On Day 18 of our holiday we finally made it to the Grand Canyon.
About 200 metres into the Park we spotted some bison. These are the boys excited faces as we got closer. The bison were not very close to the road, but it was our first time ever seeing these...so pretty cool.
We found some views of the Grand Canyon.
Next the boys had to attend a Ranger talk for their Junior Ranger badges. This ranger was talking about Condors. It was a very interesting talk. In 1986 there were no condors left in the wild. After an intensive breeding program there are about 200 today of which 78 lives at the Grand Canyon.
The boys worked on their assignments....(with a great view)
Next we went exploring the rim close to the Visitor Centre.
A few more shots as the sun went down...
We headed back to our cabin that was about 30 km from the park. We saw plenty off deer on and close to the road. Managed to not run any over.
This is the next morning at our cabin. Ready for some more exploring.
We saw the bison from a bit closer up.
The boys were discussing all their business ventures for when they were back in NZ - Restaurants, Bands and Cross-country Events.
We were the only people at Cape Royal Point for about 45 minutes. It was like having the whole canyon to ourselves.
Next the boys found their own mini-canyon to play in.
We took some more photos at Angels Window.
And then I took a few shots of Matt and the boys right above the window...in the distance.
We decided that since we were there we could just as well go to Point Imperial as well. This is the highest point in the Grand Canyon.
The GPS picture was a bit scary as we approached Point Imperial. It looked like we were going to drive off the cliff.
We saw a condor fly overhead. Unfortunately I didn't get any good shots when it swooped right over our heads. It was still pretty cool to spot one after learning all about them yesterday.
On our way back out of the park we had one last look at the bison. Alex counted around 120 bison.
It was a very enjoyable time at the Grand Canyon. Ryan told me that it was the highlight of his trip so far....because it is one of the 7 wonders of the world. But he also said that he actually thought it would be more impressive.
Maybe he has been exposed to too many cool stuff in his short lifetime.
