chris45ny

Considering doing this from Luxor in May 2011. Has anyone done this lately?? What do you see?? I know that in the more southern parts of Africa you see lots of animals as well as scenery but wouldn't expect animals in Egypt. Is it worth the $$ and having to get up so early?? Any particular company better-more safety oriented-than the rest?? Thanks.

P_M

Heck yes it's worth it!! The balloon ride over Luxor was the highlight of my trip. I believe our resident expert Casual Cairo recommends Hod Hod Soliman for their good safety record.

If you would like to hear about my balloon ride or to see pics I invite you to click my name and you will find my trip report with a link to the pics.

chris45ny

P_M Thanks. I did read your reviews and saw the pics-very nice. I've also spent the last few hours watching videos on You Tube and reading reviews from people who booked with HH Soliman. Everyone seems to have had a great experience and recommends it so we will do this as we are spending extra days in Luxor after the cruise ends. What I'm finding perplexing is that in reading the reviews here on TA it appears different prices were paid. JCHSA posted that they paid 420 Egyptian pounds for 01/01/2010-that's about $75 USD. wredwidetrvlr paid 400 E. pounds or about $70 USD and stated there were others in the basket that had paid 100 euros!! This was posted 01/06/2010. The most recent was 11/06/2010 for $100 USD posted by glopeterson. Why the differences in prices?? Does it depend on the agent you book this through?? I want to pay a fair price but don't want to be in the basket only to find the people next to me paid way less. All stated the price they paid included the pick up, certificate, etc. so everything the same except for the price. Can anyone explain this to me??

teacherCanada

chris45ny - go for the hot air balloon ride. In March 2009 we took a group of about 48 in two balloons. The first morning it was too windy, so we did not fly. I was not a popular person since I made everyone get up at 4:30 a.m. Have you ever tried to get 40 teenagers up at 4:30? It's not pretty. We tried the next morning, and our guide suggested we try for the second flight. This worked much better for us. We had a glorious 90 minutes in the air. We flew with Sindbad. We all arrived safe and sound, but I have heard that other companies have a better safety record. One of our balloons landed on the east side of the Nile, which is frowned upon by the authorities.

Because we had such a large group (and completely filled the baskets of the two balloons) we paid less than average. I think about the equivalent of $60 US.

I strongly urge you to consider doing the trip.

tC

Casual_Cairo

The prices in Luxor are very competitive. As far as I know Hod Hod is charging more than any of the prices you quoted above unless they were running a special of some sort at the time.
In any case, Egypt is by FAR the least expensive country in the world (that I've found) to do a balloon ride. You will pay upwards toward $500 per person in Kenya, South Africa and even Turkey, so anything under $200 per person is a DEAL.

If you want to fly with Hod Hod, you might contact them when you are here and get their best price available then. The person standing next to you in the balloon might be flying for less or more depending on how they bought their flight.. not unlike your airline seat.

chris45ny

This will be one of our splurges. In Kenya the balloon was from the Mara and in August during migration time. Booking ahead paid around $300-350 back in 2008. People-group of 2 adults, 2 kids-booked day or so before and paid way less-around $600 total. All I can remember is we paid more for the 2 of us than they paid for the 4 of them. Casual_Cairo-You're right about the airplane seat thing and that bugs the heck out of me too!!! Since husband is diving for 60 euros a day in Sharm (prices all the same per 3 dive centers I've checked) for 4 days, than balloon ride, here we come. Some of the videos I watched on You Tube really sold it for me.

teacherCanada-Thanks for the thumbs up. I will check out sindbad. It's good you got a group rate and you should on any excursions with a group that size. Why was landing on the east side of the Nile a bad thing?? I remember reading someone's post that they landed smack in some farmer's cane field!! Now that would be scary to me.

Casual_Cairo

East side of the river is where the town, the airport and all the military is. That is why it is a BAD thing to even go there.

A very good pilot can get caught off guard with changing winds and balloons are especially suseptible to wind changes, but a good one will avoid something like that if he can.

