Seeing Life From A Different Angle

Essex may not be England's answer to the French Riveria but it does have distinct highlights and holds within its grasp a natural beauty that is unique. If you were ever in any doubt about that statement, try hot air ballooning over the region and see for yourself what we take for granted when we are below.

For those that appreciate wildlife and its habitats, then hot air ballooning over Essex will indulge your senses completely. Sailing over the Essex coast you will see a 3,000 acre site on the Blackwater Estuary - one of the most important natural sites in the country. It is protected due to its scientific interest and has special protection for birds and marine life. These can only be protected by looking after the environment in which they thrive, therefore bringing a site of natural beauty best appreciated from above while hot air ballooning.

This is twenty five kilometres of unspoilt landscape free from man-made obstruction and mess owned by the Essex Wildlife Trust. Given the protection the wildlife has in this area you are in with a good chance of not only seeing smog free sunsets and sunrises but also of seeing more unusual birds.

The area of Essex isn't called Constable country for nothing. This was one artist who really saw the area for its natural beauty without the aid of hot air ballooning and captured it on canvas for us all to enjoy. However, we may have become more crowded with people since Constable's day but to be honest, Essex has such a plethora of natural beauty that there has been something of a mission to conserve all this.

You can take that flight for a better view of Essex and really appreciate all the uninterrupted views of waterways including canals and rivers and the 300 miles of coastline, lined with soft, sandy beaches. Or you could take in just how many ancient buildings have been preserved for our education and enjoyment. Essex is littered with castles and buildings of historical note and it is only from above that we can appreciate their positioning on the land.

Looking out over the channel you will enjoy unspoilt views of still waters and peaceful sunsets. The calmness of the air when you are on a hot air balloon flight is totally different to a calm day on land. You travel with the breeze which means that you simply don't feel it, giving you a sense of being still while the earth below you moves.

If you chose an early morning flight the sounds of the dawn chorus would be all you could hear. With no interference from the earth below you, the birdsong would be a treat your ears had never before heard with such clarity.

You may not have the means to take your loved one on the holiday of a lifetime or even on holiday at all but a balloon flight is a treat that is completely out of the ordinary. It may only be short lived but the memories will be treasured forever because this is one view of the world you live in that you could never forget.