J
ohn de Almeida’s career has taken many turns, from the restaurant industry to landmine clearing and finally to the skies. Today, John is chief pilot and owner of Samawati Hot Air Ballooning Camp and Tours Namibia.
MYD: You have such an interesting career and such a unique passion. Tell us what it is that you do for a living. JDA: I am a commercial hot-air balloon pilot. I started flying in 2009, first in the south, in Sossusvlei, and then I worked in France for a year. I got my second pilot’s license in Germany and then flew in Switzerland, Germany and France and eventually Ethiopia. After I did the Ethiopian season, I came back to Namibia and started my own company. MYD: What do you love about being in a hot-air balloon? JDA: It’s the sense of being part of the wind and floating above the valleys and looking at life from a different perspective – not with the rush you get in a fixed-wing aircraft or a helicopter. You actually have time to admire and take it in. It has to be a passion otherwise it won’t work.
MYD: How does a hot-air balloon function? JDA: In a hot-air balloon, you have three parts: the basket, the burner and the envelope. The envelope is the actual balloon. You need hot air to inflate the balloon and the hot air inside the balloon has to be hotter than the ambient temperature. Once you get to that temperature, you have lift-off, and then you become one with the wind. When you change altitude and there is a change in wind currents, you feel a bit of a breeze, but once you’re in that current you feel absolutely nothing. You can have a candle in your hand and the wind won’t blow it out because you are the wind. So you just float like a cloud. It’s absolutely marvellous.
Passion takes flight
MYD: If we don’t have passion for what we do, it’s just that much harder, right? JDA: Yes, then it becomes a drag. Then you have moments when want to give up because you think, “It’s not really worth it, all this hard work.” When you realise that your heart is in it, you wake up and say, “I’m going to go for it.” MYD: What have the highlights of your career been as a hot-air balloon pilot? JDA: Flying in Ethiopia. When I was finishing my season in France, I read something about Ethiopian ballooning so I contacted the owner and he said, “Well, you’re welcome – come through and we’ll see where it goes.” I spent two days with him and then he said, “Okay, here’s my company – I’m going back to Holland, so here, take over.” So I took over the company for three months, flying in Ethiopia. That was really beautiful.
MYD: What does it feel like when you are up above Namibia, looking down, and it’s completely silent? JDA: The feeling is absolute bliss because you detach yourself from Earth and you are then in another element. You have a lot more respect for weather – you have to, because Mother Nature is something we cannot control, as much as we think we can. This is where I really got to understand nature, because you have to be part of it. If you try to go against it, you are going to find yourself back on the ground very quickly. MYD: And it’s a good philosophy for life, to learn how to go with the flow. JDA: Go with the flow, exactly. De Almeida continues to soar to greater heights and has recently obtained an instructor’s qualification. This enables him to teach other hot-air ballooning enthusiast and pass down a skill that many Namibians are not exposed to.
John’s story is part of a series celebrating Namibians in tourism and conservation in partnership with Master Your Destiny. Read more in the MYD Journal at: www.issuu.com/99fm/docs/99fm_myd_ book_2018 hotairballooning-safari.com Instagram: @samawatihotairballooning.
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