BALLOONISTS Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones made a picture perfect landing in the desert sands of Egypt on Sunday, ending their record-setting 20 day dash around the world in the Breitling Orbiter hot-air balloon. The pair touched down near the remote town of Mut, some 700km south-west of Cairo. Swiss Piccard (41) and Briton Jones (51) had hoped to land alongside the Giza pyramids outside Cairo, but high-altitude jet streams forced them to a more southerly course. The duo made history on Saturday when they crossed a “finish line” above northern Mauritania after a flight that took them more than 44000km in their 55m-high balloon.