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The Grand Canyon


The Grand Canyon is on everybody’s bucket list, and rightly so! This past weekend we luckily got to check it off ours….
 

 

As two girls who are experts in getting lost we decided to leave the driving and touring to somebody else. After scouring the internet we decided to go with the Arizona based tour company ‘Detours’ as they stopped in Sedona as well as the Grand Canyon.  The tour included entry into the Grand Canyon National Park, a two-course lunch on at the Navajo Native American Reservation and unlimited bottles of water throughout the day (which was a complete must).
Being collected from our hotel first, our pickup time was really early (6:20am!). But being dragged out of bed at that deathly hour meant we could make the most of the day (14 hours of it to be precise). 

 

We picked up the rest of our group on the way, everybody was very excited for the day trip, and the group got along extremely well which really did make the day just that much better. (Hello multiple people to take photos for you!).
Our tour guide- Chad Williams was an angel as he made sure that us uninformed Brits knew everything you could ever want to know about the Grand Canyon and surrounding area. He made the perfect guide mainly because he put up with our endless questions and actually was really interested in what we had to ask (however it probably isn’t the best idea to continuously ask; are we there yet?).
Chad went out of his way to make sure our experience was memorable and even took us on a detour to take us to his personal favourite place in Sedona, the picturesque Chapel of the Holy Cross. As our first real stop, the views of the red rock formations were breath taking and unbelievably beautiful (little did we know that the Grand Canyon would knock that out of the water). The chapel itself inside was beautiful, and some of the tour group lit candles, which was a really sweet addition to the day. After that we hopped back onto the van and headed onward to the Grand Canyon (with a brief shopping stop in Sedona Village). 

Behind us are the Red Rock formations in Sedona
Our (free) lunch was delicious! We stopped at the Navajo Restaurant. The set lunch menu consisted of standard American food like burgers or chicken tenders as well as traditional Navajo food such as hot beef, or the Navajo Taco. We both opted for the Taco because you never know when you will ever get the opportunity to try native food again (until we come back to the Grand Canyon of course!). The taco was super good, they even give you a pot of the hot chilli salsa which was so amazing . Also the portion was massive, and we were both defeated after eating approximately a quarter of our plates (and believe me; we can eat!).

 

Following our lunch, we had a short while to travel before reaching the main destination; The Grand Canyon. But believe us- it was definitely worth the wait. 
The Grand Canyon was breath taking, and every body agreed that is definitely something you have to see for yourself, as pictures don’t do it an ounce of justice (not even the ones we made look dead professional on insta).  At this point I think we really realised how useful Chad was as a tour guide, as he knew all the best spots for photos that would be less crowded and where we could see the best parts of the Grand Canyon. He made about 3 stops in the Grand Canyon National Park so we could get the best views possible, whilst explaining the elevation and some of the theories behind how the Canyon was formed.

 

We eventually trailed off to the visitor centre, where the main hotel was with a bar (we have it on good authority that the prickly pear cactus vodka lemonade is absolutely delicious) and some gift shops including a Native American Hopi house store. 
In total we spent about 3 hours in the Grand Canyon National park and we definitely felt we made the most out of the day. More importantly we both agreed we were so glad we didn’t do the long drive from Phoenix ourselves- we just got to chill and look at the pretty views on the drive, and even got to nap on the way home, which ladies and gents we would describe as a double win.
 
xo,

Sam & Asha