Hot Air Balloon – A Wonderful Way To Experience Kenya’s Maasai Mara

Written on Wednesday, August 21, 2019 by Emma Whiting Travel

It is 5am and here I am standing in the middle of the Maasai Mara about to go on my first hot air balloon.

The sun is just about to rise and the sky is amazing shades of purple and orange.  Our hot air balloon is laying on the ground and slowly expanding, I never realised how massive these balloons are!

The sound of the gas flame was loud and was all we could hear as our balloon was inflating, and that was when my fear kicked in.  I started chatting to our guide Tom to calm my nerves and learnt that he had done this trip over 100 times!  Hearing this instantly put me at ease and seeing that he was still excited about getting up in the air after so many trips made me enthusiastic to experience it for myself.

Before I knew it, our group was climbing into our balloon and we were off!  As we slowly started to rise into the air there was complete silence and for the first time, I saw how huge and beautiful this land truly is.

We floated over the treetops with hundreds of zebra and wildebeest beneath us, the shadow of our balloon following them. I had to pinch myself, this really was a once in a lifetime experience.

We were able to float quite close to the ground which made for even better viewing and gave us an opportunity to take some amazing footage from above.

We came to a smooth descent, landing on our side with the animals watching on. After a short drive we arrived at our own private breakfast, complete with champagne amongst the zebras in the middle of the reserve.  It was such a special way to end this experience and it was not even midday yet!

 

Read more of my adventures in Kenya here