Kenya 2023: Chapter 28 – Carried on the Wind

We stayed low for a few minutes, drifting across the grassland. The balloon was silent and only interrupted by the blast of the burner. Quiet murmurs from the other passengers were on the edge of hearing.

With a sustained pull, our pilot David brought us up to 500 feet and then through to our initial cruising altitude of 1,000 feet. We had both been a little nervous about being in an open basket at such a height but it didn’t even feel like that much once we were up there. The ride was smooth without the kind of chop or turbulence you get in an airplane. 

Below us we could see all of the main roads, paths, and animal trails criss-crossing the plains. We saw a handful of animals, but none of the big herds. The wind took us due south at first before we caught and slid westward.

David is a Kenyan and one of the few pilots to actually hail from his motherland. Most of the other pilots are from the US, UK, India, or South Africa. His whole job is to show up in the morning, get on a prepped balloon, and pilot excited passengers across the Maasai Mara at dawn, and he’s been doing it successfully for 16 years. Pilot training takes place in the UK and in Italy. 

Our course took us southwest, over and along the Ol Keju Rongai lugga. The Ol Keju Rongai is central to the northern part of the reserve and we’ve spent countless hours traversing its length from the ground in search of big cats. It was unique to see it from above.

Elephants grazed among the bushes at this early hour and we began to descend. We got within six feet of the ground, brushing the grass. David pulled us up and over some trees just in time to avoid a collision. We were eye level with lilac-breasted rollers and coucals. We flew over jacanas and hammerkopps quietly enjoying breakfast in the intermittent water pools of the lugga. Once in a while, David would pull some ropes, changing the shape of the balloon, and thereby our course and the basket direction. 

It was a truly serene morning and we enjoyed every minute of the calm glide across the Mara. But all good things come to an end. David announced that it was time to land.