Balloons Over the Serengeti

Tiva picks us up at predawn, (4:45AM). It’s dark as we are chauffeured out of camp.

In the headlights we see animals out and about doing their usual morning thing:

a spotted hyena, two jack rabbits, and hippos grazing. And in the darkness, an eight lion pride just yards away from the road. There’s time to stop and study the big cats, so elegantly playful with each other. They are literally frolicking in the cool morning air, like kittens in a litter. They seem to disregard us and then one cat rushes our jeep. She comes so close Liz has to pull her hand quickly out of the way. Windows closed we continue on.

Our destination this early morning is the balloon launch site for Serengeti Balloon Safaris. Three behemoth hot air balloons lie inert, side-by-side, in a row on the grassy bush.

Our green and yellow striped balloon has an 8-person basket attached; the other baskets hold 16 apiece. 

The crews are actively engaged with preparations. We’re given a quick safety brief and instructions for getting carefully into the basket. With the air fan roaring the balloon begins to inflate. The basket is attached to a jeep so it won’t float off without us. 

The basket lies on its side. We ease behind the noisy fan and slip in, lying on our backs in two rows, in a seated position like plates on a cupboard shelf. We snap our seatbelts and clip the buckle to an O-ring embedded in the wicker. As the balloon inflates it lifts the basket upright and we find ourselves standing up.

Our pilot, Abeid, works the ropes and the flame. He keeps us low at the outset, with the basket brushing the grass. As he catches the current he’s looking for, we rise effortlessly above the plains on a magic carpet ride. It’s 44 degrees when we lift off and the cool morning air is in sharp contrast to the scorching flare that keeps us afloat.

Sunrise Over the Serengeti

From the air we can see countless animal trails cutting through the grass that haven’t been evident from the trucks. Abeid’s a former safari guide and he knows exactly where to navigate for the best animal views:

·      A hyena with a meaty bone in his mouth leaving the scene of a kill.

·      A pride of lions with a kill. A group of zebras looking in their direction….who’d they get? Better do a head count.

• Thomson's gazelles flowing across the landscape like moving grains of rice. 

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Hyenas and vultures cleaning up last night’s leftovers.

·      Strotting gazelles doing their stiff legged leap, (thank you, Liz for the new word).

·      Mama hyena with her baby - he’s one baby who isn't cute.

·      Forty hippos in a pool startle when we float over. They move like trout in a fish hatchery when food is tossed in, churning the water.

Iconic Acacia

Abeid takes us up, up, up, for a final panoramic view and then slowly turns the balloon for a 360-degree view. He’s a master, the only one of the three balloonists who lands exactly where the chase car waits. He trained for six months in San Diego.

When Liz asks “How many flights have you done?” he deadpans “this is my first”.

We drift across fourteen miles and land, after an hour or so, with a jolt.

A champagne toast upon landing safely is a tradition for balloonists.

We’re told the story of the Montgolfier brothers who in 1783 demonstrated their hot air balloon in Annonay, France for the king. There was some concern about the effects of high altitude on humans. The king proposed a test ride using prisoners as passengers, but that idea was abandoned when the king realized he would be putting convicts into the history books.  The Montgolfiers instead filled the balloon basket with a sheep, a duck, and a rooster. The sheep's physiology was thought to be similar to a human's. The duck was unlikely to be harmed, so it was used as a control. The rooster was included as a further control because while it was also a bird, it did not fly at high altitudes. The flight lasted 8 minutes and was witnessed by King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and a crowd of 130,000. The balloon flew about 2 miles and landed safely. All aboard survived.

Legend has it that early French aeronauts carried champagne to appease angry or frightened spectators at the landing site.

And so, we have champagne. We toast to “long life” in Swahili.

Fun's Over

The chase cars deliver us to breakfast in the bush. Long tables set with linens and pretty place settings are ready for us. Costumed waiters serve a tasty eggs and bacon breakfast, along with more champagne. At a hand washing station warm water is poured over our hands from a big copper pitcher. An iron monkey holds the soap. We toast to “hakuna matata”. No worries.

