My eyes open. It
is 4:45am. We groggily get dressed and open our tent door. It is
pitch black. I scan the area with my headlamp. No glowing eyes. We
cautiously make our way to the bathroom with some other members of
our group that we find already awake as well. I look up; the sky is
full of stars, infinity as far as the eye can see.
Vehicle lights
shine in the distance, heading towards our campsite. Soon, the truck
pulls up and we pile in.
We are heading to
ride a hot air balloon over the Serengeti.
The drive is
bumpy and rattles us around in the pre-dawn light. All we can see at
first is the dark silhouette of the driver. Slowly, a few acacia tree
shadows are visible against the pale light of the dawn sky. “This
is so cool,” I whisper to J.
Eventually, we
arrive at the balloon launching site. The giant fabric is spread out
on the grass. We are given a seat belt to put around our waist, and
a safety briefing card. A large machine starts blowing air into the
balloon as the sun slowly rises behind us. After several minutes of
this, the balloon is full. We are instructed on how to get into the
basket (2 people per basket pod; 16 people total, plus the pilot) and
in we go. The basket is on its side, so we are lying on our backs,
seat belts clipped in, hands holding the hand holds.
The pilot starts
to blast hot air into the balloon. Ever so slowly, the balloon
starts to get a bit of lift, and the basket rights itself. Suddenly
we are right side up! We are now allowed to stand up. The balloon
rises ever so gently above the ground. Soon, we are floating over
the Serengeti.
Our pilot is
partially able to control the direction of the balloon by modulating
the hot air. Typically, a balloon is at the mercy of the wind
currents; however, by adding or removing hot air, the balloon can be
made to rise higher or lower to a different air current that is going
in the direction that you want it to.
We floated over
many animals (sometimes breathtakingly low and close to them).
Passing over a river, we saw the grey backs of hippos. They look
like rocks, almost completely submerged in order to keep their skin
hydrated. We were lucky enough to see one “run” through the
water in funny little waddling splashes. A moment later, a crocodile
swam by, sleek and sure of itself before disappearing under water
again.
Suddenly, our
pilot spots something far away. “Lions,” he says, and tries to
maneuver the balloon towards them. As we slowly and silently float
closer, we see the brown dots slowly take shape into lions.
Fifteen lions, to
be exact! Mostly young cubs. They were playing in the grasses. We
watched, awestruck. How often do you get to see 15 lions from a seat
in a floating balloon?
Lions! |
We glided
onwards, floating just above tree tops, occasionally going higher or
lower. A couple of dik-diks ran by underneath us. A very small
member of the antelope family, they are known for mating for life.
If one of the pair dies, the other one will starve itself to death.
Thankfully, the two we saw were happily bounding along.
It was amazing
how oblivious all the animals were to our silent glide above them.
Only the bursts of the hot air would occasionally send some zebra
running off (but they're skittish anyway).
The last fifteen
minutes or so of the hour-ish balloon ride were spent floating over a
very large group of zebras. It was fun to just watch them be zebras.
I'm fascinated by these calm creatures and their bold stripes. What
is a zebra? I did not know before to day. To me a zebra was a funny
striped creature; something to put in children's books for the letter
Z. Something interesting to look at in a zoo.
But now to me,
zebras are wild things. Creatures that bound away if you come too
close to them. Who hang out together in larger groups, sometimes
hundreds or more. Who travel in straight lines, one behind the
other. Who help guide wildebeast to the Serengeti during migration.
Who spend their days calmly grazing. I'll never look at a zebra the
same way again. The last page of every children's alphabet book will
forever transport me back here... to the Serengeti.
What goes up must
come down, and eventually it came time to be us. Our pilot chose a
good spot to land, and we slowly touched the ground, skidding for a
minute or so. The pilot cheerfully reminded us - “I don't have
brakes!”
Our balloon pilot |
After our smooth
landing, we were taken in a four wheel drive down the road where we
were given champagne glasses. Our pilot then told us the story of
the first balloon flights, and why champagne afterwards is always a
tradition (I have not had access to the internet to verify the
origins of this story yet, so I'm going from memory). Apparently, the
inventors of the first balloon sent some animals in the balloons they
invented, in order to make sure it would work safely. They heard
from the nearby village where it had landed that the animals had
indeed arrived alive – but the villagers thought the balloon was
the work of the devil and set it on fire. This balloon invention
caught the attention of the king, and he wanted them to make him a
balloon so he could watch it in flight. After they had done so, they
had trouble finding someone who was willing to fly in it. Nobody had
ever flown, after all. Eventually someone was found, and he took the
first balloon flight. He again landed in some other village, where
the villagers all tried to attack him, thinking he was the devil
arriving in a mysterious flying machine. He managed to escape to
tell the king his story.
