its way slowly through. The lunatic overtook us and how they didn't crash in the roundabout was just a miracle. They both ended up wedged and and blowing horns. We drove off. People can be crazy.
Then we were crazy. We went to Taco Bell. This was a mistake, unlike the rest of the day.
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