Thank-you Deena Alessi-Bowden for encouraging us to do the hot air balloon ride across the Serengeti! We were questioning the price, but the experience and the gourmet champagne breakfast became one of many highlights on this trip.

The early morning start showed that the Serengeti never sleeps. Lions and Lionessess highlighted by the jeeps headlight are a good reminder to not walk around in the dark. our company was Sergengetti Balloon Safaris and 6 loads took off from this location. Then the sun rose in a splash of brilliant orange and red. I won’t lie–I bowed my head and prayed that we wouldn’t land in a sharp-thorned tree or in the middle of a lion pride.

We’d already been on twice a day safari rides, but this was so different from the air. First, I noticed the animal tracks where grass had been beaten down. Lions flanked the zebras to the left and hyenas flanked on the right. We rose up to get a higher view and then drifted down just above the treetops to look at animals closely. There was a hippo in the pool below, but I missed the shot.

Too quickly, it’s time to land.

Before i move on from the Serengeti to our last days in Ngorongoro Conservation Area, let me show you a few of the 105 birds we checked off a list.

up next: Into the largest cauldera in the world