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Feb 21, 2003

Our hot air balloon landed, but the adventure was not quite over.  We had a wonderful champagne breakfast to enjoy out on the Serengeti, under the "shade" (everything is relative) of an acacia tree. As we climbed out of the baskets after a nice soft landing, we were immediately handed champagne for a toast and congratulations to everyone for whom hot air ballooning was a first time experience.

They had a special case for their champagnes...

The chefs were hard at work.

This fellow may look as if he was glowering, but actually he and his wife were quite fun!  They were Italian, and she was next to me in the basket of the balloon.  All she kept saying during our ascent was, "Mama mia, MAMA MIA!"

We got our official certificates of completion...

And then, sadly, we were off to the airstrip for the flight back to Arusha.

We sadly said goodbye to Robert.

Passing back over the Ngorongoro Highlands was spectacular by plane.  You can see the teeny shadow of our little Cessna on the ground below here...

Here our pilot circled us twice around Ol-doinyo Lengai...an active volcano!

It was amazing to see that the volcanoes of the Ngorongoro Highlands and the Great Rift Valley still huff and puff and steam and bubble!

You could see everything bubbling and churning and steaming at the peak.

And, then, alas, we had to come on home to snowy Boston!

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