The balloon pilots and their ground team started firing up the balloons and soon they were filling with hot air and rising from their own slumber on the grass. The teams were quickly divided and we clambered into the ‘gondola’ as it is called with the frame above us that houses the on board heating system that keeps us in the air. A stalwart Afrikaaner was our pilot, a jovial man who has been doing this forever. He flies in the Mara and then in Cappadocia, Turkey in the season.

Soon we were rising high above the plains below us and traversing the land about 600 feet or more above it. You could see for miles and miles and miles. Simply an awesome sight. The sun was on its way up and lit up the Mara for us as we flew over it in complete silence. I think that was the thing that impressed me the most. The quiet. It was silent as a tomb up there with only the occasional hiss from the heating system. Serene I think describes it best. I took a few videos and we were hoping to see the migratory herds of wildebeest and zebra but no such luck. We flew over the Maasai Mara crossing streams and small wooded valleys, found pods of hippos basking  in the morning sun, eland herds that were traversing the grazing grounds and many other animals.