Aside from being left to roast in the desert heat for more than an hour by the National Park Express Tour Company, the Upper Antelope Canyon experience itself was spectacular.
The large bus we traveled on was newer, had functioning bathroom and was cool and clean. We appreciated that. Upper Antelope canyon is absolutely breathtaking and we consider it an experience of a lifetime! Our tribe member, LeMoin, gave us a truly wonderful tour and gave us tips for capturing the best angles using our cell phones. 5 Stars for LeMoin!
However, our bus tour guide had us rush, rush, rush through the Horseshoe Bend portion, then when we arrived at Upper Antelope Canyon for our "appointment" we had to get off the air conditioned bus and sit on shaded benches in the desert heat for over an hour while our tour guide received more and more customers that arrived from other areas and other tours. He kept saying "sorry folks for the delay, it's not my fault" but it really appeared that we arrived early so he could wrangle other customers (and NOT because the Navajo tour company was late). He even sat us down in front of a sign that showed the actual canyon tour times, and our Navajo guide was actually right on time. Several of us on the tour noticed that our tour operator was, to use his term, "logistically unsuccessful". It certainly felt as though we had been rushed through the Horseshoe bend portion and then deceived while sitting and waiting while our tour operator told us "it wasn't his fault." We have happily used National Express in the past, and the Upper Antelope tour was the most expensive of the 3 canyon tours, so we were a little disappointed by the way we were hustled around this time.
** Please be advised, for anyone who has acute back problems or knee or hip problems: 1) the walk to Horseshoe Bend is 1.5 mile round trip. Getting there is mostly downhill, which means getting back is uphill. 2) The ride in the smaller truck that shuttles you to the Upper Antelope Canyon entrance is EXTREMELY bumpy. 3) You will have to walk a short distance in deep-ish sand and there are also stairs and ramps at the end of the tour when you return to the shuttle truck. They don't tell you about that until you get there.
Odpowiedź od gospodarza
Oct 2024
Thank you for joining our tour. We appreciate having you as our guest. The local Antelope Canyon company requires us to arrive early for check-in before the tour. If we miss the check-in time, we may miss the tour slot. We apologize if you were inconvenienced by the timing and the local facilities. We hope you'll consider joining us again in the future.