Up!

It's hard to describe the sensation of flying in a hot air balloon and flying in a hot air balloon in Africa. The quotes below are more eloquent than I can be. It's truly an experience everyone should have at some point in their lives...its beautiful.

"More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace mingled with an excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive of such a combination." ~ Wilbur Wright 

"The balloon seems to stand still in the air while the earth flies past underneath." ~ Alberto Santos-Dumont

Our experience started out at 4:30am, with a "wake-up" call, which was really just someone walking up to our tent saying "Good Morning, this is your wake up call." As we left our tent, we were met and escorted by one of the Maasai Warriors to meet with John, from the hot air balloon company, for our 5:00am pick-up. It's a good thing too, I've never experienced darkness like that...even with a flashlight, we could only see a few feet around us and the warrior escort told us that Buffalo had been around our tent that night already.

On the drive over to the launch site, we were lucky enough to spot a Leopard prowling along some bushes. Unfortunately, it was too dark and he was too quick for us to get any photos. When we arrived at the launch site, it was chilly, dark and foggy. Our launch was delayed for about an hour so they could wait for the fog to burn off, apparently, fog is fairly rare up there. Once we got the greenlight, it was fairly quick and easy to climb into the basket, which held 13 (12 passengers and the pilot). We had to sit during launch, but when the pilot told us we could stand...we were amazed to see how far off the ground we'd come in just a few minutes. From there, it was smooth sailing for an hour before landing and being driven to a location nearby where they had a champagne brunch set up for us. It was truly an unforgettable experience.

Sekanani

This is what everyone thinks of when thinking of Africa...Safari! We didn't know quite what to expect but Tamara made all the arrangements, so we knew we were going to have a great time. We were picked up by Aidan, who would be our driver to and from the camp, as well as our driver on Safari. It was about a five hour drive from Tamara and Chuck's home in Nairobi to the camp, in the Maasai Mara. The ride was an adventure all on its own. Once we left the "paved" roads, we really got to see just how capable the LandCruiser is and the skills of our driver. The closest thing I can think of to describe the ride is for those who have ever gone mudding in a Jeep or off roading on four-wheelers, bumpy is an understatement. 

Once we arrived at camp, we couldn't get over how peaceful and beautiful it was. Sekanani is operated in conjunction with twenty six Maasai families. We were staying in tents, but we weren't really "roughing it" by any means, not with full bathrooms, running water, and electricity in our tents. Not to mention the four course meals we had for dinner every night (discovered I love butternut squash soup). Now, you do need to keep things in perspective...there were no fences around the camp, so animals did roam freely through the camp, however mostly at night. We were escorted after dark to and from dinner by Maasai Warriors, who were carrying spears, clubs, or even a bow and arrows. Our "room key" was a key to the padlock used to keep the zippers closed and the monkeys out. Those mischevious monkeys...

This is the dining "tent".

This is the our tent, outside and in.

View from the "balcony" of our tent.

Walking brige above and the view from the bridge below.

The area we enjoyed at night around a fire, meeting other campers and the owner and manager.

"small and beautiful"

Kazuri means "small and beautiful" in Swahili. Which is a most appropriate name for our next stop after the Giraffe Center, the Kazuri Bead Factory. This factory started with two Kenyan women, and has grown into a large workforce of over 400 women, mostly single mothers, who were in great need of regular employment. The women make handmade, handpainted jewelry and pottery. 

Seeing spots

Did you know that the tallest mammal in the world is the giraffe? I didn't, but I can believe it after seeing these giants up close and personal. Our next day in Nairobi was spent at the Giraffe Center. The center was established to protect the endangered Rothschild giraffe. The main attraction is a raised observation platform where you can feed the giraffes and watch the only other animals roaming free in the area along with the giraffes...warthogs.