Morning Hotel Pick up
Passenger pick up at Hotels in the city of Cusco and in the Sacred Valley
You will be picked up at your hotel by our hostess / licensed INC tourist guide.
Cusco 5:45am
Urubamba 6:20am
Drive to launch site Maras or Huayllabamba.
Ride in new clean mini vans with licensed chuffer A3 drivers, your hostess will be pleased to narrate about the countryside you are passing to our flight zone as well as answer any questions you may have. The balloon pilot and ground crew will have everything ready when you arrive to the launch site.
Welcome, Ground crew and pilot welcome passengers
Pilot passenger pre flight briefing,
Our licensed balloon pilot will give a short passenger flight safety briefing.
Traditional coca leaf ceremony
All Andean balloon passengers take part in a traditional offering of coca leafs to the mountain gods for a good flight.
Take off 7am
The pilot invites all passengers to climb aboard, the ground crew standing by to help. Then the pilot heats up the balloon to lift off into the beautiful Andean sky.
On board breakfast served
As soon as the flight is underway, the tables are set and fresh coffee and tea are served, followed by an elegant selection of fresh n tasty pastries and fruits. All products are local to the area and prepared by the best restaurant in Urubamba.
Flight duration
The exact flight duration will vary on daily climatic conditions, typically one hour flight time.
What you will be able to see
We normally fly low over the beautiful farmlands then up high to see all the surrounding snow capped mountain peaks. From the unmoving steady balloon basket you will see the Urubamba mountain range, Chicon, Puma Huanca, Veronica and Salkantay. The sacared valley of the Inkas the Urubamba river and the villages of Urubamba, Yucay, Huayllabamba and Maras, You will see the Quechua farmers working their fields, you can also see normal tourists inside their tour bus waving to us wishing they were you.
Landing 8am aprox
Our well trained ground crew follows the balloon the entire flight and ready to catch the basket as we land. Our balloon landings attract many local children and farmers who all come running with smiles to greet us. We carry school supplies (pencils, chalk, crayons) to hand out to the children before we leave, sometimes the children will sing us a song in Quechua.
Peruvian Champaign traditional Andes toast to the mountains.
After we land all passengers participate in a special Champaign toast. Out in the wide open fields of the Andes we follow the local Andean custom of toasting all the mountains that we saw flying. Many times a local Quechua farmer will help out in the toast.
8:30 to 9am aprox Passengers board the mini vans back to hotels or off to their next destination.