More Hot Air than a Bro with a Podcast

I’ve been on a mission to put Kat in a hot air balloon all year, and today was the day it actually happened! Hot air balloon rides are popular activity for tourists in Marrakesh, and all the companies offer a pretty standard package: pickup very early in the morning, hot air balloon at sunrise, then breakfast and drop off.

After a bit of drama getting in touch with the folks we’d booked with, we’d scheduled a pickup at 5am. When the alarm went off at 4:15, I checked my phone, saw that they’d rescheduled the pickup for 6:30am. Woohoo? Before going back to bed, I went to the bathroom and promptly stubbed or broke my toe on a ledge – ouch! That made the rest of the night/morning a bit rough!

In any case, we eventually met our driver at 6:30, and got to the launch site around 7am. It’s quite a compound, with fires to keep warm, coffee and tea, and lots of Instagram-friendly spots to hang out. It was fun watching the balloon setup – first fans attached to gasoline engines fill them with enough air to get things going, then the propane burners start really inflating them.

We took off around 7:30am, along with all the other balloons from the other companies. It was a very peaceful experience, climbing to a height of about 3000ft and bobbing along on the breeze. Our pilot was a very nice French man who pilots balloons in Morocco during the French winter. When Kat asked how long he’d been doing this, he said (in a way that only a French person can) “I grew up with ze balloons.”

One of the big surprises was that in addition to going up and down, the pilot is able to spin the basket, so everyone on board got great views of the sunrise. Our flight lasted a little over an hour, and then we got to witness the landing choreography. The pilot and the folks on the ground keep in touch about estimated touchdown locations, and the ground crew drives across the desert to be in the approximate spot. Because there was very little breeze, our pilot was able to touch down, then actually “hop” the balloon up onto a trailer, with all of us on board. It was quite a thing to watch.

Back at the “ranch,” we had a breakfast and lounged around before heading back to the Airbnb to pack up. Then it was off to the airport to get our rental car and our final two group members.

One of the highlights of any trip is a visit to a grocery store. We wanted some snacks for later in the trip, so we went to a Carrefour at a local mall. In addition to getting snacks and lunch, I was able to check out my namesake store and even find a nice hoodie. Score.

The afternoon was spent driving to Aït Benhaddou, which is both a fascinating historical city and a good halfway point between Marrakesh and the climbing area we’re headed to. The drive was fantastic – perfectly smooth asphalt twisting up through the mountains. The Fiat Doblo van we’re driving isn’t the sportiest vehicle I’ve driven, but it did fine. The landscape changes constantly, and the road periodically diverts around landslides.

We made it to Aït Benhaddou around 6:30, settled in and had some dinner. Given the very early and somewhat traumatic morning, I was perfectly happy taking it easy. A good night of sleep sounds pretty great right now.