2.5-Hour Private Guided Tour in Monument Valley

Our "guide", Archie, was not at all interested in educating us about the Valley or the Navajo Nation and its people. He was late arriving and went immediately to speak to someone else while we stood there unacknowledged. He then got on his cell phone on a personal call and stayed on it for the first 15 minutes until we got to the Mittens where he told us to take pictures while he remained in the vehicle on the phone. After that he was on another personal call for 20 minutes. At each stop he said to get out & take pictures & he stayed away from us. There was no information about the Navajo history of the area, the culture of the people, or the modern day governance of the Navajo Nation even when I tried to engage him with questions. In fact, he denigrated many Navajo as lazy and unable to manage their money due to drink or drugs and said he did not agree with the idea that places were sacred to his people, just that they were given names for the tourists. He insisted that we were not in the Navajo Nation but in Arizona, without explanation. He said he only "guided" part time because he had a better job. I booked this tour because it is a woman-owned business and I expected to maybe get a different perspective of understanding about the Navajo. I was shocked to have as a guide someone who had no interest in what he was doing or in educating us about what we were seeing. We could have done the tour ourselves and understood more by asking bystanders.

Shannon was an excellent guide…!!!…very personable and knowledgeable…never once did it seem like she was in a daily routine…what a kind person and we were so fortunate to have her as a guide in this spectacular place..!!