I didn't know what to expect, since I adventure solo usually. But as a non-driver staying in Phoenix, I was grateful in advance that this tour even existed, to allow me to tick off the Grand Canyon bucketlist item, &, as a massive hippy; Sedona.
First off the bat, vehicle was fabulous. I expected a huge coach with 50+ people. But a minibus pulled up, on time. It had HUGE windows, (almost all of side of vehicle), which was perfect for sightseeing purposes & for seeing the sunrise, (pickup from Phoenix is 6-630am). My bladder is the bane of my existence, & I had an internal mini meltdown at first when I saw no loo on the bus, but Mark was fab at stopping to accommodate the weak bladdered amongst us.
In fact, Mark was everything a tour guide should be & more. From the offest he was punctual, kind, knowledgeable, joyful & also funny.
I own a tour company in London, I still tour myself still once a week, because I love it.
It is very clear that he chooses to earn his living this way, due to a genuine passion for adventure, people & the Grand Canyon itself. Tours ran by people there just for the sake of having a job, that could easily be waiting a table, or 9-5'ing are simply never as good. I will only ever hire guides who love Ted Lasso. The passion of the tour guide, in this case Mark, always inspires & energises the participants.
It was wonderful to hear him say, "I come here at least thrice a week & each time I am struck by its (The Canyon's) breathtaking beauty". This was lovely. Because we all felt like he was sharing the moment - seeing it anew with us for the first time.
He was also very good at gauging the room & tailoring to groups consensus. Thankfully, as an extroverted talker myself, my particular group were chatty with each other, & Mark chatted with us about his homelife, wife & adult daughters. It was nice to feel like we were going around with an old friend therfore.
He was excellent at responding to feedback as well. I mentioned one thing that I think could be improved, (with a 6am unaffected grumpy, uncaffenated kinda way probably!), & he took it on board wonderfully.
Grand Canyon itself - no words needed. Obviously stunning & a human must-see.
Ample solo time is given to explore & take in its magnitude. Gift shop, toilets, restaurant, log fire (it gets VERY cold up there; take your UK winter coat, not your light Phoenix jacket!), cocktail bar, warm indoor lookout points at the various locations within the Canyon we stopped at.
I'm not going to let this affect the review, due to the positives of the other places we see & the tour company itself - but, as a spiritual person (yep, I know how w*nky that sounds - let it go😜), Sedona was a disappointment and absolutely not worth a trip. Thankfully they only stop there one hour.
There is absolutely NOTHING spiritual about Sedona AT ALL. It reminded me of Las Vegas or Blackpool (UK). Don't get me wrong, I love those two places, they have their own different kinda charm, but neither you would associate with a 'spiritual' place.
Row after row of tourist shop tat, selling EXACTLY the same sh*t, overpriced restaurants; (worst meal in the USA ever at Don Diego's - see separate review, pls don't go there!) To top it all a medium, who, judging by her services being advertised on every supposedly spiritual shop door, works at all of them, who literally accosts you whilst browsing the store, & tries to sell you her readings, in your personal space.
I'm sorry, that's not how it works. A true medium trusts that the 'right ' people seek her out, at the right time. It's a gentle, natural reciprocal energy flow, & should never be forced or 'sold' like that. I might have considered a reading, (had I have has more time), however I did not trust her gift or intentions when approaching me like that.
Far more of a spiritual community present in my beloved Austin, & I would never recommend Sedona *TOWN CENTRE* as worth a visit, for people like me who are drawn to it due to its "spiritual reputation".
HOWEVER! (And Listen up fellow New Age-y tribe especially!)
--The Detours extended Canyon onto Sedona tour is worth the extra thirty, forty quid, solely due to Bell Rock.
Bell Rock is exquisite, transformative, magnificent & I would pay £200 for a tour just literally to re-experience that alone, without the Canyon. Wish everyone in America could visit it right now!
I had a deep spiritual experience there. I have described it on a separate review of Bell Rock, a few reviews down, as I know many reading this won't be interested in those specifics.
However, important to mention is that Mark was able to recognise that this was happening to me, that I was experiencing something, and
tailor the experience.
I heard him asking fellow guests would they mind staying an extra five minutes as he thought I would benefit, which was truly intuitive, compassionate, clever & kind. Another example of why his tour guiding is exemplary.
Bell Rock is an energy vortex, Mark told us. I certainly experienced & benefitted from this. If you are intrigued by Sedona town centre for the same reasons I was, you will likely find everything you hope to hold space for at Bell Rock.
Detours is a fabulous company.
Comms before with the admin staff were caring & informative. Mark said it is a family run company, & you certainly feel the benefit of this from start to finish.
Ways to improve even further:
• although I love Mark's joke about "you will know which bus is mine, as it's the one with the handsome tour guide sat inside it". 🤣🤣🤣 - when you are in a place with lots of tour buses,
It helps to have a little recognisable mascot or toi in the window. I've seen lots of tour bus drivers do this. I tried to rectify this by giving mark one of my little Ted lasso figurines which happened to be in my pocket. Hopefully it's still there in his bus!
• in the first hour or so from 6:00 a.m. to 7:30, if everybody - and I mean every single participant - is sleeping, it would be nice if we could have silence and save the facts for when everybody is awake. Everybody was asleep on my tour bus at that point, and I do think we all would have appreciated it. It what have also meant we wouldn't have missed mark's excellent breadth of knowledge about what we were about to see.
However, I do understand that if even one guest is awake then the tour guide needs to speak because that's what they've paid for, and facts along the way on the drive are usually Commonplace on these things I believe. As a positive, when I was fully awake I learnt so much from Mark about the Canyon & Phoenix in general!
I will be recommending your company to everybody thank you so much Mark & Detours for such a wonderful Bucket List ticking off day!!
Emmy
❤️
PS, Mark if you happen to see this review, please go and see the movie, 'A GREAT PAIN', by Jesse Eisenberg, recently released.
When you see it, you will understand why...
🤔😜