African Safari - 2026
Tuesday 6 October'26 - Masai Mara Game Reserve (Kenya)
An early rise, 0430, as we were booked on a balloon flight with a pick-up at 0530. After driving to the launch site and experiencing the beautiful sunrise, we "jumped" into the basket for take-off. Unfortunately, the wind had increased and after a few aborted attempts, it was called off so back to the hotel for breakfast and an 0830 pick-up for the next safari ride. Once again, we encountered some lovely little furry friends, this time Dwarf Mongoose. Now folks, I don't think I need to explain/label the animals going forward, unless of course it is something new... So off we headed for another 5 hour (minimum) journey of discovery. We came across a Marabou Stork, a Steenbok, a Black-headed Heron, a Vulture, a Ostrich family, herding their chicks across the plains and finally a pair of cheetahs.
Then it was back to the hotel. During dinner, our guide, who had been negotiating with the balloon guys to get us on tomorrow morning, contacted us and said it was a goer if we wanted to do it but it meant some small changes to tomorrow's itinerary. That being that we needed to check-out before the 0530 pick-up and leave our bags at reception. He would come and get them and meet us at the nearest national park gate, after the balloon flight and bush breakfast. The balloon guys would transport us to the gate after we had finished with them, so 🤞.