In Dubai, fly with the falcons on hot air balloon

 

In Dubai, fly with the falcons

Far from the skyscraper-dominated urban megalopolis of Dubai, a hot air balloon ride offers participants a bird's-eye view of the Falcon Kingdom.

 

Just before dawn, the Hajar Mountains, about 20 miles east of the Arabian Desert, began to emerge from the darkness. I changed positions in the wicker gondola and watched in awe as the sun loomed over the silhouette of the limestone mountain range. To the east, the sky shone orange and purple, the light illuminating a sea of ​​salty bushes, soft grass and wind-rippling dunes. A mi lado, el piloto, Mike Schaefer, un German corpulento y medio calvo con perilla canela y anteojos de montura negra, se volvió hacia su copiloto, Robertas Komza, un lituano flaco que acababa de volar por el desierto, y le ordenó que llévanos upper.

 

Mr. Komza pressed a lever on a gas valve, sending a fearsome jet of propane-fueled flames into the 130-foot-tall hot air balloon. "Go up to 4,000 feet, then we'll let the hawk fly a bit," Schaefer said, pointing to a large hooded bird with white feathers and charcoal stripes, resting on the gloved arm of his colleague, Dylan Freeman. .

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Since then, the fenced nature, part of the Arabian Desert, it has served as a protected habitat for a variety of native mammals (hedgehogs, shrews, gazelles, Arabian hares and at least three species of bats) and a getaway spot for tourists and residents overwhelmed by the skyscraper-dominated megalopolis of Dubai, the most populous of the seven city-states that make up the United Arab Emirates.

Over the past year, the reserve has also been the scene of a remarkable new adventure combining hot air balloon rides with an introduction to falconry, the oldest and most revered sport in the Arab world. In the cool of the morning, passengers fly over the desert accompanied by a captive-bred bird and its trainer. The hour-long experience offers an intimate look at how these raptors, which can soar to 8,000 feet and swoop after prey at 150 miles per hour, fly and hunt at high altitudes.

 

I have always been wary of hot air balloons, a concern that grew sharply in February 2013, after a flaming balloon accident in Luxor, Egypt, resulted in the deaths of 19 tourists.

 

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From a balloon, participants have a close view of the falcons in flight.

From a balloon, participants have a close view of the falcons in flight. Credit...Danielle Villasana for The New York Times

But on a recent trip to Dubai to research a non-fiction book set in the world of falconry, I was looking for the chance to observe birds of prey in flight up close, so I suppressed my fears and signed up for a tour (prices vary depending on group size (I paid around $325). The project, I assured myself, came with a superior pedigree: Sheikh Butti Bin Juma al-Maktoum, the brother-in-law of the Ruler of Dubai, and an avid conservationist and falconer, launched it in early 2016 and brought together staff from two of his popular tourism businesses to make it a reality. Events, co-founded by South African falconer Peter Bergh and Zimbabwean falcon breeder Howard Waller, organizes luxury Land Cruiser falconry demonstrations in the desert.The other, Balloon Adventures Dubai, co-founded by Hungarian falcon expert hot air balloons Peter Kollar, flew over Dubai by tourists since 2005.

 

The first chicks designated for the project hatched in May 2016 at the Sheikh Butti breeding center in Scotland, then were taken by Land Cruiser for training in Umbria, Italy, where Mr Kollar runs a hot air balloon business during the 'summer. “We had no idea how they would react to the basket and the fiery throws. Mr. Kollar told me. “Falcons see the basket as their nest and are trained to return to it. They were very young and didn't even pay attention to the fire.