Passion 4 Travel

United States

Days 15-16: Zion & Vegas - The 229 square miles (147,551 acres) of Zion National Park, established in 1909 (originally as Mukuntuweap National Park, then as Zion when it was expanded in 1919, with the Kolab section being added in 1937) has sandstone cliffs amongst the highest in the world, features a large diverse animal community with some animals such as the Zion Snail found nowhere else in the World and the richest diversity of plants in Utah (c 800 native species). Differences in elevation, sunlight, water and temperature have created microclimates like hanging gardens and isolated mesas encouraging this diversity. We did a moderate 150ft ascent unpaved 2-mile hike to Lower and Middle Emerald Pools, but to be honest it was hot, we were feeling a bit "canyoned-out" and we were keen to get to Vegas!

Las Vegas - out of the desert rises this city, right in the middle of nowhere - and a pretty large city at that! But it is sooo much fun! I wanted to see it out of curiosity and it is definitely worth a look-see. Vegas doesn't really start to come alive until early evening / after dusk. Something that I've always wanted to do was have a limo ride round Vegas and on our night there that's exactly what we did. We stopped in a few places such as the Las Vegas Sign, the Fremont Street Experience (pedestrian promenade that transforms into a spectacular light & sound show with 12 million lights and the world's largest LED screen - amazing!) and a couple of casinos to use the facilities ;-) before heading for a club and partying the rest of the night (and most of the morning) away.

After lunch later that day we took a ride out to Hoover Dam (about 20-30 mins away). Unfortunately mile-long tailbacks prevented us going any further than a great lookout over Lake Mead so instead we visited the Las Vegas Premium Outlets Center. In the evening went to a $10-all-you-can-eat buffet before touring the casinos such as the MGM, Bellagio with its fountains, Mirage etc.