Grand Canyon: Stepping Out Over a True Wonder of the World, Part 2

VOICE TWO: Today, the Grand Canyon is known as one of the seven wonders of the natural world. About five million people visit the canyon each year. Most visitors walk along paths part way down into the canyon. It takes several hours to walk to the bottom. It takes two times as long to get back up. Some visitors ride mules to the bottom and back. The mules are strong animals that look like horses. They are known for their ability to walk slowly and safely on the paths. America's National Park Service is responsible for protecting the Grand Canyon from the effects of so many visitors. All waste material must be carried out of the canyon. All rocks, historical objects, plants, and wildlife must be left untouched. As the National Park Service tells visitors: "Take only photographs. Leave only footprints. " VOICE ONE: There are several other ways to visit the Grand Canyon. Hundreds of thousands of people see the canyon by air each year. They pay a helicopter or airplane pilot to fly them above and around the canyon. About twenty thousand people a year see the Grand Canyon from the Colorado River itself. They ride boats over the rapid, rocky water. These trips last from one week to three weeks. VOICE TWO: Starting March twenty-eighth, two thousand seven, visitors can see the Grand Canyon in still another way. A huge glass walkway, called the Skywalk, extends twenty-one meters from the edge of the Grand Canyon. The Skywalk is suspended more than one thousand two hundred meters above the bottom of the canyon. It is shaped like a giant horseshoe. Visitors pay twenty-five dollars each to walk beyond the canyon walls, surrounded by the canyon, while standing at the edge of the glass bridge. The Hualapai Indian Tribe built the Skywalk at a cost of more than forty million dollars. The tribe owns almost four hundred thousand hectares of land in the canyon. The Hualapai built the Skywalk to gain money by getting more people to visit its reservation. The tribe says the area, called Grand Canyon West, will include a large visitors' center, restaurants, and possibly hotels in the future. However, other people have criticized the Skywalk and future development. They say it harms a national treasure and reduces the enjoyment of nature in the Grand Canyon. VOICE ONE: Many writers have tried to describe the wonder of the Grand Canyon. They use words like mysterious, overpowering, strange. Yet writers recognize that it is impossible to put human meaning in such a place. The Grand Canyon exists in its own space and time. Some visitors say they feel so small when measured against the canyon's great size. One writer who has spent a lot of time in the Grand Canyon finds it a peaceful place. He says the almost overpowering silence and deepness of the Grand Canyon shakes people -- at least briefly -- out of their self-importance. He says it makes us remember our place in the natural world. VOICE TWO: We close our program with music from a record called "Canyon Lullaby" written by Paul Winter. Mister Winter said it was his first attempt to translate the spirit of the canyon into sound. VOICE ONE: This program was written by Shelley Gollust. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember . VOICE TWO: And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English. Source: Voice of America