Hot Air Ballon Safari and Kenyan Border
We had a 3:55am wake up today. It’s hot air ballon day! Halle sent me an instagram post months ago showing a balloon safari, and I’m pretty sure that triggered this whole trip. Needless to say, we were EXCITED. We drew the short end of the stick and had the earliest pick up time. Since camps are so far from one another, we had about an hour drive to pick up more passengers, and then another hour drive to the launch site along the Mara river. What a sight! There were 10sih balloons all waiting to be inflated.
We got our safety harness, and then met our pilot, Michael. Getting in the balloon is quite the ordeal! We were hanging there until a truck pulled us upright. It was much more gentle than I expected it to be. With the flame lit, we were ready to go!
We lifted off the ground and got our first views of the Serengeti. Wow. Wow. Wow. I’ve been trying to find eloquent words to describe this experience, but I’m coming up short. Animals dotted the landscape below us. Wildlife scattered below as the burner roared. The aerial view revealed just how much life was spread across the plains. Michael spun the balloon in a 360-degree circle so we could take it all in. It was magnificent. The middle-of-the-night wake-up felt completely worthwhile.
Flying over the river and seeing the swimming hippos bobbing and spurting water was Halle’s favorite part. Mine was the elephants that seemed impossibly small against the enormous landscape. Rusty’s favorite part was the view of the sunrise over the river and all the balloons reflecting in the water below.
Too soon it was time to land. We came in for a nice, easy, upright landing in a big clearing. Afterward we had a non alcoholic champagne toast. Michael told us it is a ballooning tradition because when the first hot air balloons landed in far away places, they didn’t want to be killed by the local people who had no idea who/what they were. So they’d bring a bottle of champagne to prove they were human beings. Is this true?? I have no idea. But it’s a good story.
After, we were taken to “breakfast in the bush.” I fully expected a couple of folding tables with drinks, fruit and breads. Instead, we were taken to an eloquent tent with long beautiful tables, and a full wait staff. They brought around fresh juices, breads, pastries, fruit, and then we ordered from a menu and they cooked us hot eggs and bacon, baked beans and mushroom, and breakfast potatoes. WHAT??? The hospitality here is just unreal. They work so hard to make sure you have a special experience. The breakfast site had a sign pointing to the bathroom that said, “loo with a view.” We thought that just meant because we were in such a pretty spot. But no, the back of the tents that housed the toilets was just a mesh screen. So, you really did have a great view from the loo!
It was a spectacular experience, and I need to consult a thesaurus so I can find more words to describe!
Charles met us back at the airport and we started our trek north. Our goal today was the Kenya/Tanzania border. When we were talking about it, I thought it sounded kind of cool, but not THAT cool. I was wrong. This was hands down a highlight of the trip. Because what Charles failed to mention, is that we’d be surrounded by hundreds of thousands of wildebeest that had completed their river crossing and were almost to their final destination—Massi Mara in Kenya. I have to say, I have a lot more respect for these ugly creatures. They are pretty amazing!
Once again, no words. Wow! Amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable. Awe. Magnificent. A word where you realize what a small part of the world you are. And how awesome that is. Connection to Mother Earth. All of the above aren’t enough.
We stopped at a pylon at the border and snapped a few pics. Halle showed us she had the exact same pics from her trip to Massi Mara when she was studying in Kenya. She said she felt home again. Charles got a good kick out of my attempts at a handstand pic.
We drove a little further and parked our car under a tree. We had to kick out the wildebeest who were shading there. Sorry, guys. We then proceeded to have the most epic lunch of all time. Wildebeest as far as the eye can see, and then, A PACK OF ELEPHANTS walked not 30 feet away. How is any of this real? There is something so grounding, so peaceful about being out in nature. We didn’t want to leave, but there were some thunder clouds in the distance, and we wanted to try and see if we could catch one more wildebeest river crossing.
We were not successful. We waited at a couple of spots for about 1 1/2 hours, and there were times we thought they might go, but they changed their minds and settled back from the ridge—grazing and resting.
We started the long journey back to camp, and had to cross a big water puddle. And by big I mean up to the running boards and probably 40 feet across. We made it just fine, but the land cruiser behind us was not so lucky. He high centered on a rock. Over the next 10 min, about 7 safari vehicles were stopped watching/helping. Meaning all the dad’s were watching the guides try to pull this vehicle out, and all the girls were taking pics in the beautiful sunset. It took two land cruisers, one broken chain, and two tow ropes to finally free the stuck jeep.
The sunset was sublime.
