Masi Mara Hot air balloon

Company we flew with

Balloon Safaris LTD

Email: Balloons@africaonline.co.ke

We found a tour that offered a hot air excursion included in our 4-day tour! On our first night at the camp, someone came and briefed us on what to expect the next morning. He seemed very surprised when we did not blink about having to be ready by 4 a.m. We joked saying we would be ready by 3! We were told to make sure to bring a coat or jacket for it gets cold in the morning, though we never needed ours. But in the morning our warrior guides from our camp were in parkas!

Once we arrived at the site we watched the hot air balloon aired up. There are no bathrooms out in the field so bring some toilet paper (and/or the "she wee".) After the balloon was most of the way filled up we got our safety brief.

- Can not fly while pregnant

- Bags are checked for lighters (not allowed on the flight)

- Nothing can be around your neck either, due to strangulation concerns

- You are not allowed to stand until the pilot says you can

Loading of the basket starts with the basket on its side, you have to slide into it in the laying position to get in. Once inside of the basket you need to hold on to the straps in front of you. I went first and had to jump into the top compartment and side all the way towards the end while on my back the whole time. I was right next to the pilot and right next to where the fire was for the balloon. All bags, cameras etc need to be on the floor in front of you in between your feet.

Going up was very quick, the pilot kept us lower at first so we got to see

the animals right below very easily. As a group, we got to decide how high or low the balloon would fly. We sadly had a couple of people in our group that didn't want to go too high. They didn't even like it when we had to go higher to turn the balloon. After some time though the pilot began to just fly and we got to see a lot more. We got to see a pride of lionesses hunting a Topi (yellow sock antelope.) As well as a large memory "group" of elephants and much more!

After the hot air balloon landed very softly, the basket remained upright as they released the flame from the balloon and the workers caught it and folded it up. The basket had foot holds on the side that were very easy to use to get out. My mom and I were wearing flip-flops and we got out fine the only problem with them was that the grass was very wet. Going during the rainy season leads to very muddy puddles that we drove through on our way to our champagne breakfast. A tradition that still stands to this day, whenever there is a hot air balloon in flight, the crew and passengers will toast champagne afterward. At the breakfast location (a spot set up in the middle of a field) there was a pop-up bathroom, and tables set up. They had quite a spread of food including cold cereal, hot cereal, eggs, pancakes, yogurt, and more. There were lots of birds flying in and out getting what they could while it was fresh before they got a buffet of their own at the end.