View 5, Food 2. This is part of the West Rim tour. First section is Eagle Point where the Skywalk above the canyon is. Guana point, named after bat poop that was harvested in a cave down below used for gunpowder and fertilizer, is also where you have lunch made by native Americans. Now if you are reading this in a brochure, and let me point out that all the brochures from all the tour companies word it in a similar fashion, it is a bit misleading. They make it sound like you are going to have traditional lunch with a gathering of the local Native Americans indigenous to the region, the Hualapai.
What you get is a large picnic area, they views are outstanding and you can find tables close to the edge of rim which we sat at. The food consist of cafeteria style kitchen. You get a choice of BBQ beef or gilled chicken. It comes on a styrofoam plate with a scoop of mashed potatoes with gravy, half a corn on the cob, a side salad and cookie with water, soda is extra and does not come with prepaid package with the Skywalk entrance. It is cooked and served by members of the Hualapai tribe.
I am pretty sure this is not Native American food indigenous of the Grand Canyon area. I don't think they had BBQ sauce to pour over their beef, the chicken sure, mashed potatoes with gravy? Corn on the cob? I did not see any corn fields in the grand canyon. I can understand if we were in the Delaware basin eating with the Lenni-Lenape tribe in NJ as Jersey Fresh corn is the best corn. Chocolate chip cookies? Really?
I was expecting more the lines of mesquite bean pods, cholla buds, prickly pear fruit and maybe some peyote to smoke. The corn maybe, if it were 60-day corn like the Tohono O'odham people used to cultivate.
I was also hoping for some Native American entertainment, singing, dancing or least a history lesson from some elders. Alas, this was just some backyard type cookout. At least the views were spectacular and you were able to hike around the area, great view of the Colorado river and No you cannot see the bat cave as it is on the bottom near the river and you are unable to hike down from the area. read more