Today we took a boat trip to the Rainbow Bridge. We boarded a small, but steady ocean yaht manned by two rather large men - Captain mark and crewman Tito, an obvious Navajo. Should I mention that the lake as well as 25 thousand sq. miles around belong to Navajo nation? Navajo are dark-skinned people with plain broad faces and flat noses;their eyes have a Mongolian shape Their English is impeccable and their manner is aloof at first, but if you manage a small talk, their faces light up with most beautiful genuine smiles.
Our destination was The Rainbow Bridge. According to navajo beliefs, this is a sacred place where their ancestors - two brothers
who were half-human and half deities - came down the rainbow to teach their people wisdom and how to protect themselves.
Navajo would never walk under the bridge - and we are kindly asked not to walk close to it in respect. Tito would not even approach the observation spot for tourists. He remained behind, perched on a large orange boulder, watching the fiery arch from afar, visibly in awe.
The beauty of the place can transfix anyone: the green crystal-clear water teeming with bass, bright reddish and ocher walls, tine gnarly cedars, willows, ferns in every crack and nook, the noise of the boisterous crickets and the buzz of large blue dragon-flies.
In the Anasazi canyon the walls were so close hat I could have touched them. The captain was just laughing - he told us that sometimes he navigates his ships in places where there are just four inches to the wall of the canyon, and just couple days ago they knocked off a loudspeaker from the deck...
Lake Powell is a beautiful, magical place - I highly recommend the boat trip. Be prepared though: hotels are bad, filed to the brim, and their breakfasts meager. Who cares!
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