I was with Hod Hod a few years ago. Everyone else went up to top elevation quickly and BAM - over the river they went. I asked our pilot why we were not going up as high as they all did. He explained he knew the winds would change up there and they were headed east. I think we were the ONLY balloon that stayed right down over the antiquities on the west bank that day. Hod Hod pilots are much "smarter than the average bear" - (any one old enough and American enough to remember Yogi Bear?)

chris45ny

CC-I remember Yogi-used to watch those cartoons all the time. I guess that dates me!! Safety is our main concern with price coming in second. It appears as though prices for Hod Hod and Sindbad are about the same. Sindbad does have its own website which is nice but there are tons of reviews on all the forums for Hod Hod. Another question-Sindbad has 4 different rates from 4-6 people at 150 euros pp, 20 people for 120 euros pp, 28 people for 100 euros pp. or last minute where you call 1 day before-no price listed. I'm assuming the balloon for the smaller group would be smaller?? 28 seems like a lot of people crammed in the basket. 20 sounds about right. Does Hod Hod offer same where you pay more but have less people?? Does Hod Hod have a website or do I just call them when I get to Luxor?? Sindbad states on their website that they stay mostly lower with a max elevation 2000' and that their pilots are licensed, etc. Hod Hod's insurance is through Lloyd's of London so that's a plus. They both sound good. I have the phone #s in Luxor for both companies.

Casual_Cairo

One of the strong advantages of Hod Hod is that they have proper insurance and they pay their insurance premiums in GBP, which I understand means they will pay out in GBP. I don't have proof, but hear that the other agencies pay for their insurance in EGP, which means they will only pay out in EGP. What does this all mean to you, the customer? It means your health care must be done at a location that will accept the money they pay out - ie: Egypt if it is in EGP. You may want to go home to be cared for and your hospital or doctor probably won't take EGP. Anyone will take British Pounds.

Going up in a smaller balloon basket may not be an option with out much prior notice. The gov't officials that are watching them now are being VERY strict about the number of baskets going up and only allow one per company at a time. That means if they have a large group and have the large basket out for that run, a smaller basket would have to be brought out special with another balloon for you. You would have to bear the expense of that. If they know in advance that this is requested, MAYBE they can sort out the groups they have to help you. I don't know for sure, but I would not leave a request like this til the last minute. If you want to contact me off here, I can get the information from you and contact them about it. My email is [email protected] Let me know if I can help.

chris45ny

C_C Do you know how many go up in Hod's balloon basket. 20 would be ok but we don't want to feel crammed in that you can't move. In Kenya there was maybe 15 or so-not over 20- but it was a much more expensive tour than the ones in Egypt. I will pm you also. Thanks.

Casual_Cairo

It will NEVER be so crammed you can't move. That would be over loading and probably illegal. Hod Hod wouldn't do that anyway.

To say how many can go up, you have to know the baskets. Have you EVER been up in a balloon? If not you are probably thinking, like I used to, that it was pretty much an open space and kind of a free-for-all inside the basket. Am I right?

It is anything BUT a free-for-all. The baskets are divided up into compartments. How many compartments depends on the size of the basket and the intended load. In general 4 or 5 persons can fit into one compartment. You stand/sit shoulder to shoulder in the compartment. NO ONE changes possition once you are inside. I don't mean you can't move, or if you are sitting, you can't stand. I mean if you are #2 in the compartment, you remain #2 in the compartment. You are not going to switch place with #1 or #3. Get it?
Now, the trick is, because you are limited to your movement, that if you are in the air and the best photos are of a site behind you, the pilot must be good enough to turn the balloon around so all passengers get equal time looking at all the sites.
The only time I've ever heard of Hod Hod not doing that very well was on a day with very strong winds. Otherwise they manage to keep the group happy with good photo opportunities for all.
FYI, there are baskets that are built to hold 16-20, and then the mini bus that most of the companies were flying for awhile that could hold 30-something. Do NOT quote me as I don't remember, but I think they were all told to quit flying those monsters. There is probably another one in between in size, or the monster was even bigger than that - and then there are smaller ones too, but they won't be bringing them out except for private groups that pay for that, or if there are VERY few people flying that day.... I suspect. Again, they are only allowed to put ONE balloon up in the air at a time (per company) so they have to fly as many as they legally can to keep the business going and pay all those wages, much less the insurance premiums, etc etc etc. It's a business.