Grand Canyon

The Grand Canyon has some of the most dramatic landscapes I have seen in my travels so far. Enormous. Gargantuan. The sheer size of this place is beyond words. The structure of the rocky formations was varied and interesting. The colours they produced were fascinating – in the sun they looked a certain colour, in the shade another.

The canyons stretch on for miles, far into the distance. As you walk or drive to different viewpoints, you see unique formations as if you are seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time. The Grand Canyon is not the deepest canyon in the world. And no one knows for sure how old it is, the current estimation being 70 million years.

According to Hopi legend, the Grand Canyon is said to be the location of the “sipapu,” the portal to the underworld, where humankind supposedly emerged upon Earth.

The Grand Canyon can look so different depending on the weather, day or season. It's a great place for photographers to get some interesting panoramic landscape images. While I was there, localised rain clouds swept across a section of the Grand Canyon, producing this atmospheric moody sky. I can imagine you can get some awesome shots at golden hour and blue hour.

To be honest, the Grand Canyon was initially not an attraction I was particularly excited to see on our roadtrip. I did not understand the appeal of seeing some holes in the ground. It was just a place to tick off on our road trip. Boy was I wrong. The panoramic vistas and geological formations pull you in. A great place to take some really rugged, colossal landscape photographs. Pack both your wide angle and telephoto lenses to get the best of both worlds – panoramic landscapes and geological detail.

There are quite a lot of activities to do here. Hiking and horse riding down to the canyons, to visiting museums and restaurants. Due to our road trip, we visited the south side of the Grand Canyon, but there is a north side that can also be visited. Well worth a day visiting if you are in this part of the USA.