It was “O” dark thirty and we gathered for our many vehicle ride to our balloon ride.

A bus takes us to a water taxi where we load into a van on the other side of the Nile to ride to where the huge balloons are being filled with hot air for our ride over the ancient landscape.

Our group was large enough that we filled one of the 20 person baskets ourselves

The ride was delightful as our skilled pilot brought the balloon high in the sky and then slowly dropped it down, sometimes grazing the palms and sugarcane.

In the boat, our pilot had given us precise safety instructions regarding our landing to face away from the direction of flight, grab hold of small straps attached to the inside of the basket, and squat.

In one of the co-dependent, emotional tragedies of the trip, my treasure Janice, was ripped from my arms in what was supposed to be a drumming/dancing “celebration” of our safe landing.

It seemed to me an excuse for uptight, segregated Egyptians to touch and prance with foreign women in a way they would never be allowed with Egyptian women...

We were then given T-shirts and this certificate testifying to our flight over the Black Land.