Up, up and away........a ride report with a difference

With the 8 February being Dorothy’s birthday I needed to give her something special to remember.

Not sure what she would want I remembered that for a long time she had expressed the desire to go on a hot air balloon flight.

On enquiring at Bill Harrop Balloon Safari's I found out the meeting time is 5:15am, so the idea progressed to finding accommodation near the launch site.

Found a nearby place called Plumari Game Reserve and they have the big five as well, so a night away was booked with an afternoon game drive as well.

Plumari also has the largest private collection of old wagons.

We arrived at about 2:30pm on Saturday afternoon and quickly unpacked and went for a ‘welcome drink’ in the bar – compliments of the resort.



…and then off we went on the game drive…


Saw two of the four lions they have



Was lots to see..





Dorothy sharing a joke with our guide, Benjamin during a refreshment break



…and then carried on




With all the rain we have had in the Guateng area there was lots of water on the roads. Driving around a pool of water in a wheel track we noticed some baby water turtles in the wheel track – stunning to watch.




Not sure where they will go when the water dries up in a few days time??

Saw quite a bit more game on the way back to the lodge including this herd of blou wiledebeest with a some young – the brown one is very young. I did not know that the calves are born brown and stay this colour until they are about 4 months old!!





Dorothy, in all her visits to game reserves, had never seen a buffalo and finally saw some today – eight in all. However they were very shy and we could not really get a clear view of them



Had a nice sunset on the way back to the lodge



A pleasant dinner in their boma restaurant


Headed back to our chalet to set the alarm for 4am for an early departure to the Bill Harrop Balloon Safaris launch site 30km away.

They have a really professional setup. On inflating the balloons they first blow air in with big fans and only when the balloons are about 75% filled do they switch the burners on to blow in the hot air to get the balloon and basket upright.


Dorothy ready to climb into the basket – 16 people in our balloon and a smaller balloon used for the other 8 people flying this morning.


Looking inside the balloon from the basket


Some views of the other balloon taking off before us



Giving it gas…


Bill Harrop himself – our pilot for the flight


…and away we go – the launch site in the distance and the other balloon can be seen top right


It was quite incredible how the winds are at different heights. We kept low and floated in the opposite direction to the other balloon.

Said hello to the guy below as we flew overhead


We could see the balloons shadow on the vegetables below



Photo while flying low..


Bill’s plan was to clear these trees, just brushing them with the basked



Which we did with the right side of the basket brushing against the tops of these trees


Then we were over the trees looking at the pecan nut plantation below us


Could see the balloon’s shadow in the dam below


And then we climbed to and altitude of 1km. Until now we had been doing the fantastic speed of 8km/h.

At our maximum altitude we founds winds moving in an easterly direction moving us along at the accelerated speed of 21km/h.

The view was fantatstic






All too soon we found wind at a lower altitude that took us back to the launch site



At the launch site (which was now becoming our landing site) we started drifting towards some trees so Bill threw a rope down to the ground crew so they could drag us to the open field


After a perfectly soft landing Bill signalled for me to get out as he was going to land the balloon on the vehicle trailer and didn’t want me to struggle with my knee trying to get off the trailer.

This allowed me the opportunity to get some photos of him manouvering the balloon onto the trailer.




After which they drove the partially inflated balloon to where they wanted to be to dis-assemble the balloon


Then the top of the balloon was opened to start letting out the air


And the canopy is collapsed




Just before breakfast we heard the first bikes coming past on their breakfast run – must have slept in this morning.

While having breakfast we could watch the ground crew packing the balloon away




By this time the people who were in the other balloon had been collected from wherever they landed and it was time to hand out our achievement certificates.

Here Bill is standing next to Judy who piloted the other balloon – she is also a fixed wing commercial pilot


So ended a lovely early morning flight.

I must thank Dorothy for having an ambulance on standby for me in case I had problems with me knee

Fabulous……..no absolutely brilliant.

I was getting all excited just by reading it.

THANKS FOR SHARING

WOW !!!!

That was very very nice!!

Thank you so much.

Wow,wow,wow !!!
What a great birthday present !
Dave it is my birthday on the 22nd ! ( here's wishing !)
Thanks for the pics.Looks like it was an awesome experience.
WONDERFUL !

That looked fantasic.

An experience of a lifetime! Thank you for sharing that.

Glad you both enjoyed it , and that the weather was great. The pics are really awesome.

Still fascinated by the fact that the pilot was able to land at the launch site again without any significant means of stearing

MadnohB wrote:Still fascinated by the fact that the pilot was able to land at the launch site again without any significant means of stearing

..especially since the other balloon took off and headed off in the opposite direction never to be seen again - until the passengers were picked up where they landed and brought back in a minibus.

Lovely! Thanks for sharing Dave!
(How can I get hubby to read this??)

Mail him the link.

I DID! ... but it's no sure guarantee that he will read it!! Furthermore, will he get the hint?!
Maybe I should take HIM for a trip like this? (he carries the wallet anyway!)

Now you're thinking - if we can get about 10 people they will drop the price by about R400.00 per person.

Could organise a club trip?

I'm all ears.......but take the fastest balloon they have .........the 25km/h jobbie

MadnohB wrote:I'm all ears.......but take the fastest balloon they have .........the 25km/h jobbie

I knew that was comming.....

Awwwwwwesome. Now I understand why these trips are quite expensive. Must have a very experienced pilot, and all the crew and arrangements. Wish I were there !!!!!!!!

Sharkie wrote:

MadnohB wrote:I'm all ears.......but take the fastest balloon they have .........the 25km/h jobbie

I knew that was comming.....

Do they have K-balloons?

What an awesome report. You are lucky to have flown with the master himself. He is an interesting character Bill. I did a trip with them many years ago and flew with his son. It is the most amazing feeling just floating in the air with not a sound.