229 KENYA (3:4): Hot Air Ballooning Over the Masai Mara The Radio Vagabond

Welcome to part 3 of my mini-series about Kenya and The Masai Mara. Click here to go to part 1 and part 2.
I decided to splurge and go on an early morning hot air balloon safari – very early the morning after New Year’s Eve. I wanted to see the beautiful sunrise on the horizon of the savanna with exotic animals below me. So, after our game drive, I spoke to Francis who would arrange pickup for me just four hours after we entered 2022.
Francis mentiones that the balloon will launch at 06 in the morning and take one hour. On landing we will be welcomed with a champagne bush breakfast. There will be plenty of room for take-off and landing, and he assured me that we would not disrupt any animals during the flight.
He also told us to keep warm because it would get chilly. There would be no guarantee that we would see any animals as this was not during the migration season.
It’s something that is not included in the package. It’s available as an extra option at 450 USD /408 Euros per person. So, it’s not cheap.
This is how I justified the extra expense:
In ten years, I would be able to remember the experience but not the price tag.
After the briefing, Francis mentioned that he would pick me up at 4.20 am. This would not be an easy feat. For the first time since I was three years old, I had to go to bed before midnight on New Year’s Eve.
THE RADIO VAGABOND LANGUAGE SCHOOL: SWAHILI
Meanwhile, let’s learn to say a few words that will impress the locals when you get here. As you heard in the previous episodes in this mini-series, Kenyans have English as one of the two official languages. And since you probably understand what I’m saying now, let’s have a quick lesson in the other one: Swahili. You can hear the pronunciation on the podcast.
Hello: Jambo
Thank you: Asante sana
You’re welcome: Karibu
Okay: Sawa
Don’t worry: Hakuna matata
Note that no one says that in Kenya unless you are a tourist. The more common term is “Usijali”
Friend: Rafiki
Goodbye: Kwaheri
 
OTHER INTERESTING FACTS: DANGEROUS ANIMALS
Shane, who you had met the two previous episodes, also took us through the most dangerous animals. It’s not lions but much more elephants and hippos. A lone male elephant is very dangerous. Hippos are also animals to keep away from. We added a third one in our previous episode when we were chased by an angry rhino. It is always to have an experienced driver with you as they know the signs of danger. Therefore, Shane says, do not try to self-drive so that you do not put your safety at risk.
THE ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE
I was picked up at 4.20 as Francis promised on the first day of the year. We drove for about an hour on the bumpy roads (what he called a Kenyan massage) and we went on the savannah in the middle of Masai Mara. We signed a few papers as the team got three hot air balloons ready. The birds were chirping in the morning and the air was crisp and fresh.
The experience began at the launch site in the heart of the Masai Mara National Game Reserve. It was still dark, but you could hear animals grazing close by and the occasional lion roaring in the distance at his early morning kill. There was a lot of activity as the Balloon Safari crew team were bustling around the balloon basket and “the envelope” (as they called the balloon itself) laid out flat on the ground ready for inflation.
As we checked in at their security desk (the hood of a Jeep), we could hear the fans start and in the pre-dawn light I started to see the billowing of the envelope as it inflated and flames from the hot air balloon burner-test lit up the darkness. With the first glow of sunlight flickeing across the skies, the hot air balloon filled and gently rose.
Our Russian pilot, Sergei Nosov gave us a pre-flight safety briefing. He took us through all the safety aspects and landing procedures.
The basket was big and could fit twelve people in four compartments and the pilot in the middle. With the basket