A day I'll never forget, 1st hot air balloon ride & surprise proposal

It’s 4 am. I’m EXHAUSTED. But it’s time to get up. Why?

Because today is THE day. What day?

The day we are going on the most anticipated part of our itinerary – a hot air balloon over the Agafay desert followed by a traditional Berber breakfast and camel back ride!

We booked this hot air balloon ride during sunrise to get the most scenic panoramic views of the desert. It sounds all romantic and wonderful until you are up at 4 in the morning putting on your makeup like a zombie. I am NOT a morning person. Even so, the adrenaline and anticipation building for today’s adventure kept me moving.

Once ready to hit the road, we crept out into the quiet darkness of our riad. Our driver pickup would be at Bab Moussafa which only 5 minutes away walking. The timing was perfect because as we approached Bab Moussafa, so did our driver. We hopped in and were off to the desert!

And so the adventure begins.

After about an hour of driving, we arrived at a fire-torch-lit pathway to a Berber tent in the desert. I was too exhausted and cold to take in much of my surroundings and sauntered over to the snack table just outside of the tent. There was coffee, tea, fresh orange juice, and pastries to choose from. We sheepishly grabbed our snacks and headed over to the tent. It was much colder than I expected out in the open desert, making the warm red glow from the tent’s red Berber carpets and pillows look even more inviting.

I was casually enjoying my pastry and juice – trying hard to stay awake – when we heard it… The roar of the hot air balloons being inflated. I immediately perked up and ran outside to capture it on film. The butterflies began to flutter. Are we really going to do this? I thought nervously to myself. Devon, sensing my nervousness, put a reassuring arm around me. “It’s gonna be okay,” he said with a smile.

One of the workers then approached us and pointed to one of the three hot air balloons gearing up for flight. “This is going to be your balloon,” he said, pointing to the smallest basket of the three.

Oh Lord, here we go… I thought as we walked up.

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Up, up, and away!

Our lovely pilot Elena was already in the balloon and helped everyone climb in. Our basket had only 8 people. The other two balloons taking off could carry 16 and 24 people respectively. She did a brief overview of safety precautions and asked us to all sit on the floor of the basket for take-off. I sat down and gripped onto the inner basket ropes for dear life, leaning my head on Devon’s shoulder next to me, prepared for the worst.

“Okay, you can stand up now!” she called less than 5 seconds later. What?? I thought.

That was it? Did we even move? It didn’t feel like we did...

I stood up and was in awe. We were already hundreds of feet above the ground and rising quickly. Somehow, I didn’t feel a thing. We were literally just floating… weightless. It was the most magical experience! We quickly got to snapping photos of our surroundings and taking in the sunrise. Elena (having a balloon full of 4 couples) kept the vibe romantic and played some love ballads from the speaker in the balloon.

A surprise proposal

As I was literally floating on what felt like cloud nine over the Agafay desert, chatting with my sweetheart as I snapped photos and videos of the unbelievable view – it happened.

Devon passed his phone to the couple behind us and asked that they take a video. Before I could even fully wonder what kind of video he wanted us to take – he got down on one knee. I’ll be honest guys… your girl kind of blacked out a little. I honestly didn’t even remember saying yes until I looked back at the video.

I was immediately awash with so many emotions and started crying. Not a Disney Princess cry either.. an ugly one. I could not believe this was really happening to me. My best friend, travel partner, confidant, and so much more all wrapped up in one – was asking me (little ole meeee!) to spend the rest of our lives together.

He is the calm to my storm, the yin to my yang, my voice of reason when I need it most, and quite honestly just my favorite person in the world. I couldn’t imagine doing life with anyone else.

Cue epic hot air balloon and desert engagement photoshoot

As we came in for a landing in the desert our balloon was chased down by SUVs from the tour company to give us a ride back. It looked like something out of a movie (or Vagabond IYKYK) as the dust kicked up behind them in the chase. Once again we sat down in the basket for a landing that was as smooth as the takeoff.

Berber breakfast and camelback riding

After some more tears and plenty of photos, it was time to head back to the Berber tent for a traditional breakfast followed by a camel ride. The breakfast was composed of boiled eggs, different types of bread, jams, and honey to enjoy. Outside the tent, a cook was hand rolling and fresh frying donuts as well. I was personally too giddy with excitement to eat and had a small snack while Devon loaded up on his favorite food group – carbs.

After breakfast, we ventured back out into the desert for our camelback ride. This was a really cool experience to see how the Berber people traversed the desert long ago. The camels were also such kind and gentle animals.

Back to the riad

After such a magical morning, we headed back to our riad for a much-needed power nap. It seemed like so much time had passed – but it was only 10 am when we returned. We headed up to the rooftop to enjoy a cup of mint tea first, but were greeted with another Berber breakfast display! We enjoyed breakfast yet again before taking a nap. The day was young and we needed to save our energy for a day on the town shopping and exploring El Badi Palace!