The Balloon Ride

 Balloon Ride Over the Mara

I have taken a ride in a hot air balloon once before, in Turkey. It was an incredible experience, but I was flat-out terrified from the moment I saw the wicker basket that would be holding me up far away from the earth, while we were going up, while we were up, right up until we touched down again. I really wanted the experience of going over the Maasai Mara in a hot air balloon, so I signed up. I expected to be terrified, but I was willing to deal with it. 

I left the camp at 4:30 in the morning for the trip to the balloon launch site. I was very concerned about being cold; I didn't have long pants but I did have a few layers, and I asked the camp staff to loan me a blanket. Rather foolishly, I forgot that afterwards I would be doing a game drive under the African sun. I completely forgot to wear any sunscreen, or to take my sunhat. I would regret that later. 

I mentioned that I expected to be terrified. I was quite surprised because I wasn't afraid at all. It may have been because the baskets used by this company were different. The pilot was really informative; he explained why he was going at different levels, and why the balloon would go in certain directions. 

Tawny Eagles on their nest

These hills in the distance are actually Tanzania. 

Reedbucks

Our breakfast site. 

Tanzania, in slightly different lighting. 

A lion with breakfast

Maasai Mara

 

The Maasai Mara

The Maasai Mara is a huge national game reserve in Kenya. At the Tanzanian border, it connects to the Serengeti. It is famous for the annual wildebeest migration. The migration schedule follows the rain, and the resulting vegetation. Millions of animals participate in the migration, mainly wildebeest, but they are always accompanied by zebras. Of course where there are prey animals, there are predators - hyenas, lions, cheetahs, and leopards. 

Wildebeest

October is supposed to be the month when the wildebeest are travelling from Kenya down to Tanzania. I went to the Mara in the third week of October, and I missed the massive numbers. However, I did get to see A LOT of animals. While I was there, we had rain every afternoon. Apparently the wildebeest were starting to cross back into Kenya. Everywhere in the world the weather is confusing earth's inhabitants. 

Waterbuck

Getting to the Mara

I found organizing my trip to the Mara a bit confusing, to be honest, because there are so many options. I finally chose the Matira Bush Camp mainly because they seemed to respond to me in a timely and efficient manner. I also wanted to visit Nairobi during my break, so I opted to fly there first. I spent a night in the Karen neighbourhood in Nairobi. The night before I left Mombasa, I realized that there were strict limits on baggage for the flight from Nairobi to the Mara, so I had to hastily repack, and ended up leaving a bag at the Nairobi hotel. 

It felt like I spent a lot of time in airports on this particular trip. On Saturday, I was waiting for my tuk-tuk to take me to the Mombasa airport when I received a text telling me the flight Mombasa/Nairobi was delayed 90 minutes. I decided to just go with it. I knew Moses, the tuk-tuk driver, would be there momentarily, and I didn't want to mess up his day. It seemed pointless to go back into my apartment and disturb the cats. Of course the trip to the airport was unusually fast that day. I ended up sitting at the Mombasa airport for two hours. The flight from Mombasa to Nairobi only takes one hour. 

From this point, all of my travel arrangements had been made by Matira Camp. They had organized for me to be picked up and taken to Wilson airport, the departure point for domestic flights. They had calculated travel time according to horrible Nairobi traffic. It was a Sunday morning, so once again, my trip to the airport was super-fast. Once again I spent more time in an airport waiting room than in the air. 

Day One in the Mara!

I was picked up at the Mara airstrip by two members of the camp staff. Before we arrived at the camp, we encountered an animal I had never seen before, a topi. The Maasai people say they look like they're wearing blue jeans tucked into yellow socks. 

I was famished by the time we arrived, so I had lunch before settling into my 'tent.' 

view from my tent

My afternoon visitor, a common bulbul. 

While I was resting, the sky darkened and it was suddenly bucketing down. 

Luckily the skies cleared in time for my evening game drive. 

This cheetah cub is a few months old. 

Three healthy siblings. 

Cheetah mothers raise their cubs on their own. 

Marabou stork. Not the prettiest bird, I'll admit

Egyptian Goose

Black-backed jackal

Red-necked francolin (I think)

I will NEVER get used to giraffes. 

Because lions are at the top of the food chain, they have no fear of predators. When they have had a good meal, they just flop down into the grass and sleep. 

One more shot before heading back to camp for dinner and lights out.