I had this idea of Namibia in my head: windswept red dunes against a cerulean sky, the skeletons of dead, thorny trees rising out of a cracked white pan. Much of what we saw on the first two weeks exploring every corner of Namibia was not that—however, on our last stop, the empty bubbles of the African paint-by-numbers I had in my head started to fill out. We were here for the drama of the desert, yes, but we were also here for me to check off one big thing from my bucket list: take a hot air balloon ride in Namibia.
If you’re one of many people I know who weren’t aware Namibia is even a sovereign nation—which, to be fair, it only has been since 1990; previously, it was South-West Africa—you might not have seen the iconic shots of the orange- and red-tinted dunes. So I’ll give you a little spoiler alert of what it looks like until you have a chance to see it for yourself.
You can see why it was on my travel bulletin board to see this scene from above, right?
What it costs to do a hot air balloon ride in Africa
One big deterrent that has kept me and others I know from going in a hot air balloon is the price. I’ll give it to you straight: It’s anything but cheap. But a hot air balloon ride is worth every penny.
We booked our entire trip to Africa through a tour operator, so when they were planning this leg of our Namibia vacation, I told our planner we wanted to do a hot air balloon excursion. Given that it was a substantial cost of around $442 per person, I thought I might very well be the only one who did it, but much to my surprise everyone but my husband decided to go for it. None of us would regret that decision one bit.
We booked our entire trip to Namibia through Go2Africa, who planned everything for us within the budget we gave them. I could not recommend them more! If you’d rather plan your own trip, however, I’ve linked to booking sites where you can book similar activities and lodges in Africa. It’s important to note that a lot of the accommodations in Namibia are small, so they book up as much as a year in advance, so plan as far out as you can.
What to expect the day of your hot air balloon flight
We were staying at a lodge in the Namibian desert, and it was agony when they came and woke us up at 4:30AM to transport us to the departure site. We boarded our jeeps and they drove us about 20 minutes to the facility where we would take off from.
We sipped coffee and tried to stay warm as we watched as the crew blew up the balloons in the pitch black dark, not having any idea that so many people could fit in the basket. I envisioned a balloon that held four people, maybe six max, but these balloons could accommodate between 20 and 30 people!
I’ve never been afraid of the thought of hot air balloons because of heights, but rather due to feeling trapped. I’m extremely claustrophobic and often triggered by being in situation where I don’t have an easy escape route. You know, like a hot air balloon that’s floating a couple thousand feet up in the air.
But those panicky feelings never arose on the hot air balloon flight. We began coasting up, up, up in the sky, a dance parallel to the rising of the sun in the distance.
The benefit of getting up before sunrise is the magical changing of the sky, from inky blue to purple, pastel pinks to yellows and oranges. Every few minutes brought a completely different view.
There were two other hot air balloons in our group, meaning we had really great photo potential for capturing them hovering somewhere above the dunes. Other than a lone oryx or two, we didn’t see a lot of animals in the morning, but that didn’t matter: The view from every angle of the balloon was intoxicating. This was what the vision of Namibia was like in my head, and I’m glad it did not disappoint in the slightest.
After an hour, we started to descend into the desert again where the trucks had driven to meet us. We all watched with awe as our pilots parallel-parked each balloon on a trailer to be deflated and hauled back to base camp.
As they worked, we toasted via the lavish champagne brunch they’d prepared for us in the middle of the desert. I cannot imagine our Namibia trip ending on a higher note, no pun intended.
Where to stay near Sossusvlei and the Namib Desert
This part of the desert is the only place I could find in the country that does hot air balloon rides in Namibia. If you’re looking to recreate our hot air balloon ride with Namib Sky, I recommend spending a few days in the area to give yourself a buffer should the weather not be on your side. Here are some lodges in Sesriem, Solitaire and the surrounding towns you might look into if you aren’t going with an African tour operator like we did:
Other things to know about a hot air balloon flight
Even if you’re somewhere with warm weather or temperate climate like Africa, you’re still going up in an open-air basket before dawn, so it’s likely going to be a little bit (if not a lot) chilly. Take a jacket and either a small backpack or a belt bag to house your camera and/or phone.
We had packed layers because it was early in the morning and we heard it got cold, but as the sun rose higher, our layers came off. By the time we got back down to the ground an hour later, it was full on morning and the company had prepared us a feast, complete with free flowing champagne, in the middle of the desert. Not one to miss brunch ever, I dug in alongside my travel companions.
While I get motion sick from the shortest of car rides, I did not have that problem in the balloon. But, yes, if you have anxiety surrounding heights, you might want to have a Xanax handy. That said, even my acrophobic mother was fine on the hot air balloon ride unmedicated.
Taking off in a balloon is entirely dependent on the weather. I’ve been booked on flights in Tennessee and California in the past that were canceled due to high winds. While that’s probably less of a problem when booking a hot air balloon ride in Africa, you’d be smart to plan your excursion for your first day in the area in case it’s canceled or delayed.
Now that I’ve been in a hot air balloon once, I’ve got the bug and can’t wait to try it in Kenya, Cappadocia and Egypt, a few spots that are high up on my travel list.
Have you ever been in a hot air balloon? Would you go up in one?
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Wow! That looks incredible. It’s worth it to splurge on bucket list items like that! My theory is save money somewhere else.