Sunrise over the Mara

Sunrise Hot Air Balloon Ride
At 5AM we had a knock on the tent as our wakeup call. Hot coffee and cookies served to us in bed was a big plus for such an early hour! We were "collected" at 5:30 and taken to the launch site. Because of high winds our departure was in jeopardy. After a short delay, we took off in the balloon in a most unusual way. This was only my 3rd time up, so I am not sure how common it is to take off with the basket on its side? We loved the beautiful sunrise and watching the wildlife wakeup in the Mara. To our surprise, we had to sit down and hold on for our landing which was also on the baskets side. We bounced several times before coming to a stop. We were all hurried into vehicles to take us to the champagne breakfast on the Mara. Soon we discovered that we landed about 200 yards away from 2 feuding male lions fighting over territory. It was a thrilling thing to watch...from the vehicle.


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