Masai Mara hot balloon ride - a ride to remember.

This photograph was taken from the hot air Balloon, a week before we took our ride. Obviously the riders of that day were delighted with this sight. Picture was provided to us by our pilot.

A day before I went on this ride, I got up very early to photograph the view from outside my tent. As soon as I stepped out I could see this huge balloon right on my face. 

Soon enough I could see reflection of another Balloon in the river next to the camp. This river had several crocodiles but fortunately the riders of Balloon were safe !


My visit to Masai Mara was in  August 2012. I had traveled to Kenya with the sole purpose of witnessing the great migration. It had been an exhilarating trip which included driving through tough terrain, coming across amazing wildlife and of course the breathtaking river crossing by wildebeest. Spending hours with pride of Lions is now a distant but an unforgettable memory. Much of it was captured in an earlier blog and photo feature http://rohin-arora.blogspot.in/2012/09/masai-mara-blog-and-photo-feature.html.

The decision to take a hot air balloon ride was not an easy one. The cost was prohibitive. $ 550.00 is hell of a lot of money for a 2 hour ride notwithstanding the champagne breakfast they promised after the ride. My cousin Tushita and I finally took the plunge and booked our ride. We got up at 3.30 AM in pitch darkness ( there is no electricity in Jungle camps) and were picked by Balloon operators at 4.15  AM for a cup of coffee, a lecture on Balloon preparation and the actual ride. I remember the ride very well as the Balloon would soar above the wilderness and then the pilot would maneuver it in a way that we would come very close to the ground where the animals were spread out. 

The sound of fire blowing in the Balloon would excite the wildebeest and they would just start running ..........................and we would once again be touching the sky. Here are some photographs of that ride. 



Up, up and Away


It was fascinating to see the preparations before the Balloons took off. There were several companies in the forest and each had around 10 Balloons. So hundreds of Balloons would get airborne at almost the same time. 
It's a bit scary with so much fire as preparations get in full swing to take the Balloon airborne. 

Thankfully we had a skilled pilot. Didn't want to be landing in the middle of a Lion pride.

View from the Top


The sun was just coming out as we got airborne. It all looked very lovely and the air was cool and crisp. 

Some pictures from the top


In August it is the migration season so Wildebeest are all over the park.

The pilot keeps the fire going on the Balloon so it could keep flying. This blowing of fire makes a lot of sound and Wildebeest keep getting scared with that and keep running. 

Zebras give a great contrast to the barren looking surface. 


These tuskers can be dangerous if you are near them. 

All Balloons drift away as the wind takes them in a particular direction.

What you see on the ground are all animals,. Mainly Wildebeest, Zebras and Giraffe.
The Maara river separates Tanzania from Kenya. The biggest spectacle of migration takes place here as the animals cross this river and are attacked by crocodiles and Lions. 
Our Balloon was full of Chinese tourists so that chatter was in Chinese. Thankfully our pilot was an Aussie. 



The Landing


The Balloon landed in the middle of Jungle. 90 minutes drive from our camp.  It could have drifted in any direction due to the wind so the trucks carrying breakfast and support staff had to keep a lookout on the direction we were going. We could see wildlife around. when we landed. There could very well be big cats lurking around. 
The staff cleared things up and packed away the Balloons in no time. 

The Champagne breakfast



Right in the middle of forest breakfast tables were laid out and an amazing buffet breakfast was served. Chefs had produced some great delicacies. 

My cousin Tushita and I trying to enjoy champagne at 7 AM !

It was all very well done, I must say. 

This balloon ride remains a major travel highlight for me till date.

rohinarora@gmail.com
twitter : @arorarohin 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great pix Rohin. Haven't you posted about this trip earlier as well?
19 June 2016 at 19:39
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

River Rafting in Ganges

Image
  Rishikesh at Night It became sort of an addiction. This was around 25 years ago when I was introduced to 'Snow Leopards Camp' at Rishikesh. Rishikesh is a religious town at the foothills of the Himalayas on the banks of river Ganga. The river comes down from the mountains, crosses Rishikesh, flows under the legendary Laxman jhoola and then reaches the holy city of  Haridwar. The climb of a few hundred km from Rishikesh can take you the famous Badrinath.  Just above Rishikesh at a village called Shivpuri, the government had given a few companies to set up seasonal camps on the beach. These were adventure sports companies and specialised in river rafting, rock climbing and Kayaking. Snow Leopard was run by Ajeet Bajaj (popularly known as Baggage) though there were several other camps, I heard mostly about Snow Leopard and another one nearby run by a gentleman called Yusuf.  The Snow Leopard Camp Ideal weekend rafting trip consisted of leaving Delhi at 6 AM on a Frid...
Read more

Agra, Mughals and the Taj Mahal

Image
The moment you see this monument, you fall in love with it all over again.  Getting to Agra It was time to keep once a decade date with Taj Mahal . As we speeded on the fabulous Yamuna expressway on a foggy Christmas morning  towards Agra, I had no clue how much we all would enjoy visiting the mughal era buildings and gardens. After all it was my fourth visit to the city. Many people get off the expressway seeing the signs of Agra city and Taj Mahal. Agra authority has linked the expressway to another toll road and this takes you very near all the hotels and Taj Mahal, bypassing the crowded city so its best to carry on and you will reach the area around Jaypee hotel in no time. 2 days later I was back in my house in Gurgaon and in these two days we had visited Sikandra, Agra fort, Fatehpur Sikri, the famed market of Agra called the Sadar Bazaar for footwear shopping and last but not the least the magnificent Taj Mahal. Besides this we also attended what was th...
Read more

The charm of South Goa

Image
Once again it was destination Goa and it was a good time to go as the kids’ exams were over and all 3 families had similar aged kids to keep each other company.  The good thing about visiting Goa is that you can reach there without having and plan or agenda. Actually we did have an agenda and it was pretty simple : swim, drink, eat and have fun. The Thugs of South Goa. The Roads of Goa are incredibly good. They are narrow but it’s a pleasure driving on them if the ‘thugs of Goa’ permit you to do so. The phrase ‘thugs of Goa’ fits the taxi drivers of South Goa who in the garb of having ‘Taxi Unions’ fleece the unsuspecting tourists. The taxi union outside the Club Mahindra at Varca beach operate like mafia. Letters come in advance to the prospective residents of Club Mahindra from the management advising them not to hire any cars from outside. I have heard that vehicles have been damaged by these rogue taxi drivers who say that they are doing it for their employment. So...
Read more