The Grand Canyon

Trying to forget our hunger and sleep deprivation and indeed our anger that we had already missed out on a day at the Grand Canyon including the chance to take a helicopter ride over it, the whole group was determined to make the most of what time we did have to see this natural wonder of the world.
The Grand Canyon National Park is massive. Much larger than most people realise. Over the last 5 million years, the Colorado River has carved out a canyon that is 277 miles long, at parts 18 miles wide and is 1 mile deep. People have been visiting the Canyon since the 1890s and the Grand Canyon village at the South Rim consists of many buildings that were built in the early 1900s.
The visitor centre at the South Rim is where we started our explorations. The first thing that struck everyone in the group was just how well the National Park is set up. The facilities were outstanding. Most impressive was the multitude of free shuttle buses that run every 30 minutes taking you to various points around the South Rim. 6 of us decided to take the shuttle bus to the furthest point on the bus circuit and walk back along the edge of the rim. If it became too much for anyone, they could catch the bus back. Doing this hike meant we only saw a couple of other people for the first three hours. We had the view to ourselves. Surprisingly, considering we were only walking, the view changed dramatically every few metres. The difference in the light levels made such a difference too – it was difficult at times to keep walking – you wanted just to stare at the changing scene in front of your eyes. Unfortunately for the budding photographers, there was a haze in the air so the photos taken were disappointing and did not do justice to the magnificence of the place.

After the 41 degree heat of yesterday, todays temperature of just 28 degrees felt much more pleasant and after 4 hours we had strolled our way back to the village. I say stroll, though at some points the narrow 30cm lose gravel path got very close to the edge of the rim. At other places, in particular the built up viewpoints with their own shuttle bus stop, the path was flat, concreted over, up to 2m wide and suitable for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pushchairs. We were soon to learn that all the national parks take accessibility seriously.
There were hundreds of people in the village area. Its been a long time since I saw tourist crowds of such numbers. This central area is where you can descend down into the canyon. To walk to the bottom can take as little as 3 hours but its getting back up again that’s tough. It can take up to 9 hours to ascend so it is recommended to camp overnight at the bottom. As it was now mid-afternoon, very crowded and very warm, I decided on a very mini hike. I walked down for 20 mins then spent the next 40 mins climbing up again. That was enough for me!
After a refreshing pint of cider at the historic hotel bar we continued walking east. We stopped at various lookouts and viewpoints before choosing one to watch the sunset from. Luck was against us again. We saw part of the sunset before the weather turned. We were at a very open, exposed part of the park with no shade or coverage. We decided to call it a day and as quickly as possible head towards the car park where the bus would be waiting to pick us up, after all it was half past 7 and we had walked a total of 16 miles already. We got to our bus as the heavens opened and although I didn’t get to watch the sunset over the canyon, I did get to watch an amazing electrical storm with vivid lightning. It was another hour before all the rest of the party returned. Two of the chaps had found a great sheltered spot within the canyon and had seen an impressive sunset but to be honest, I was so shattered by this point, I was just happy to be sat down. By 10pm, we were at a campsite, and after eating a bowl of hot chilli, I was crawling utterly exhausted into my sleeping bag.

