For those unaware of this beautiful Country, Namibia is on the northern border with South Africa and runs west to the Atlantic Ocean and east to Botswana.  It is one of the least populated countries in the world with a vast area of this country is covered in desert (several in fact!)

Sossusvlei is a region dominated by the Namib Desert.  This huge desert hugs the west coast as well as about 80 kilometres inland.  It is home to vast sand dunes with many of the tallest in the world.

Our morning started very early, well before the crack of dawn (4:45 am to be exact).  We set off for a sunrise balloon safari ride that would take us along the eastern edge of the Namib National Park, and end with a champagne breakfast!  Trip of a lifetime doesn’t come close to describing this adventure for us.

We set off from our hotel at 5:10 am in order to arrive at the Balloon Safari office for 6 am. Late people are simply left behind, so we had a strong incentive to get there early!  When we arrived at their base camp, we were offered tea/coffee/juice etc as we waited for the various groups to arrive.  Once all assembled, they gave us an overview of our day, introduced us to our balloon pilots (ours was Paul) and then got us organized into small buses to drive us to the launch site. Each balloon can hold 16 people, so a total of 48 passengers set out for the rendezvous.

We arrived in time to see each balloon unfurled and inflated as we watched the first glimpses of the sun rise from the eastern mountains.

Within no time, each basket was loaded with their passengers, and we then began the process of takeoff.  To be honest… it took me a while to figure out we were actually off the ground as the liftoff was so gentle!

We began our tour heading with the wind (not much else you can do!).  The pilots wait until they are at elevation to determine where they believe the balloons will land and then radio into the support crew to bring the trucks and set up lunch at that location.

After that, we simply danced in the wind (not really much wind to speak of, but enough to gently push along a dried up river bed close to the edge of the dunes.  The views were breathtaking, especially since the pilots could manoeuvre the balloons so that they could gently turn us so everyone got the chances for amazing photos!  But you be the judge of that!

 

Once back on the ground (it takes a crew of 5-6 guys on the ground to secure the balloon once it’s close to the spot where the pilot wants it to land), after a very smooth and uneventful landing we went over to a fine linen spread featuring zebra carpaccio, wild game salami, fresh made bread and croissants, delicious hand selected and roasted coffee and much much more.  Then came the exciting part!  They selected a young couple on their honey moon and had them stand by one of the Pilots who them proceeded to sabre the Champagne bottle!  Quite a feat, but too slow to serve the rest of the 48 guests!  Have no fear, they had lots of bubbly to go around many times over!  I don’t think I’ve ever had a meal in such an exotic location in my life!

 

Once breakfast was finished, they took us back to the base where we settled up and had a little visit to their shop.  The company, Namib Desert Balloon Safaris has worked very hard at developing their community and use proceeds from the shop as well as donations to run a local school.  This is particularly helpful as there is not another school within a 200 km radius.  All of their staff and everyone who lives nearby have the advantage of going to this school!  even the adults who may not have had a chance to go to school as a child. Well off course we had to support it!

Once all settled, Dan and I headed back to our lodge.  It was just before noon, and we were ready to stretch our legs before the afternoon sun became too hot (forecast high of 31C).  We had a lovely hike up a nearby hill and around… it took us about 45minutes, and we returned with a healthy glow, ready for our lunch.

 

After lunch we returned to our room to get caught up on emails and to get ready to lull by the pool for a couple of hours before heading to our dinner.

 

What an amazing day! Tomorrow we are off fairly early as we want to visit Sossusvlei and climb Big Daddy before heading down into Deadvlei (a site filled with an 800 year old dead forest).  Once this hike is done, we’ll be heading to the coast to Swakopmund where many more adventures await us,

 

Thanks for sharing our day with us!  Looking forward to chatting again tomorrow!