Balloon

:Arusha: :Tarangire: :Ngorongoro Crater: :Serengeti: :Balloon Safari: :Cat Gallery:

Our last full day in Tanzania...and we had a spectacular Balloon Safari! There is one hot-air balloon company that is licensed to operate on the Serengeti, and they have 2 beautiful balloons. You can see a 20-minute online video of this safari on Adventure TV. Click on one of these links for your connection speed: :28k: :56k: :100k: :300k:

Well before dawn, we awoke and got ready for the 45 min drive to the take-off site. This called for lots of coffee (Tanzanian peaberry!)

What, me afraid!? Notice how the basket of the balloon is on its side? This is actually how you start off! You lie on your back inside the basket, and hold onto handles on the front of the basket. Once everyone is safely positioned inside, they inflate it even more, so that the basket is brought into an upright position and you lift off of the ground! It is really skeery, but it happens so quickly!

As the crew was readying the balloons, the first hint of dawn appeared in the sky.

We were supposed to have our cameras tucked away for the initial ascent, but as I was lying in our basket, I snuck my camera out to snap this shot of the other balloon just as it lifted off the ground. Notice that the basket is now upright!

Then we were aloft! Now, I am a complete ninny when it comes to heights, but I decided that I couldn't pass up this balloon trip. I really thought that I would have to work hard to overcome my fears during the flight...but as it turns out, it was not scary at all! Those who know me find this hard to believe, but I really felt no fear at all. It felt safe and secure, with no wind or buffetting (once the initial ascent was over!) Here is our wonderful pilot, who not only piloted our craft but also served as wildlife guide:

Some pictures of our companion balloon over the Serengeti:

I love how the shadow of our balloon showed on the Serengeti Plains below:

We just floated over the landscape and the animals.

There were hippos in all of the pools we drifted over!

This hartebeest seemed curious, but unafraid.

This herd of Cape Buffalo didn't seem to notice us at first:

But they stampeded away when our shadow passed over them:

By contrast, the hippos didn't seem to mind us at all as they plodded from their nighttime grazing grounds back into their daytime pools...

Think this looks like a road? Well, it is, of sorts. It is a migration path, formed by millions of hoofs.

On to: More Ballooning and the trip back home

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