Rising Dawn

Having seen the moon rising over the medina, we were up again in time to see it setting as we arrived at the base camp for our balloon ride at dawn.

We enjoyed tea and cookies as we waited for the other members of our group to arrive, then had a short safety briefing from our pilot, Yusuf. Then we headed out to where our balloon was inflating.

It was so cool to see dozens of other balloons flickering like lanterns as they rose into the lightening sky.

We clambered into the basket, this one much bigger than our first experience in New Hampshire. Our group included a woman in a wheelchair and Yusuf was proud to tell us that this basket is the only one in Morocco that could accommodate her needs (great that there is one, but a shame there aren't more).

Before long we were on our way up!

Once you reach an altitude the pilot likes and are moving with the wind, there is no sense of movement, just drifting at the ambient speed of the air around you.

We watched the sun pop up over the horizon and then continued to drift and enjoy the view and see the other balloons appearing to drop as we continued our ascent.

One of the other passengers was celebrating her 40th birthday and when we reached 1000 meters we all sang to her and wished her well.

Before it seemed possible, more than forty-five minutes had elapsed and it was time to descend.

We made a very easy landing, not tipping over at all.

The support vehicles came racing up just as we touched down and got to work deflating the huge balloon and helping us out of the basket.

We took a group photo with Yusuf and then they let anyone who wanted to try it climb up to squeeze the lever and release some flame.

After that they drove us about twenty minutes back to the base camp and fed us a lovely breakfast al fresco.

Yusuf came around to ask how we'd enjoyed the ride and to fill out flight certificates. I asked him to write my name in Arabic.

What a fabulous reason to get up too early in the morning!