Hot Air Balloon over the Serengeti

An activity from my bucket list, this is something I said I would do whenever I made it to Africa.  But when it came to it, the price was a bit higher than I wanted to spend at $755 Canadian.  I did hem and haw about it and ultimately booked it.  I knew I could have booked it when I arrived but I also knew that there were a limited number of spaces so I sucked it up and booked it.

Up and At ‘Em

This ended up being one of the earliest days of my trip.  I had to be up at 5 am as I had a 5:30 pickup for my balloon.  There was no time for breakfast or a cup of tea before I had to go.  There were two of us from our trip who were going on this excursion but we had others to pick up on our way to the balloon area.   Two of the people we picked up were from Edmonton so it was kind of nice to have someone to chat with as the others in our van did not speak English.

Setting up the balloon

Balloon Site and Knowledge

Even though the days were hot, the mornings in the Serengeti are quite cool.  I had on my bunny hug/hoodie and I was still a tad chilled.  We watched them get the balloons setup on the ground and watched them inflate them.  Our pilot went over the safety guidelines we needed to know as we would be clipped into the balloon basket.  He gave us instructions as to how to get into the basket as we wouldn’t be climbing in via a ladder but instead we would be scooting into it and essentially lying on our backs.  

Takeoff!

Once everyone was in their spots and our pilot took up his spot, we were ready to go.  Our basket was easily airborne and we were on our way.  There were three balloon’s total.  We were in the front to begin with but we moved into the middle of the pack for the majority of the ride.

Looking back for sunrise

Cruising

Our flight lasted for about an hour.   We saw a lot of hippos, some hyenas and some birds.   The scenery was amazing along our ride, from lush tropical areas to dry and barren land.  I had hoped that we would see more than we did but overall, it was good.  

Lots of hippos!

Taken of the balloon in front of us

Our tour drove by and saw us, photo courtesy of G

As I was right beside the pilot’s compartment, I had alternating hot and cold.  When the flame was on, it got quite warm and when the flame was off, it got chilly.   He made a point of turning the balloon so everyone got to experience the different views.  We were able to see the other balloons floating around as well.   

This is where it all happens!

Landing was interesting as the idea was to land and then tip us over.  There was a bump or two and then we were stopped.  It could have been a lot worse!  To get out of the basket, we then climbed up the handholds and over.

This is where we landed.

Back to the Ground

After everyone was safely out of the basket we were loaded into a van and taken to a clearing a bit away where everyone was given mango juice and champagne.  The pilots showed off by walking with the champagne on their heads.  

Show offs!  Our pilot is the guy in the hat.

Balloon all packed up.  It didn't take them long.

From there, we were loaded up again and taken for a bush breakfast.  The pilots sat at the tables with us and then gave us our certificates to show that we had completed this activity.  

Our table

Our breakfast

Bush toilet

We were then driven back to the balloon office to wait for our tour people to pick us up. 

 

 

To the Serengeti, We Go!

Today was an early day with a 5 am wake up call.  Up, get ready, take down the tents and get ready for the day.  The guides met us at camp with the jeeps that we would be calling home for the next few days.  Our jeep was four people plus our tour guide and the other jeep was five people.  A third jeep was dispatched to bring our chef, the food and the tents.  Our driver got to enjoy a few days off which she was going to spend cleaning the truck and doing some maintenance.

Along Ngorongoro Crater

We had to wait at a gate for a while to be granted admittance.  Several in our group decided to do Tai Chi while we waited.  I chose to shop and take pictures of them instead.    Someone else who was waiting around decided to join them for a few minutes while she was waiting for admittance.

The gate to get into the crater

We weren't the only ones waiting to get in.

Our driver started long the rim of the crater as you have to get in somehow.  There was a lot of cloud cover so we didn’t bother stopping at the first look out as we wouldn’t have seen much.  But as we drove along the rim we were able to see majestic vista’s ahead of us.

Along the rim of the crater

Into the Crater

Eventually we went down and into the Crater itself.  On the journey, we saw Maasai people herding cattle along the roads.  It is impressive that it is worth the time and effort to have cows in this region but it must be.  

Herding cows

Lunch was a stop at a lake.  Everyone else seemed to be there;  probably because it was the only place with bathrooms and you weren't allowed out of the jeeps while driving around.  As we were coming into the area for lunch, there was an elephant coming out of the lake.  We stopped and watched him as he got out and walked away.  

Here he comes!

Climbing onto the bank

Made it!

And he has had enough of the paparazzi.

The lake where we had lunch.  I think I took this picture from the washroom area.

Along the journey we saw a lot of wildlife, which is what we were looking for.  With that said, some wildlife was harder to find than others such as leopards and cheetahs being much more elusive.  For me, it was difficult to see the wildlife until they were almost upon us (which most didn’t do) the guides were much better at is, seeing as it is their career.  Unfortunately, my battery died as we found some lions lounging around a building so I didn't get their photo. 

No worries

Yield to animals

Momma, I'm hungry!

Its too hot to do anything!

Yep, we see the hippos, we don't care.

Mm... water!

Magnificent animal!

I see you!

You really get an idea how big this place is with that elephant in the background.

Hello tourists!

You really cannot tell how big this guy is!

Off to the campground for supper and the night.  Another early morning tomorrow for my hot air balloon ride!

Bye Kenya, Hello Tanzania!

Day one of our tour saw us leaving Kenya and going into Tanzania.  The border was a walk up one so everyone had to get off the bus and walk to the building to get everything stamped.  From there, we had about a two minute walk to another building to be granted admittance to Tanzania.  There were people all over trying to sell us stuff as we were walking.

Traffic in Nairobi.  Very few lights, lots of roundabouts.

Saw lots of this type of scenery.

Common

More typical scenery.  Many buildings weren't coloured.

Seatbelts everyone!

As it’s our first day, we are pulling over to make lunch.  Typically we will be making lunch before we head out in the morning.  We had been told that seatbelts aren’t a big deal and we didn’t need to worry about them.  But as luck would have it, we were pulled over and one of the people in the truck thought it was our lunch stop so she had gotten up.  We ended up being fined for a few seat belt infractions but our guide laughed it off and paid it.  I believe she said it ended up being around $200 US.  From what I have read, they build this type of situation into the tour fees so it doesn’t come out of anyone’s pocket.

Lunch time

Shortly after dealing with the seatbelt situation, we pulled over to make lunch.  As it was the first time, it was still novel but it became very tiring and boring quite quickly.  Lunch was sandwiches and fruit most days.  You can see there were a variety of items to be put in our sandwiches, eaten on their own or some made them into a salad.  Some days there were drinks as well but more often than not, we just had water available.

Typical lunch fare.  Cheese wasn't that common.  The guy in the background is KFC, our chef.

The Day Continues

After lunch and more driving, we stopped in Arusha for some paperwork to be done.  We were able to do a bit of shopping and relax while we waited.  I got a blanket as I had been warned that I would be cold at night (turns out, there were only two nights I used it for warmth; I used it for padding otherwise).  

When we got into camp, we were shown how to setup our tents as we would be the ones putting them up for the trip.  While simple, it definitely was a two person process, at least to get the poles into place.  We had access to one mat for under us but some people ended up taking two as we had extras available to us.   My travel pillow became my pillow for the trip as I hadn’t thought to bring one with me.

Three out of five tents.

After a quick shower before bed, was in bed by 10 pm.  Early morning tomorrow!