A Canadian Gal Traveling the World

More Animals!

After we were picked up from our balloon ride, we went back to camp. On the way back to camp, we saw some leopards. We had now seen the Big Five!

Two leopards hanging out in a tree, relaxing

Brunch was served as everyone else had a late wake-up. Due to it being many hours until supper, I had some food as I didn’t want to spend the afternoon starving.

Nothing was planned until later in the day so we relaxed. Several of us decided this was a good time to get some laundry done and then relax. Of course, once our laundry was hanging it rained. Thankfully, the rain didn’t last long and the heat allowed the laundry to dry quickly.

We went out for another drive in the afternoon. There is only so much I can post about seeing animals so here are more photos.

After the balloon ride, you can see a jeep in the background

Nothing to see here, just elephants.

Off we go!

Can we help you?

We are just relaxing. Nothing to see.

When we came back to camp, there were elephants just outside the grounds. We didn’t get very close to them as we didn’t want to bother them (and we had been told not to) but we were still able to get some decent pictures.

No zoom, they were that close.

Sunset in the Serengeti with our tents.

The next morning we were up and had breakfast and then left the Serengeti. But along the way, we ran into two different groups of lions.

Group 1: We saw dad crossing the road with a dead gazelle. It looked like he left a bit for the cubs to eat but he was taking the rest of it away to eat himself. Mom would need to go out and catch something else so that everyone would be full.

Dad has his lunch.

Mom tending to her babies.

So cute!

Group 2: We first spotted them with a group of hyenas fighting over a kill. They eventually gave up and we followed them down the road. It was likely 20 minutes before they settled down and then we left. It was nice that there weren’t a lot of vehicles following this group.

Hyenas vs Lions


The mom of each group is tagged.

Follow the lions. There weren't a lot of us following which was nice.

Drink time

The zebra's were on the other side of a creek. Just keeping track of the lions.

Lions weren't interested in hunting, just finding a shady spot.

Looks like a great spot to relax.

I just wanna rub that belly!

We drove out of the Serengeti and the Crater and back to camp. Our tents were setup when we arrived (yay!). Relaxed by having a swim to get all the dust off and spent a bit of time on the internet.

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.