Migratory_Margie
Apr 2011
I contacted several companies looking for an all day private tour for four that would not just be sitting in a vehicle all the time -- we wanted to do some walking. Unlike Canyon de Chelly, where an all day tour is all day, an all day tour in Monument Valley is 6 hours. The tours seem to be fairly inflexible -- I got the best response from Blackwater.
We started with a morning Mystery Valley tour, had a break at The View, then we were picked up at 5:00 for a Sunset Tour of Monument Valley. Our guide Frank arrived early. Frank warned us to go get coats which we all appreciated as it was chilly in the open truck. Mystery Valley was stunning. Frank was personable and interesting. Although it is "high" season, we only saw one other group at one stop, so we felt like we had Mystery Valley to ourselves.
In Monument Valley, we went off the public road for part of the tour, including a stop at a hogan to learn about rug weaving that we all enjoyed. Frank played the flute at one formation "Big Hogan" and it was lovely to listen to. It would be more interesting to me to spend more time in the part of Monument Valley where a guide is required. The wind picked up in the afternoon and was really howling by the time our sunset tour was over, so we saw the sand dunes in motion but no sunset. We were impressed with Frank's driving.