Antelope Canyon

Everyone on the raft trip yesterday told us we could not leave Page, AZ without touring Antelope Canyon so we booked a tour this morning. Oh my gosh! The most awe inspiring place I have ever been! The canyon is on the Navajo Nation and you must have a Navajo guide. They started allowing the public to tour the canyon around 1997. It seems almost sacred. We were fortunate to be in a group of only 6. Our Navajo guide – a women about our age was wonderful – she told us about the Navajo tribe and her youth – plus she was great in helping us take pictures inside.

The Navajo language is a spoken language only – they have no signs or letters – if it is written it is done with English letters. It reminded us of the Navajo Code Talkers, we met in Albuquerque, that were used during the Korean and Second World War. Many of the Navajo words have several meanings depending on how your pronounce them – so you can get into trouble easily if you do not speak it well! During her childhood most of the children were only educated when they were young – as soon as they got big enough to work they helped the family “farm.” There were no schools on the reservation, so children that were educated were sent to live with Mormon families in town. She said she was a very quiet child so her parents thought she was dumb and not worth sending to school so they kept her home to tend the sheep. They eventually allowed her to join a host family and go to school. This family moved to California and she went with them. When she graduated she came back to her “roots” but, many of the educated never returned. There are now schools in Page – the Navajo children catch the bus at 5:30am and return around 8:00pm from their day at school – it is at least a 50 mile one way journey. One of the mesas in the area is named after her grandfather who was an interpreter while they were building the dam and the town of Page. The town started because of the dam project but, because it was out in the middle of nowhere, no one wanted to live here. So the “powers that be” decided to give free land and a promise of no taxes (ever) to any church that was built here – there are 14 different denomination churches along the main street in Page and eventually the town grew!

Roger says Antelope Canyon reminded him of Petra – a similar canyon in Jordan – where one of the “Indiana Jones” movies was filmed. He toured it on a camel! Petra is narrower and eventually opens up into a large “room like” canyon. The Romans dug out troughs in the sides of the rock canyon walls and channeled water into the city. Bedouins (nomadic tribes in the middle east) still live there.

It has been beautiful weather here in Lake Powell for the past two days but this evening the wind is picking up and the sand is blowing – here we go again!

I’m afraid the Spurs are about done in the NBA playoffs – those Suns are simply outplaying them!  Tired of watching the “Steve Nash Show.”