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This morning we got up at the crack of dawn to go on our balloon safari.

Our "wakeup call" was at 4:30 (the reason I quoted it, is because there are no phones....our "call" was someone knocking on the door). We went to the lodge's lounge where there was tea and coffee, and our balloon guy, John met us there. John Coleman is a Brit, who has been in and out of Africa for many years to do balloon safaris. He said he had completed over 4,000 flights, and had even taken several famous people....politicians, movie stars, you name it. One time he took Al Gore, and he said he asked him, "How did you like the Bush?" John is full of one-liners...he recited them nonstop throughout the morning. By the time he left us, we'd probably heard more than 50....all funny if you can believe it!

We got into the Range Rover and headed for the launch site - it was still very dark. About half way through the ride, I asked John whether he ever saw any animals this early in the morning. Two seconds later there was a male lion about 8 feet to the right of our vehicle. This was the first male we had seen, so it was pretty exciting. He seemed a little annoyed, but not in a mean way...more like, "Can't you just let me sleep already? Do you have to flash those lights at me?" Shortly after that we saw a fox running across the road.

Finally we reached the launch site, and they were just starting to air up the balloons. We met our balloon mates (a British family of 4), and John briefed us on all the particulars. Finally we were ready to go. The flames were insane up close, but we were able to hop into the basket without any problems. Then we were off....and what a view it was! It was such an amazing way to view the Mara. The sun was just beginning to rise as we ascended, and it was absolutely magnificent! This, while very expensive, was SO WORTH IT! If anyone ever ventures to Africa, they must do this....even if they are maxing out their credit cards to do so! It was incredible.

The ride lasted about an hour, and we were able to see many animals, including some lions, giraffes, and the wildebeest crossing. We finally landed, and it wasn't nearly as bumpy as we expected, but when we got out of the basket we were in thigh high grass. The grass didn't look that high from up above...it's no wonder that the animals are able to hide so easily. We were told however, that at the end of the wildebeest migration in the fall (when they return to the Serengeti), the plains are completely bare, and the grass is completely gone.

After landing, we were driven to the breakfast site, where there was a wonderful champagne bush breakfast waiting. It was a great opportunity to chat with people from all over the world. The newly engaged couple sitting across the table were from Dunedin, New Zealand! After having a couple of glasses of champagne (and a couple cups of coffee earlier), I had to pee BAD. Unfortunately there were no toilets around (duh), so I made friends with the grass behind our Rover. :)

Following breakfast, we began the return journey to the Sopa. I had to pee AGAIN, only this time, our vehicle had 7 people in it, so it was quite embarassing...especially since Mike kept snapping pictures of my head while I was squatting behind the car. :/ On the way back we saw a LOT of wildebeest. They are the weirdest looking creatures! And the way they follow each other like schools of fish is so interesting to watch. Apparently they had just begun the migration a week before, so they were just starting to trickle into Kenya from Tanzania. We were even able to see a river crossing (across the Sand River...not the famous Mara river crossing...the Sand River is the border between the two countries). We also saw our first baboon and a couple of giraffes up close and personal!