Dec 12 min read

Marrakech day 6 and hot air balloons

Hot air balloon and exploring

Today we left the room at 6am for hot air ballooning. We were picked up at our Riad by private car. We had about a 45 minute drive into the middle of nowhere. Like dump a body middle of nowhere! Not even a road.

We had a quick continental breakfast then hopped back in the vehicles to head to the locations. Does all of this sound kind of vague? It was for us too. Very disorganized. We drove to one site but it was too windy. We drove to another site where they unloaded the balloons to start inflating. Half of the balloons took off before the weather turned and we had to find a third location.

Third time was a charm though. Our balloon inflated nicely as I panicked about how my round bottom and short legs would get into the basket.

It was stressing me out. There were little “steps” cut out in the basket to climb up, then sit down, then go over the rest of the way. It was not as bad as I thought but I still had to get out. Honestly, that was a problem for future Jen.

For takeoff and landing, you have to crouch down and then slowly stand up. We were supposed to be on a sunrise float but with the weather we took off 1.5 hrs late. We weren’t over the city but the outskirts/countryside. It was pretty and so peaceful.

Would I do it again? Maybe. It would depend on where it was flying over. No regrets though. Definitely recommend for a bucket list.

We got back to the square and grabbed lunch at a waffle place. They make stuffed waffles. I had a cheeseburger waffle which was good but I couldn’t finish it-just too massive. Anni had banana and chocolate, lex had a pizza-ish one, and Ed had a triple chocolate waffle.

We slowly made our way back to the riad to rest up for the afternoon since we were up so early. After a quick nap, Anni and I went out to the lobby and listened to music, I introduced her to Scrabble, and we had afternoon tea. She was really good at Scrabble and then things went off the rails but it was fun.

We had dinner reservations for much later in the evening so we decided to get lost in the Medina…and that we did. We made so many twists and turns and saw many neat things. Quote of the night while walking through the square by the snake charmers: “Smells like cobras.”

For dinner we had reservations at Dar Essalam. Dinner was ok but you pay for the musicians and dancers. I personally enjoyed the ladies who balanced trays with lit candlesticks on their heads and danced at the same time.