Hot Air Ballooning
Validity: Every day - Year round, except 15 June to
15 September, (minimum 2 Persons per flight).
The first passengers in a hot air balloon flight
were a sheep, a duck and a rooster, launched by the brothers Joseph
and Etienne Montgolfier on the 19th September 1783. The first
recorded flight in a hot air balloon of some 22 minutes was made by
the Marquis d’Arlandes and Mr. Pilatre de Rosier in Paris on the 21
st November of that same year. We’ve come a long way since then, but
the principle is the same.
Balloons are aircraft and, as such, both craft
and certified pilots are governed, as with all aircraft and pilots,
by Civil Aviation Regulations. Piloting a balloon takes skill, yet
the controls are quite simple. The pilots’ knowledge of the area and
the prevailing daily variations aloft in the layers of wind currents
are used to steer a 1 hour not-too-exact course, usually in a
westerly direction from the launch site near Marrakech, to move
calmly and gracefully over the ground, in accordance with the air
mass flow, some 800 to 1000m to the north-east of Marrakech, over
oases and secluded Berber villages, the terraced irrigated fields of
the Oueds Tinsift and Nfis of the Al Hawuz Plain to drift alongside
the northern Jbilet hill. You can see for miles and miles, lulled to
the music of silence, the awesome Western High Atlas Mountains to
the south as a constant wonder. In free air balloon flights, the
sensation of vertigo simply does not exist. It is as if you are
suspended in the wind, with the heavens as your reference point.
We pick you
up, oh so early in the morning, between 5:30 and 6:30 according to
the season, from your hotel in a leather-seated 4 wheel drive
vehicle to the launch site chosen for that morning. Once there, the
balloon is prepared for flight – and we hope you’ll take part in the
fun – you board your gondola and, on the instruction of the pilot to
his ground crew of “lâchez tout” -‘cast off’ – the magic moment
arrives as we rise vertically up towards the Moroccan heavens. We
are followed by a chase vehicle, in constant radio communication
with the pilot and whose crew establish the day’s most suitable
landing site. Once we have our ‘kiss landing’ – in the worst case
we’d have a gentle drag of but a few yards – our 4 wheel drive is
awaiting us, and, after we have collapsed and stored the balloon, we
shall make a tour of some of the Berber villages we have over-flown,
to stop an have a glass or two of mint tea, some Moroccan pastries
or fresh bread dipped in olive oil, in the home of one of the Berber
inhabitants. At around midday , you will be taken back to your hotel
in Marrakech, armed with a Certificate to show your friends or
family back home to show them ‘We’ve been there’ and a basketful of
delightful memories.
OUR PRICE PER
PERSON in USD
(from 2 to 7
persons maximum)
|
Exclusive
flight
(min 2 persons) |
USD 650 pp |
|
Champagne
flight |
USD 325 pp
|
|
Shared
flight |
USD 275 pp |
NB:
Children aged 2-10 yrs will receive a discount of 50% on above
rates.
OUR PRICE INCLUDES:
Exclusive flight: Sole occupancy 1 hour actual
flight, services of an experienced, qualified pilot with current
French and Moroccan Pilot’s Licences and Air Worthiness Certificates
(France & Morocco); ground support crew, support vehicle;
private round trip transfers
from your hotel in Marrakech to launch site and return;
French champagne
on landing; a private
tour of the villages together with a visit of Berber
family home for a tea and
snack; a ‘Flight’ Certificate. All relevant
Insurances while in the vehicle and hot air balloon.
For a
Champagne flight
: all as above, except that the transfers, gondola and tour are
shared with initial strangers.
For a
Shared flight : all as above, but excludes champagne
on landing; the transfers, gondola and tour are shared with initial
strangers.
OUR
PRICE DOES NOT INCLUDE: medical or accident
insurances outside of the vehicles and hot air balloon; personal
gear; gratuity to pilot and/or crew.
IT IS
RECOMMENDED YOU BRING: a woollen sweater for early
morning departure and flight; sunglasses; sun block; camera.
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