The trip to the Grand Canyon was a deep visual experience: from the views on the sides of the highway to the layered depths of the canyon.
I see before me the variegated color chart of this visual journey: it started under the golden sunshine of ASU; it continued with cactus green, desert sage green, and ponderosa pine green. Later, mountain grey appeared in the background–we were on Route 66’s dark grey asphalt. In Flagstaff the red brick buildings contrasted with the blue sky; when we arrived at the south rim, we could see every possible hue and saturation of canyon clay.
I tried to prepare for that visual experience: I’ve read several blogs about tips and tricks on how you should take pictures of the Grand Canyon. I’ve seen dozens of amazing photos, but I was still far from imagining how breathtaking the real experience could be.
The Grand Canyon was so overwhelming that I failed to describe it in proper words. I just leaned over the south rim of the canyon, but not to see the 5- or 6-million-year-old layers. I was simply bowing in front of the layers of rock that tell the unique tale of our planet.
Later, my fellow scholars from all parts of the world mentioned some of their homeland wonders: Mount Everest in Nepal, the biggest ocean waves on the Portuguese coast, Victoria Falls in Zambia… and I realized how the SUSI Cronkite experience is adding fine-grained details to my view of the world.
