I told my coworkers that I was a bit nervous to take a balloon ride as I’ve always been afraid of heights. One of them said, “oh, just think of it like you’re in an airplane!” They couldn’t be more right. We were picked up early in the morning to arrive to where the balloons were being filled at 6 AM. When we arrived, other safari vehicles rolled in soon after. We were split into two groups of 16, one group for each balloon. We met our pilots and they gave us a briefing about what the next 1.5 hours would look like. First, we were to strap into our seats and we entered the basket as it was on its side. Our pilot had the balloon filled with cold air before we all wiggled our way into our seats. He then used the fire to blow hot air into the balloon which made the basket become upright. Suddenly, we were airborne. My coworker was correct, it was more like being in an airplane rather than suspended from a ladder in midair as I had feared. The basket was large and tall where we felt very secure.
Our trusty pilot, riding the thermals. (Franny Friesz)
We had about an hour in air to have a birds eye view on the Serengeti. We were lucky enough to be in the central Serengeti when the migration was headed through. Seeing this from above was the best way to truly capture the numbers as we saw waves of wildebeest and zebra moving through the land below. We saw the hordes of animals, hippos in pools, hyenas feasting on a meal, a running family of giraffes, herds of elephants and more. During that hour, the balloon was riding the thermals of the air which meant that we were sometimes very high in the air and sometimes very close to the ground.
Witnessing the waves of wildebeest and zebra really showed the massive numbers on the ground. (Franny Friesz)
The hour went by so quickly as we saw many animals as well as the beautiful rising sun over the Serengeti. We landed in an open field next to the other hot air balloon. We met in the middle where the safari vehicles drove to meet us. As per tradition, the pilots popped bottles of champagne to celebrate a wonderful ride and to make peace with the landowners where we landed (the wild beasts). Since they don’t drink champagne, we all enjoyed it ourselves. We then drove to a designated area on the Serengeti to enjoy a beautiful breakfast with even more champagne. To anyone weighing the cost or time it takes to do a balloon safari, I highly recommend it. We enjoyed the change in perspective and fun adventure. We also made a few new friends in our shared experience.
Beautiful outdoor location for our delicious breakfast. (Franny Friesz)
I don’t have the words to describe it but the last week has been one of the best I can remember. 6 days of adventure in South East Alaska including trekking through lush rain forest, sitting in silence listening to glaciers calving, up early to see the northern lights, kayaking and stupidly swimming in iceberg frozen waters ! (That actually hurt).
Animal sightings including black and brown bears, Minke and hundreds of Humpack Whales, porpoises, sea lions, mountain goats, harbour seals, bald eagles, salmon and more birds than I can count. Wonderful friends and connections made. A huge shout out to Trevor and his totally amazing crew on the Admiralty Dream whose energy and enthusiasm made this most incredible experience.
DAVID JAMES
1 day ago
Excellent safari trip with Adventure Life and Albatross Travel. Special shout out to our guides Eric Turasha (Kenya), and Blasi Shirima (Tanzania) from Albatross Travel. Both were world class!!! The trip went off without a hitch; all the camps were amazing…worth mentioning...one of the camps we were going to stay in on the Tanzanian side was damaged by high winds so we ended up in a different camp (Mara under Canvas Camp). Can't say enough good things! A great experience and superb service!!
Brenda Cox
2 days ago
very easy to deal with kassandra. she listened to what our interests were and planned a great trip for us. nothing to worry about!
carole therisod
2 days ago
Always professional knowledgeable and efficient. Jess H. is great.
Cynthia Gillett
3 days ago
My tour operator was helpful. Unfortunately she was unable to get my single-supplement canceled. Not too many tours charge for that anymore and I almost canceled my trip because of that.
