In 1997 we went to the States for almost 3 weeks . Enthusiast by what we saw in the South African National Parks, we decided to visit most of the NP's in West-USA. (But they shouldn't be compared; South Africa is a country with much more variation). We flew with British Airways to San Fransisco and saw the fireworks in the bay celebrating Independent Day (July 4th).

From San Fransisco we went east via Yosemite NP, Mono Lake to Las Vegas. Las Vegas as ou know is a gambling and show-bizz city. If you like these attractions, you should visit this town. We went further to Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP (the most beautiful NP we visited in USA), Goblin Valley State Park, Dead Horse Point, Canyon Lands NP, Arches NP, Mesa Verde (very interesting and well conserved Indian settlements), Monument Valley, Grand Canyon (tip: take the chopper in stead of the plane, to prevent air-sickness!) to Tucson to visit Pima Air Museum with well over 200 planes!

From here back to the west via Sonora Desert Museum, Yuma to San Diego. San Diego has a very nice Zoo, and off course there is Sea World.

On July 24th we went back with a British Airways DC 10 from San Diego to London, with a stop at Phoenix. Our holliday lasted one day longer after the DC 10 made an emergency-stop while making speed at the runway! One of the engines didnt provide enough power, so all the passengers where transfered to a hotel!

Mono Lake

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