East African Safaris continue... still in the Maasai Mara
The night before we were to leave the Maasai Mara I signed up for a balloon flight. I had been thinking about it, but it’s not cheap, about $500 for one hour. But then again, how many times am I going to be in Africa? Along with five others in my group I was picked up at 5:00AM to be taken to the launch site. When we arrived two of those huge bags, partially filled with hot air, were lying on the ground like brightly painted whales. Still in darkness, the morning quietness was shattered with the roar of the hot air being pumped in and soon the balloons were hanging in the breaking light. Just as the sun was about to peak over the horizon, we lifted off. Within moments the sun rose and the African savannah spread out below, a magical sight. Mara means ‘dappled’ in Maasai and it refers to the dappled appearance acacia trees give to the savannah, perfectly named as I could see from my perch in the basket below the balloon.
The night before we were to leave the Maasai Mara I signed up for a balloon flight. I had been thinking about it, but it’s not cheap, about $500 for one hour. But then again, how many times am I going to be in Africa? Along with five others in my group I was picked up at 5:00AM to be taken to the launch site. When we arrived two of those huge bags, partially filled with hot air, were lying on the ground like brightly painted whales. Still in darkness, the morning quietness was shattered with the roar of the hot air being pumped in and soon the balloons were hanging in the breaking light. Just as the sun was about to peak over the horizon, we lifted off. Within moments the sun rose and the African savannah spread out below, a magical sight. Mara means ‘dappled’ in Maasai and it refers to the dappled appearance acacia trees give to the savannah, perfectly named as I could see from my perch in the basket below the balloon.
We skimmed along just above the ground for a piece, the basket
brushing the tall grasses. Then, with a roar we would climb, sometimes we
reached heights of 1,500 feet, but generally we drifted along about 150 to 200
feet above the ground. The views were fabulous, 360 degrees of green vista. And
it was hushed quiet, like the inside of an empty cathedral. We did not see much
game, some gazelles, a few buffalo, wart hogs, a solitary lion, a number of
jackals (always in pairs), and the rather rare caracal cat. We did have an
amazing sight, though, when we startled two herds of elephants, sending them
crashing through the trees as we floated just above them.
It was a great ride. We made a perfect landing on a roadway,
just the softest scuff of the basket, and immediately we were picked up by Land
Rovers to take us to a campsite with a full kitchen set up nearby under a
solitary acacia tree where we were to be served a ‘champagne’ breakfast,
complete with white linen. Well, it wasn’t champagne, but it was Italian
Spumanti nicely chilled, and it sure tasted great. They didn’t stop pouring
either. The whole while that warm croissants, buns, quiche, bacon, sausages,
yoghurt, fruit, juices, cheeses were laid out, corks were popping. By 9:00AM it was all over, a once in a
lifetime experience and fully topped up with sparkle. Great.
to be continued...
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