Restday in the Monument Valley

Monument Valley, the name says it all! Words can not really describe the beauty and magnitude of this place. We booked a tour with a Navajo on his jeep and he drove us to places which are hidden away and have restricted accees. At one point he showed us natural bridges and even sung two Navajo peace songs in an rock ampitheather. That was the only sound we heard, otherwise it was silent, something rather rare here. Later we walked by foot on one of the trails, saw the sunset and took probably hundreds of pictures. We just couldn´t get enough of the view, the colours and the solitude.

But the beauty has also an other side. We talked to a Indian here who said, that the climate has changed. It has become more dry and  the ground doesn´t support anymore the sheep, goats and cattle the Indians have here. This leads to overgrassing and then to serious erosion and to even less fodder for the animals.
Also due to the dryer conditions, water has to be pumped up from sources that are polluted from old uranium mines. Uranium was mined here till 1960. This was a fact which really shocked us. The danger of the nuclear industry starts here, at the very place where uranium is mined. This seems to get forgotten, as we mainly know about the dangers of running nuclear power plant.
And then today we read, that some politicians in Congress seriously want to open National Parks and areas to further exploration of gas, oil and minerals. President Obama had promised so much to improve or further protect the environment, but has not been able to fulfill his promises. And now, with the budget in such bad shape, chances are high that under the name of job creation the environment is the loser and of course the generations to come!

It left us very thoughtfull on a very beautiful day.