Splutering into America

On the 11th June 2019, the bus pulled up to the American border. Having heard so many stories and reports about the Mexican - American border, none of us really knew what to expect. The border crossing we used is in the city of Nogales, which has parts in both Mexico and Arizona. We queued for only an hour or so (mainly through the centre of town!) before we reached the Mexican exit. Despite all the headlines to the contrary, there were no lines of Mexicans trying to cross, no huge swathes of people camping at the border, desperate to get across. It was all relatively quiet and peaceful. We had to walk all our belongings to the American side and to wait to see what the American immigration officers would be like. Again, everyone knows the reputation of these officials and anyone who has flown into the US will have had first-hand experience of these humourless individuals. Well, these chaps were lovely, helpful and one of them even bent the rules for a couple of our party. I did not get thrown into jail, fined or even reprimanded over the forgotten apple in my backpack! And a couple who had flown into the country a fortnight earlier and had booked return flights on day 32 of their stay by mistake(one day too late) were given another entry stamp, so they would not incur any trouble at the airport. I would definitely recommend travelling to the US via a land border if ever possible. So none of the people had a problem but the bus was another story. The Dragoman school bus had not started the trip in Mexico. It had been travelling through Central America, in fact a couple of the people had been on it since Panama City, a couple of months earlier. Their trip had been beset with many technical problems and the bus breaking down often. Supposedly, the bus had had a major overhaul in Mexico City as there would be no way, American customs would let an unroadworthy vehicle into the country. Unlike my previously used overland company Oasis, Dragoman do not require the driver to be a fully-fledged mechanic. In fact they do not have specific drivers, the driving and tour leading are combined with both people expectedly to share all the work. The Oasis drivers carry enough spare parts to completely rebuild the engine plus they know how to strip and rebuild an engine. Dragoman give their driver / leaders a 4 week course in basic mechanics. Not surprisingly this results in the Dragoman tour staff not really being able to do anything! We therefore, were not surprised when the bus did not pass the initial inspection and we had to wait for hours sat on the tarmac within the border compound. When we were eventually released and drove to the local campsite, it was dark. We ate a quick meal and went to bed. Apparently, we were at a lovely campsite around a lake but as we arrived late at night and had to leave early the following morning, we were not going to see much. I did manage to go for a quick walk before breakfast which is where I spotted the pedestrian bridge (in the photo above). I have never seen a bridge like it before and crossing it was a bizarre experience. It really did make the heart beat faster!
We drove to the ridiculously hot city of Phoenix where we had an afternoon and evening to entertain ourselves. Some of the group choose to go to the theatre, others had a quiet evening making the most of the aircon in our very comfortable motel rooms, and some went to a local brewery. Wade (a supermarket manager from Wales) suggested we make the most of the big city and visit a vegetarian restaurant. I know that veggie restaurants will be harder to find in the US so I jumped at the chance. It was so nice to eat something fresh and not dep fried. Plus I found a nice line in speciality cider!
The following day we were supposed to leave at 11am to drive to the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately Julie, the crew leader had decided to take the bus to the mechanic the previous evening and it was not allowed back on the road. She promised us it would be ready by lunch time and in the meantime, we could enjoy the morning in Phoenix. We had to leave the motel rooms and leave the luggage in storage. Oh yes, and there was a high weather warning in place. The temperature was expected to go to 41 degree C. Being outside was not advised. A group of us decided to explore Phoenix and on the advice of a local policeman who was at the tram station, we boarded a tram and went downtown. We explored shops and bars and restaurants and after receiving word that the bus was still not ready and to check back at 4pm, we had a very slow, leisurely walk back through the art district. We found some whirly chairs that was great fun but skin did burn on the red hot plastic.

The meeting point of the motel carpark – had absolutely no shade and no shops nearby so water could not be bought. The older members of our group were really struggling in the ‘danger to life’ heat. There were some fast food drive through outlets nearish and they had been serving the group with water instead of soda for free. At 4pm we got a message that they were hoping to be back for 6pm. You can imagine the frustration that was building. I decided to go to the McDonalds drive through, to get a veggie burger meal.
I walked in and could not see anything veggie on the menu, so I asked. First of all, my accent was highly amusing to them but the staff were very confused as to what I was asking for. At one point, the woman at the counter asked me, if I realised this was a McDonalds. I explained to her that Maccy D’s in the UK sold not one but two different veggie burgers as well as things like salad and carrot sticks in the kids meals. She actually called over the manager and all the other staff in the shop so they could listen again to my description of McD’s in the UK. It was surreal. Needless to say, I didn’t get anything veggie and my hopes of finding veggie food in the US were diminishing greatly.I walked back to the carpark at 6pm to be told another message had been received saying the bus should be back for 8. By this point we had been outside for 9 hours with no shelter, shade or easy access to water in 41 degree heat. We were supposed to be watching the sunset at the Grand Canyon at this point. It was the highlight of the trip and we were still an 8 hour drive away! Surprisingly, none of us were particularly happy.
The bus and crew did arrive back just before 8pm saying they were ready to set off! But where would we go? The Grand Canyon campsite does not allow people to arrive after 10pm. The crew suggested we drive, set up a camp outside the national park , then pack-up the tents and move into the official camp site and set up the camp again before going to visit the Canyon. The other option would be for us all to pay an additional $75 dollars each and stop at a motel. There was an outcry. After Dragoman had supplied a not fit for purpose bus, left us alone without shelter or shade in 41 degrees for a total of 11 hours, made us miss the highlight of the trip – they were now asking us to pay as a result of their catalogue of errors. Eventually, the crew realised this was not acceptable and we pulled up to a motel at 2am. The rooms were charged on the company’s credit card. At 6am we were up again, grabbed a breakfast of fruit and oats and quickly got back on the road. It was another couple of hours on the road and we arrived at the Grand Canyon visitor centre for around 8.30am. I had had a grand total of 3 hours sleep and had managed to eat half an apple and a muesli bar. I wasn’t feeling on top of the world but at least we had finally arrived!

