Would You Like To Fly In My Beautiful, My Beautiful Balloon

Up, up and away in my beautiful balloon.  We were picked up at 5 am, and took some mighty difficult dirt roads to make it to the launch point.

And it was well worth it.

The ride was to be Sanjiv and Meena’s maiden voyage.  It was our fifth – two different years back when my dad lived in Arizona, one over Bagan, Myanmar, and then earlier this year over the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.  I must say, growing up, I never expected to ride in a balloon, much less twice in the same calendar year!

If you haven't been ballooning before and the opportunity presents itself, take it.  The feeling of quietly soaring above the area, in this case grassland savanna, small forests, streams, and African wildlife is one of wonder, peace, and joy.

Bagan was a stunning place for a balloon ride, Egypt was awesome, and of course, the desert outside of Phoenix is exquisite.  Africa, however, tops them all.  

They hustle you to the launch site, check you in, and then you wait for the balloon to go from flat to upright and full of hot air.  Then you climb in, and when our pilot, Ernie, was ready, the crew let go of the lines and we floated up, up and away.

The goal of a balloon ride in Africa (besides not crashing – no power lines to worry about here) is not to go very high up, but to actually be about treetop level (unless there actually are trees, than the goal is slightly higher than treetop).  It’s great for animal viewing.

From the balloon, we saw giraffes, a lion, gazelles, zebra, hippos, a crocodile, hyena, impalas, a waterbuck, cape buffalo, and more.  Here's some pictures:

Pro tip: Don't walk into the

flame. You are welcome.

Always get a picture of

the inside of the balloon.

Meena and Sanjiv, excited

for their maiden flight.

Our pilot, Ernie, is an outgoing fellow.

Plus we lived, so that's important too.

A Lion King sunrise.

Impala.

The hyena ignored us.

A view to the east.

A regal waterbuck.

Stream headed to the woods.

Spying on a cape buffalo.

Elephants on the move.

Hippos crossing a river.

Lots of Hippos.  It has a WWII documentary

feel to this picture, flying above the enemy fleet.

Always get a picture of

the balloon's shadow.

Crocodile on the prowl.

Don't take just one

balloon shadow photo.

An obstinacy of Cape Buffalo.  Also

can be called a herd, gang, or troop.

But I'm going to be obstinate and 

stick with the word I picked. 

Another elephant.

A couple of lions. . .lying around.

The most plentiful animal we

saw in Africa -- the zebra.

Zebra on the run.

Singular trees make

awesome photos.