Hovering above a restless pride of rare white lions in a hot air balloon was the defining moment of Briton Chris Sanger-Davies’s first trip to South Africa.
”You realise that you are flying over countryside that has the kind of wildlife in it, that if you landed there, you would be stuffed,” the veteran pilot said as he attended the South African Hot Air Balloon Championships, which opened on Monday.
High winds prevented competition on Tuesday, but didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of pilots from all over the world. The top two South African finishers qualify for the world championships to be held in Austria in September.
The high cost of ballooning puts the sport out of reach of most South Africans, especially black citizens still living in poverty a decade after the end of apartheid. South Africa has about 80 registered balloons and 25 active pilots. This week’s event attracted 14 competitors.
To help raise awareness of ballooning, the competition held in South Africa’s agricultural heartland includes a day when pilots take off from a local school. In addition, black volunteers from an army engineering regiment based in Pretoria are assisting with the surveying crucial for determining results.
Corporal Thamsanqa Theoha (37) was struck by the sight of the graceful giant balloons drifting over the autumn landscape and hopes to get a chance to go up.
”I am wondering what it must look like from up there,” he said. ”But I am not sure it is safe. You are controlled by the wind.”
For Hanke Fourie, chairperson of the Balloon and Airship Federation of South Africa, that’s the point.
”What I like about ballooning is that you don’t know where you are going to end up,” he said. ”It can be quiet up there but it does get your adrenaline going.”
The number of competitors for the South African event has tripled since 2000. The competition has been held for the last two decades in Bethlehem, famous for its cold weather and wide open spaces. It is also known for its large number of wildlife reserves like the one Chris Sanger-Davies flew over.
Against the pale blue dawn sky, the giant balloons lift into the air, their rainbow colours glowing as they catch the rays of the rising sun.
Each thrust of burning propane takes them higher until they are drifting over the dusty autumn landscape, a sight that stops cars on the country roads and leaves children spellbound. – Sapa-AP