Arrived at Sundance Helicopters on the edge of the main Las Vegas airport via the limo and checked in for our flight to the Grand Canyon. Check involved being weighed to ensure you didn't have to pay for an extra seat!
After the safety briefing we met our pilot Dave and found out that our tour had only 4 passengers instead of the normal 6! This was a real result as it gave us much more space to move around the helicopter and take pictures.
We turned out to be the lead chopper of the 6 or 7 that were taking part in the tour at that time. Dave fired up the engines and we took off smoothly over the airfield. This was our first time in a helicopter and it was fantastic - again thoroughly recommended.
We flew pretty much due east with Julia and I in the front 2 passenger seats for the outbound flight.
Dave gave a great commentary - supplemented by some recorded information. We flew over Lake Las Vegas, Lake Mead and then the Hoover Dam - which is well impressive.
Eventually we could see the path of the Colorado River as it left the canyon and we climbed to enter the canyon itself. This tour only took in a few miles of the west end of the canyon but it was enough to get an idea of the scale of it. At its widest the Canyon is 18 miles accross.
The helicopter landed on Native American land within the Canyon - one of the few places in the whole canyon that helicopters can land - and we were served a Champagne lunch by Dave the Pilot/Waiter!
On the return flight Julia and I were in the back of the chopper and we all got a fantastic view of the strip as we flew back into Vegas.
We took it easy for the rest of the day - checking out one of the Venetian Swimming pools.
We had dinner in a sports bar in the Venetian watching the Philadelphia Phillies baseball game.
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