Antelope Canyon

For anyone who's never been there, it's one of the most evocative experiences of our trip to California in October 2007. We went to Antelope Canyon from Page. We stayed at the Best Western (excellent), and in the hotel lobby there were brochures for organised tours. There was everything, for every price, including boat trips on Lake Powell, various combinations of excursions, and of course the two types of visit to Antelope Canyon. You could choose between a one-hour excursion or the two-and-a-half-hour photographic one. You can't access the canyon on your own, since the entrance is in a reserve run by Native Americans, who take you to the canyon by jeep or high-clearance vehicles and guide you during the excursion.

Our guide was a likeable young man who spoke a smattering of Spanish and Italian, and who often came to our rescue by taking a few photos with our camera, with excellent results. The photographic tour was accompanied by a Native American "armed" with a flute (or at any rate a wind instrument), who played, creating an evocative atmosphere. If I could redo my itinerary, I'd cut something somewhere else and spend an extra day in Page, to discover something else, probably the Rainbow Arch.