Natural Wonders- Antelope Canyon

Arizona, a south-western state of United States is home for many natural wonders. The red, barren dessert landscape filled with fields of weird pinnacles, high standing cliffs, deep snaking canyons, and miles and miles of flat barren dessert sand. Occasionally, you might be blessed with the sight of mustangs, so keep an eye open ...

From Grand Canyon National Park, I drove to Page from where I was to take a guided tour to the most enchanting Antelope slot canyon. I stayed in a budget accommodation in Page. Booking the room in advance was a good decision, rooms weren't available easily. Whole night I was thinking of the beautiful pictures I had seen on the net and looking forward to the spectacular red slot canyons.

Antelope Canyons are slot canyons formed by flash floods in the Navajo land near Page, Arizona. The entry to canyons is only through tours with authorized guides only. The drive in a desert vehicle is real fun! I mean, an open jeep with huge wheels. Visitors are allowed in Upper and Lower canyons. Upper is most visited, most photographed and more spectacular. The very unattractive entrance to the Upper canyon is at ground level ... once inside the eyes open wide in amazement! Breathtakingly beautiful red sandstone sculpted by mother nature and gracefully entering milky sun rays turn the canyon into magic! At noon-time the rays of Sun enter some of the passages creating a spectacular scene. 

The tours can be booked in advance. There is a photography tour which costs $50 (those days) and other tours cost $35. Photography tour specifically is for shooting light beams. At this time expect big crowds, many tour agencies bring many groups at the same time. Time given for a trip is too short. The guide will allow you to take few pictures at designated points at a fast pace and then out! There is no time to admire the canyons at all!

Lower canyon has mostly broad archways but equally beautiful. But, one has to climb down iron stairways into the canyon. Comparatively less crowded and this place has more time for you! You can stroll for a bit and admire the place. This place lacks the noon-show of sun rays. Still one can try many frames in different compositions because there is time to think and move around. In any case the red sandstone makes a great picture :)

Beware of flash floods! They come uninvited! It is not easy to run or climb to safety without training! There will be many people to climb those narrow stairs. But, the flash floods are rarest of incidents.

One beautiful trip for lifetime memories. Mysterious and haunting beauty of the canyons made me totally forget about the rest of the world. Was back on the roads of red hot beautiful Arizona towards the ancient history and culture- Wupatki Ruins ... 

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Scrapbook- A Travel Blog by Kusum Sanu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.