An unforgettable hopper flight near Lake Titicaca |
our launch site at 12,500ft |
Phil taking off in the burning home-built two seater hopper |
The drive up out of La Paz and down towards Lake Titicaca is beset by appalling road conditions including the highway completely blocked at two locations by ‘collectivos’ (mini-buses) touting for and loading up with passengers.
preparing for a launch near Lake Titicacca |
Rather threatening-looking cumulus clouds lower
over towards the Lake and Peru ,
and there is already a slight breeze on the ground.
I still feel we are within
an ace of failing to fly, but the team press on with preparations. The
home-built balloon begins to reveal its weaknesses as the inflation proceeds
and the flying wire protectors – a very critical item – start to burn in a
rogue flame escaping sideways from the burner.
The pilot indicates that I
should strap myself into the precarious-looking twin seat and, with much
struggling, I fasten the modified car seat belt.We are lifting off at 3860M
above sea level.
After a few minutes flight I remind Jose Luis
that we promised to make an intermediate landing so Allie could replace me, but
at this point we are over a small village. The burner fails unexpectedly and we
accelerate earthwards as the pilot struggles to use his cigarette lighter to
resume operation.
My nerves are cracking and my backside is sore from straining
to perch on the uncomfortable sloping seat. After several attempts to find a
safe spot to put down amidst a web of electric wires we touch down in a bogy
field with several crew hauling on a dropline.
the inflated balloon |
After packing up and drinking celebratory Costa
Rican rum followed by Bolivian wine we are taken to the Lake
for a brief boat trip.
Although it is a very beautiful scene – with a
traditional reed boat maker on the shore – Allie and I are suffering from the
early start and the altitude.
the view to planet earth from the hopper |
The journey back is even more protracted because
of a massive public protest on the highway about the Government’s decision to
ban the import of cheap second-hand clothing. Allie is getting very sick, so
chewing coca leaves is promptly suggested by our hosts as a remedy.
ALLIE: DAY 77: Tuesday, 1st of May
An unforgettable hopper flight in Bolivia, a visit to lake Titicaca and
being sick
getting the balloon ready |
If I
hadn’t been so ballooni-crazy after 3 years of marriage with Phil Dunington I
would have stayed in bed and tried to recover.
But no, here I find my body
dragging itself up at the ungodly time of 4.30 and driving up to the plains for
what we hope will be a balloon flight in Bolivia.
The amazing thing was, that
we started out being just the pilot and us, then suddenly Lourdes and her
daughter Daniela appeared and after a while we even had 2 crew boys and the
sister of Lourdes in the small jeep!
The traffic at 5.30 am at El Alto
is amazing: hundreds of little vans create a massive traffic jam in the middle
of the main road dropping and picking up passengers.
After 90min we finally
reach the take off site a rough 20km away from Lake Titicaca. We unload the
kit, a home built two seater hopper with a 77cu feet envelope.
there goes my husband into the stormy skies of Bolivia! |
The weather
looks rather dodgy. Huge cumulus clouds form in the north east above the lake.
A few curious farmers and kids come out from their adobe houses to watch this
strange piece of blue fabric gradually taking on the shape of a balloon.
During the inflation fire starts to catch on the flying wires and I am expecting the whole thing to explode any minute.
It doesn’t explode, but the fire is still not where it is supposed to be when Phil climbs into the seat next to Jose and the two of them take off into a dark looking sky. I am afraid that I will never see my husband again!
strapped in for the hopper flight of my life! |
But I guess my adventurous spirit still
overcomes my fears and I get strapped in the seat. We do only a short hop, then
Jose decides he doesn’t want to free fly anymore and puts us on a tether rope.
I am happy with that, but not with that balloon!
The flames seem to burn up the
whole kit, the seat is unbalanced so that you actually drop forward (if that
safety belt would come loose, you’d drop like a sack to the ground!) and the rope
pulls us back with hard shocks.
stormy clouds and a tiny hot air balloon |
celebration afterwards with Bolivian wine |
We are at 150metres and I don’t want to think
of what could happen if….
I try to concentrate my mind on the scenery: there is
Lake Titicaca in the distance and the one of the highest mountains of Bolivia,
the Huayna Potosi with its snow-capped top (3088m).
After 15min we come down
after what I thought was a life time up in the air. Well, never again, but
great to get country no. 25 for me and country no. 93 for Phil. Fantastic!
We
have a little celebration on the field surrounded by friendly locals. By that
time my whole body is about to collapse. My head is exploding and I hardly can
think straight.
But we are invited to drive up to
the Lake and do a bit sightseeing. Even though I’d rather beem myself to bed,
it’s a offer that can’t be refused.
the boat project souvenir shop |
We stop at the lake and Jose proudly shows
us his boat project. He is building a passenger ship to cruise the lake made in
the local tradition out of reed.
It’s already 10am by now and we haven’t had
any breakfast. We stop for a coffee and then take a little cruise on the lake
(with a rather slow motor boat).
Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in
the world being situated at 3822 meters above sea level and forming the border
between with Peru.
a boat ride across the lake |
The sun comes out (it had indeed rained here just minutes
ago!) and the lake shines in a beautiful clear blue colour. It has only 5
degrees and that’s even too much for me to dare a hop. And anyway, I am about
to die…
caught in a horrible traffic jam on the way back |
The 2 hours drive back is just
torture for my poor brain. We get trapped into a protest march of 3000 Indian
women in El Alto and have to take the most horried cobble stone roads as
detour.
By the time we reach the hotel I am a total wreck. Collapse to bed and
stay in there until 6pm. We haven’t eaten all day, and so I join Phil in a
desperate search of a restaurant in the old town. Everything shut.
Today is the
1st of May. Holiday. Yes, but that’s when people do want to go out,
or maybe not here? We end up in a non-descript 5–star hotel where we are the
only guests. At least the food is good and not very expensive. To bed at 9 with
some drugs from our Bolivian friends. What a day!
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