If you live in Johannesburg, you’re a mere 45 minutes away from a beautiful dawn flight with Harrop’s Balloon Safaris. What are you waiting for?
Bill Harrop is the original operator of hot air balloon trips in South Africa and set up shop in the Magaliesberg in 1981. He’s had a lot of time to fine tune his craft and he’s in the business of making dreams come true.
Related: gorgeous photos of a hot air balloon safari in Turkey
Bill Harrop fires up the balloon for take off - hold on!
This hot air balloon ride is a bucket list item and worth every single penny.
It begins at 5 am before the birds start twitching and you arrive to enormous coloured canvas stretched alongside a magnificent sun rise. There’s hot coffee and fresh muffins to lift the dawn and the balloons are fired up.
I suspected that being in a feeble wicker balloon basket at the mercy of the elements would be terrifying, but it’s the most exhilarating sensation I’ve felt.
Off goes the first balloon - we were in one of three balloons that took off
The balloon lifts slowly swept up with the berg winds and the pilot, Bill Harrop, works the winds and fires the balloon up or down using gas to catch the right direction.
Of course, sometimes the winds change and you get to grab the leaves off tree tops as you dip down!
Once you’re up in the sky with the air rushing across your face, the views of the Magaliesberg gain a majestic quality – and it’s all so close to Johannesberg.
You can see the Hartesbeepoort dam, warthog scramble beneath the basket in the plains below and early-morning truck drivers hoot as the brightly coloured contraption floats above it all.
The basket is roomy and comfortable – usually four people to a section and a total of 17 passengers including the pilot fit. There’s place to sit down (though the excitement prevents it) and you get a riveting 360-degree experience.
After an hour’s ride, the retrieval team move in and come to collect the intrepid aeronauts. With admirable precision the pilot directs the balloon and along with the team on the ground, land it perfectly onto its trailer.
The balloon goes down and out climb the passengers.
Touchdown is celebrated with a glass of champers and plenty of grins.
Once the adrenaline has worn off a little, it’s time for an early breakfast – it’s only about 7 o’clock now- and your day has started in the best possible way.
It’s a little pricey, but this hot air balloon experience is an extraordinary way to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or simply save for to cross off the old bucket list.
Hot air ballooning takes you back to a time before flight as we all know it today and despite being a kilometre into the sky, you can still reach out and touch it.
And it feels incredible.
