Grand Canyon Day!!!

Dear blog readers!

We are Vilde from Norway and Luca (Lutza) from Hungary, two girls traveling the West Coast with BELO.

Today we went on an adventure to the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful. Some of us wanted to cry from happiness and for those who had never seen mountains before, it was a magical experience.

First, we separated into two main groups: a group that stayed on the top and enjoyed the view, and another that hiked down the canyon to see what’s at the bottom. The ones that decided not to hike took millions of pictures from the top of the canyon. The hikers also took millions of pictures, not from the top, but from different levels and angles, which made the walk stop in every second minute. We were so excited about taking pictures at the beginning that the hike down to the bottom took longer than the way up, even though it was much easier. At the end we ran out of breath. It made all of us realize that we are totally out of shape.

But the hard and exhausting hike was worth it: the amazing canyon stole our hearts; strangers became friends; the group got closer; cameras ran out of battery. We really had a great time.

After the hike we all went in different directions. Everybody had lunch on their own, some went crazy for shopping, some kept hiking (the fit ones) others just chilled and enjoyed the wonder that surrounded us.

Some of us decided to watch an Indian-show, with Native –American dance, music and clothes. The fact that we were listening to this wonderful music right by the canyon made the experience unforgettable. We even took pictures with some of the dancers.

Since we had free time, with some adventurous ones we went to explore. We jumped on a bus not knowing where we were going, but knowing that we’re going to have fun there. We had hours of sunshine, pictures and laughter. While we were wondering around, climbing as we were born to climb, some of us faced their biggest fears: acrophobia. Being afraid of heights can be annoying when you want to send cool pictures back home as you’re standing on a rock in 2000 feet high. Well, since cool pictures won’t take themselves, we had to go after them. We (Vilde and Luca) literally had to hold Arthur’s (from Brazil) hand to walk to the edge, let him go for 10 seconds so that he could take a picture for la familia back home. We are very-very proud of him, with shaking body, he forced a smile without looking down to the 2117 feet deep valley. Hopefully la familia will like it.

Today we all got closer, we faced our fears, we laughed (a lot) and most importantly we all became a little bit more of ourselves. It really was an adventure, and Grand Canyon will always be remembered.

P.S:  Quote of the day: “I love you Mom!” (As we were hiking down the canyon in a huge group, amazed by the unbelievable view, one boy all of sudden yelled “I LOVE YOU MOM!”. We just looked at each other, when another person else yelled “I LOVE YOU MOM!” and then another and another… And then we did it too, yelling I love you Mom, I love you Dad to the canyon, to the deep valley, wishing they could hear us. So here we just want to say a little “thank you” for all the Moms and Dads from all over the World, for supporting us, for letting us see the World, because without parents we could have not seen those places that changed us forever.)