Hot Air Balloon Safari
A quintessential way to take in the vastness and scale of East Africa’s unending landscapes is on a hot air balloon safari. Kenya’s Maasai Mara and Tanzania‘s Serengeti are the most famous places to build a hot air balloon ride into your safari, but ballooning is also offered in other lesser known places. Glide over the dunes at Soussusvlei in Namibia and in Kafue National Park in Zambia during August and September. Outside Kruger National Park, a balloon ride can be arranged over the green landscapes of Hazyview – depending on the wind direction, the balloon may float over fruit orchards and bush, or forests and hills, some flights end in the next valley or the one beyond that – whichever direction the flight takes, the view from the basket is spectacular!
Typically, your day will start quite early with a transfer to the launch site. As the beauty of the hot air balloon safari is watching the sunrise, you will be driving in the dark en route – perhaps one of the area’s more elusive inhabitants will be caught in the headlights on this nocturnal game drive. Your pilot will conduct an important safety briefing ahead of your flight as the sky begins to lighten and the crew inflates the balloon – an envelope of colors billowing into the cool morning, lit by the flames of the burners. You climb into the basket and prepare to lift into the dawn. Enjoy about an hour’s flight before you land back to the earth – and to a champagne breakfast to celebrate the flight! Return to your camp with a game drive back home with your guide, telling tales of all you’ve experienced!