Hand Washing Station

Monkey Holds the Soap

The bush boutique, (it pops up wherever they land), offers souvenirs, t-shirts and hats for sale. 

We’re each given a certificate, signed by our pilot, declaring that we’ve flown over the Serengeti in a hot air balloon. We have and it was incredible.

Dom meets us at balloon headquarters to transfer us back to the rest of our group, (only 7 of us purchased the optional balloon ride). On the way back we pass the Serengeti airfield. Dom tells us two Land Rovers patrol the area and chase wandering animals off the runway.

We join the morning game drive in progress.

A spotted hyena lopes along beside our vehicle then shelters into a large shrub where we can see her cubs.

A black-shouldered kite hovers like a helicopter over its prey then drops down to snatch it. As Dom tells us this, the bird demonstrates.

Helicoptering

Black-Headed Heron

More Black-Headed Herons

A Long Crested Eagle Surveying Its Territory

·      A male lion hanging out with the girls. His mane will take 3 ½ to 4  years to develop. He’s sunbathing, eyes at ½ mast. He takes a look around drops his head to his paws, eyes closed, ears twitch, then gives in to sleep. Lala Salama.

Hartebeest

Who's Watching Who??

We crash after brunch. A big nap in the heat and the silence of our tent is just what we need after that early wake up call. We wake up refreshed and reinvigorated for the 3:30 game drive.

·      The brown splotches on the trunk of the yellow acacia tree provide perfect camouflage for the giraffe. Is it a tree trunk or a giraffe? Only close inspection reveals the truth.

The Fish Eagle

      Papa impala with a harem of 26 females and their babies.

   Monkeys sitting in a tree.

·      

   Elephants taking mud baths. One scratching herself against a tree. She finds a way to engage every inch of herself with the rough bark, bending it like floss around her itchy rough hide. Spends exquisite minutes then walks away swinging her trunk in satisfaction.

Scratching The Itch

    Elephants spend 17 hours a day eating.

Baby baboon on Mama’s back.

·      Mom and Dad wart hog with 6 baby piggies. These babies are so ugly they're cute. Piglets have tufts of white hairs resembling their tusks-to-be. Predators are fooled into thinking they are ready to defend themselves. Wart hogs are not very smart. They run from a predator then forget why they’re running and stop to eat…whoops!

Wart hog – tail up time to go. The wart hog drops his tail when grazing, but raises it like an antenna when he moves away...every single time.

Lesser flamingos flock in Magadi Lake. It's about 1 foot deep in the dry season. 

the lake has receded so we drive on dry lakebed. The flamingos stand with necks arced down, their beaks dipped into the water. They run water through a sieve in their beaks to filter out the blue green algae.  It looks like they’re vacuuming the water’s surface. Their wings are black-rimmed in flight making a graceful splash of color like Japanese silk.

The Greater Flamingo is Larger With a Pink Beak

Greater Flamingo

·      A pelican trying to look pink.

Tonight, Ombeni tells us the story of his engagement while we appreciate the campfire, (and the popcorn).

When a Sukuma man falls in love and decides to marry, he speaks first to his uncle. The uncle checks out the girl’s family…thoroughly investigating. The man’s family then travels to visit the girl’s family, unannounced, and drops in for tea presenting a great chance to look around. Meanwhile the girl’s family is checking out his family.

When both families had approved Ombeni’s engagement, he had to prove the girl he proposed to marry was “the one”. He was presented with 20 girls all identically wrapped from head to toe. He had to pick out his girl. Everyone was watching. If he had chosen incorrectly, the engagement would not have happened. The two of them agreed beforehand that she would give him a signal and moved her shoulder under the wrap to let him know where she was.

On the honeymoon night relatives listen outside to make sure husband is “OK”.

Stories by the fire, dinner and sleep. An elephant trumpets in the night