We planned to check out the grand canyon as its only a few hundred ks from vegas in the state of arizona. We initially planned to drive it but that would take a full day plus we'd only see the one view of the extensive canyon. So we decided to take a helicopter tour from the vegas international aiport - which is right behind our hotel- and check it out..
includes VIP pickup from hotel..
Take off, the front seats were extra obviously, and everyone was asking for it. They decide who sits where depending on your weight, guess we ate just enough burgers to score the front seats! and it was worth every extra cent too. microphones certainly make you feel like top gun but no one knew how to use it. Id have to say helicopters feel alot smoother than your average plane ride, you barely know your taking off
Mad view from my seat, cruising over the vegas suburbs
The impressive hoover dam. Lots of lives lost on its construction. cool bit of engineering
the section of the canyon we visited was about 250km? from vegas, cruising at 230km/hr we go there fairly quick, plently of hilly dessert
Arriving at the canyon, the river below is the mighty colorado, the canyon itself is formed from millions of years of water errosion. Its pretty cool having the ground disappear from under you into a huge drop, we cruised along the bottom of the canyon for a while
A touristy spot at the top. The part protruding out is a walkway made of thick glass that hangs way out over the edge. Its basically what we would have been able to drive to from vegas..
And this is what we get with the helicopter... simply awesome
that river looks like a stones throw down, but its very very far down
We landed near this little picnic area owned by the helicopter your company. The canyon land is owned by the traditional indians. aparently each person that steps foot in here earns them $60!
Plenty of these guys around looking for a peice of our lunch, thats a slice of tomato in hes mouth! dunno what it is tho
helicopter pilots make great photographers
We arrived here 1st and were alone for a good 20mins. then, the rest of the company fleet arrived, 7 other helicopters in fact! thats $60x42 for only this area and one of many flights of the day..
Youd think that being down the bottom of the canyon would be peaceful and alone, but no, every 2-4minutes a helicopter would fly over us heading along the canyon, thats no exaggeration! sometimes even 2 or 3 together, doing turns and flying all around teh place, its amazing they dont crash into each other. This tour stuff is big business, and thats just one tiny tip of the canyon
Not for those who are afraid of heights
Cruising back to vegas, the pilot liked to cruise real low to the mountain tops. the strip in the distance, all 7 or so km of it
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