Champagne first thing in the morning... that's how we roll in the Serengeti |
Eventually a plan
was created by the king – all balloon flights would carry with them
a bottle of the king's champagne (because in those days champagne
could only come from the king) that bore a special label with the
king's signature. When the balloon landed, the riders were to hold
the bottle up high, announcing they came from the king himself, so
that the hot air balloon could be celebrated and not feared.
And so it was
that the champagne after a balloon ride tradition was born. So we
held out our glasses to be filled, toasted each other, and drank
champagne in the middle of nowhere in the Serengeti, at 8 o'clock in
the morning.
Breakfast in the middle of nowhere. |
After that, we
were whisked even further down the road to where a beautifully set
table under an iconic acacia tree had been prepared for us to have a
full English Breakfast. The juxtaposition of the fancy table cloth,
plates, cutlery, and food against the backdrop of the endless
Serengeti plains was a really memorable experience.
(There was even a
“loo with a view” - one of the best toilets in Africa we've had
thus far, with three walls and the entire open Serengeti in front of
you. Certainly a unique experience.)
Finally, it was
time to drive back to meet the rest of our group. On our way, I saw
a cheetah slinking alongside our truck in the grass – incredibly
close and in sight. “A cheetah!” I say aloud. But no one seems
to have seen it except me. I like to think that cheetah came by just
for me.
Hydrax |
We meet up with
our group at the visitor's centre, and have a nice guided walk about
some of the features of the Serengeti landscape and the animals that
live there. We saw plenty of hydrax and gama lizards on the
beautiful kopje boulders. Once we were back at the
campgrounds, we relaxed for the hottest hours of the day, and then
set out at 3 for an evening game drive.
The excitement of
seeing all these animals never gets old. We came upon a pride of
lions (many cubs and at least two couples) that were at first
difficult to see in the dry, beige grasses. At first we just spent
some time watching them play, leaping at each other and tumbling
around on the plains. Then, someone noticed blood around one of
their mouths, and upon closer inspection we realized that they were
eating something! A fresh kill. We weren't sure what.
Yep, that's a zebra leg. |
One of the adult
lions soon clarified that for us, however, as she startled us by
emerging from the grasses with a black-and-white striped leg. They
were having zebra for dinner. Fascinated, we couldn't turn away.
The little ones took turns playing and eating. A real-life nature
documentary, happening before our eyes.
Every time our
guide suggests moving on, we are always reluctant. How to decide
when to leave behind the incredible scene we're witnessing and move
off in search of another?
We saw more
elephants today – a whole group of them, just relaxing near the
trees, grazing on leaves or short shrubs. We stopped the truck
beside them and just watched as long trucks reached up, curled around
leaves and twigs, expertly pulled (who knew a trunk had such fine
motor ability?) and then reached down and under into its mouth and
stuff it full. Munch, munch. Another trunkful, another bite.
A baby elephant
walks over and snuggles close to its mother. A larger one flaps its
ears.
Further on down
the road, we come across a jackal – it looks like a combination
between a small dog and fox, it's grey fur running through the
plains. After running a few metres, it stops and looks back at us
for a few seconds. Runs again. Then another stop, another look
back. Continues this pattern for a while, and then eventually
wanders off.
What do these
Serengeti animals think of us? We roll up in large, strange
vehicles, with windows rolled down, our faces peering out at them.
Most of them seem to completely ignore us. The lions couldn't care
less about our presence – I'm not sure they even glance. Elephants
will occasionally look or come closer, but not for very long.
Giraffes are more skittish – too much noise will send them bounding
away, but if you're quiet, they'll ignore you and go back to what
they were doing.
Secretary bird |
After the
evening's drive is over, we head back to the same campsite as the
night before. I start to take a quick shower before dinner, and look
out the shower stall's window. My eyes widen in surprise. Zebras!
I'm taking a shower with zebras outside my window.
We really are in
the wild here, and despite last night's fright, it is incredible. I
slept much better this second night. Surviving the first night
without being a “lion sandwich” made me more confident that we
really were safe (as long as we followed the rules).
As I drifted off
to sleep, I heard the sound of galloping hooves.
I found out later
that a herd of zebras had run through our campsite.
A. MA. ZING. Just... Wow!!!!
ReplyDeleteWicked! I did know about elephant trunks being as fine motor as they are: touch and smell all in one spot (from reading White Bone back in the day).
ReplyDeleteWow, makes me wish I were there!
ReplyDelete