The Final Leg - North America

So on the 2nd June, I met up with my final group to Overland through North America. We started in Mexico City and go north, crossing into the US in Arizona before visiting the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Yellow stone and Zion national parks amongst others. We cross into Canada at Banff and visit Jasper, Whistler and Lake Louise before crossing back into the States to visit Alaska, finally ending in Anchorage.
This time I am not travelling with Oasis but with Dragoman. Dragoman are the only overland company that do this route. To comply with US laws, a regular overland truck can not be used. Instead we are travelling on a converted yellow school bus. This means it is tiny and cramped with 18 people inside. All the luggage goes into a locker at the back which means I have to haul my giant backpack into the truck on a daily basis. This will take a lot of getting use to!

Strangely enough the first thing that happened on the first day of the trip was a free day. This meant everyone went off and did there own thing, so on the first day I did not see a single person that was on the trip! I made the most of my time by revisiting Teotihuacan. I successfully navigated Mexico City underground system, made my way to the north bus terminal and caught a bus to take my the hours drive to these pyramids. This ancient site flourished from 100bc to around 800ad. As the Aztecs founded Mexico City, a lot of people think the site is Aztec but it actually predates them by almost 1000 years. The two main pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun and the pyramid of the Moon can be climbed up but it is not easy. There are over 250 steps, some steps are waist height, the site is at altitude and it is very hot. You know about it my the time you reach the top. The most visually appealing pyramid however, is the pyramid of the Feathered Serpent which has these amazing carved animal faces lining the main stairs. Teotihuacan was certainly worth a second visit. This was also the last place I would visit that I have been to before.

Mexico City is a huge place, over 21 million people live there. They have impressive buildings, some world-class museums and right in the centre they have the remains of the first Aztec settlement juxtaposed with all the modern shops and restaurants. Despite everything it has to offer, I was pleased to be leaving the big city and heading off into the unknown.
We loaded up the bus and set off at half past 5 in the morning, for a 10 hour journey north towards the tiny town of Angahuan.

We camped at this tiny town so we could have the opportunity to visit the volcano of Paricutin. Paricutin is the only volcano to have been created in modern times.times. It burst into life in 1943 and stopped growing in 1953. It was named one of the seven natural wonders of the world in 1997. 2 local villages were buried under the lava. It is described as challenging to climb so I decided to give it a go. After an hour or so of steep climbing you get to the lava field. Some of these rocks are as big as cars and they are all sharp. It takes a couple of hours to scramble over them. Then you get to the difficult section. The practically vertical cone section. This is loose scree and small rocks. You slide backward more than go forward. At most points you are crawling. Finally you reach the summit and take in the views before you descend down the river of shin deep fine volcanic ash. After a few more hours you arrive at one of the villages. The top half of the church somehow survived the lava bombardment and you can climb through to the altar. After 8 hours and 22 km, we arrived back. I have never done anything so strenuous. This is completely off the beaten track. Very few people in the world have done this and I felt so proud of myself that I achieved it!

After the strenuous activity of Angahuan, a more relaxing activity was needed and we found it in the tiny town of Tequila. I'm sure you can guess what Tequila is famous for. There are many distilleries there and we took a tour of one. Tequila is made from the blue agave plant. The leaves are discarded and only the pineapple looking bulb is used. It is crushed,squashed and roasted before being boiled, fermented and distilled. All that remains is a hideous tasting clear spirit. The aged Tequila is smoother and does taste better but it is still foul. Tequila is never going to be my drink of choice!

Our final stop in Mexico was the beach resort of Sayulita. It was nice to be able to paddle in the Pacific one more time. This will be my last seaside resort. It will not be the last time I feel the sun however. From here, we drive long drive days to cross the American border. We will be driving though the heat of the Mexican desert and then through the Arizona desert. I'm going to be hot!

