A Hot Air Balloon Ride

Hello to everyone.  Today I have returned from Masai Mara, which is a wildlife park in Kenya close to the Tanzanian border.  I have been there for the past 3 days, where I got to take part in some of the most incredible things I have ever experienced.  I left on Friday and had to travel on some very bumpy dirt roads for about 5 hours to get there.  But the beautiful scenery, including mountains, trees, fields of wheat and corn, and animals along the way, made the trip worthwhile.  The road is paved for about half the trip, and then it turns to dirt.  As we neared closer to the park, zebras and gazelle would walk in front of or past our car.  It is truly amazing to see all these creatures in real life just passing by your car. 

After arriving at Masai Mara, I took a safari into the park.  Basically, the way it works is that there is a driver who takes you in a van and drives around to find various animals.  The top of the van is open, so you can stand up and look out to see the animals better.  We saw many animals including giraffes, zebras, gazelle, beautiful birds, ostriches, wildbeasts, lions, antelope, monkeys, and baboons.  One of the coolest things was when we saw a cheetah that had climbed up on top of another safari van.  It sat on top of the van right next to the people for a very long time.  In fact, there were 2 small kids so close that they could have reached out and touched the cheetah.

My favorite part of the trip though, was when I got to go on a hot air balloon ride.  I had to wake up at 4 a.m. and was taken on a long trip out into the middle of the park.  From there, they launched the hot air balloons.  When they launch the balloons, the basket part starts out sitting on the side.  So that means I had to lie on my back for take off.  Then as the balloon went up in the sky, the basket slowly tipped forward till I was standing upright.  They use a gas to get the balloon to rise up into the sky.  There were about 12 other people in the balloon with me.  It was a breathtaking sight when we were in the air.  I could see all kinds of animals in the grass below--even a porcupine.  When the balloon ride was over, we landed in the middle of the game park and had breakfast right out in the middle of all the animals.   

At night I slept in a semi-permanent tent that even had a bathroom in the back of it.  We only had electricity in the tent from about 6-10 p.m. and then again from 6-8 a.m.  The whole camp is powered by solar energy.  This morning I took one more trip into the park.  This time we saw a family of 15 lions eating a fresh catch of animal meat.  I also met many Masai people who live near the park.  They are famous for wearing bright red colors, which contrast with the landscape.  They wear beautiful beaded necklaces and shoes made of car tires. I can't wait to show you pictures of the animals and the people when school begins.