Oaxaca (pronounced Wa hacker)

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As soon as I realised that I would be having spare time in Central America, I knew I had to come to Oaxaca. I was suppose to visit in 2006 but as we approached the city we were turned away by the police. The streets were blocked off, there were protesters everywhere and more worryingly, missiles were being thrown. We ended up in a coach that drove for over 24 hours over the mountains to get us safely to our next destination. I still remember the coach driver's name - it was Billy. This time I was determined to get in and I booked a week's accommodation. A week in one place is a lifetime when backpacking. I remember the protests had something to do with teachers and some teachers had been killed. I spoke to a young woman in the city who had been a school girl at the time and she told me that that six months had been a scary time. All the schools were closed for over six months. Parents ended up sending children to private schools so they could get an education. Oaxaca is still known for its many protests but thankfully these days they do not involve bloodshed.
One of the first things I did after arriving was to visit the ruins of Monte Alban. This was the centre of the Zapotec civilization, built around 500bc and eventually abandoned around 750ad. I made sure I was on the first bus to the site so could explore the site before hoards of tourists arrived. Another plus point about going early is that you do all the strenuous climbing before the temperature reaches 30 degrees. Oh yes, turns out Oaxaca was going to be the hottest place I had been in for 2 months!



There are many tourist agencies around the city offering many activities and I decided to go for the jam-packed multi centre day. What a fantastic day it turned out to be. The first stop was El Tulle, site of the biggest tree in the world. It's over 2000 years old and it really is big. I was not expecting to feel so moved whilst walking around the tree but it was simply magnificent. Then we visited an award winning weaver, who makes rugs in the centuries old traditional way. All the dyes are natural and I was used to demonstrate the vivid colours that are achieved when cochineal beetles are crushed. These beetles live on the leaves of the cactus, they look a bit like white mould but when crushed they produce a vivid red colour. Add lime or bicarbonate of soda and you produce purple. Even after vigorous scrubbing, the stain took days to disappear.
Mitla was the main religious site of the Zapotecs and looks completely different to all the other sites. The Spaniards destroyed the majority of the site when inflicting control on the local population. The palace here is covered in intricate fretwork, each piece perfectly crafted out of stone.
The real high point of the day for me though, was the spectacular hierve de agua or the petrified waterfalls. These are a natural rock formation. The only other similar site is Pammuke in Turkey (which I also heartedly recommend). Standing below these rocks, looking up is disorientating, it makes you feel unsteady on your feet. What a sight though. It is truly one of the most impressive things I have seen. Natural pools have been created on top of the rocks at the top of the "waterfall." If you don't mind the rather chilly nature of the water, you can take a dip over looking the spectacular mountain ranges.




Oaxaca is well known in foodie circles. People come from all over the world to taste it's amazing food and it was here that I had my only real food failure. I was reading a menu when the waitress told my that the special of the day was vegetarian. I was surprised because finding veggie food in Mexico can be tricky. After confirming that the meal did not contain meat, pork, beef, chicken, turkey, sausage or ham, I ordered it. Obviously all this is in Spanish. I got a starter of nachos with a pesto dip. Then a mango gazpacho soup. So far, so lovely. I knew that the main was cheese and spinach on tortillas and as it approached, it looked lovely. Then I noticed little red things mixed into the cheese. Lots of them. It was the Oaxacan delicacy of deep fried grasshoppers! I regretfully told the waitress I could not eat them, but she was not convinced. They are not meat I was told, they are too tiny! Anyway, I now know the Spanish for grasshopper and that is added to my list of things to check for!
Apart from the grasshoppers, Oaxaca is famed for its 7 different sorts of mole (pronounced mole lay) sauces. These are a secret blend of spices, fruits, nuts and sometimes chocolate. Some have over 30 ingredients. I was lucky to find a veggie restaurant that made these sauces and could advise me as to which contained nuts. The moles were gorgeous but the green mole was my favourite and not too spicy.
Oaxaca also has a drink it is famous for. It is metzcal. This is a spirit made from the agave plant (the same plant tequila is distilled from) and I visited a metzcal distillery. It is all made in the traditional method, ie horses powering the grind stone. We were allowed to taste many many samples and I am pleased to report it is a far nicer drink than tequila. It is smoother with a much better taste. The passion fruit metzcal in particular is superb. A final word of caution though, if you are offered the red salt to go with your drink, be aware that the red colour comes from the roasted and crushed worms they put into it for added flavour!


Oaxaca town