Most Exciting Day Yet! We went to Tanzania!

Monday, Sept. 27, 2010

We went for a BALLOON RIDE --EARLY--over the Masai Mara! Not tethered--just floating through the air on a 16-person basket! What a trip! The basket is separated into 5 compartments--four people in each of the end compartments, and the pilot in the middle compartment. To get into the basket that was turned on its side, we climbed in, sat down on a bench--but, because the basket was on its side, we were lying on our backs! They filled the balloon, and we slowly lifted off and up over the trees and river. When we came to lowland plains, the pilot brought us low to the ground. Now here's the fun part . . . landing. We had to sit down and hold on to the handles. As soon as we were almost on the ground, the pilot said "this is going to be a bumpy landing!" We hit termite mounds--the basket rolled over on its side, we were all on our backs and bumping our heads against the back of the basket (which had padding on it for SHORT people, but since I'm average height, I bumped my head on the wooden rim of the basket quite a few times. ) And yes, they made us sign waivers of liability before flying :-)

We had a champagne breakfast waiting! As soon as we landed, a swarm of laborers arrived at the scene to pack up the balloon. Others took us on a short ride to an area of the plains where they had breakfast waiting!! The table was set near a beautiful Acacia tree--It was all such a SPECTACULAR morning.

After breakfast, we began our journey back from the balloon ride where we met up with our regular driver, Vincent, who is a Masai tribal member and lives in a tribal village. He is 26, has 3 kids, and his family all live together w/his parents in a mud tribal home. I asked Vincent if he had to give a dowry when he married his wife. He said yes: 10 cows. I asked him if that was the usual number of cows, and he said it was usually 5 cows for a marriage. I said "How come you had to give 10 cows then?" He just laughed and said "I don't know, I just did." His English is perfect and of course he wears Olonana uniforms while at work. I asked Vincent if he could drive us to the Serengeti in Tanzania. It was about 2.5 hours over bumpy roads. On the way, we tried to look for a rhino (Sarah and George from England were with us), but with no luck. Sarah REALLY wanted to see a rhino since they're so rare--and I REALLY wanted to see a cheetah since they're so elusive. Once we reached the middle of no where, Vincent stopped, looked out, grabbed his binoculars, and said THERE'S A CHEETAH!!! It was lying beneath an Acacia tree in the shade. He started driving closer to the cheetah. There are lots of park rangers who drive around and make sure the Safari drivers are not driving "off road." You're supposed to stay on the designated roads. However, Vincent started off-roading towards the cheetah! He said that "no one comes out this far" and that "we wouldn't see anyone" (We were half way to Tanzania). We got within 15 feet of the cheetah!! I was DYING!!! Vincent said that cheetahs are not shy, and he was right. I thought that the cheetah would run when we got close, but he just laid there (or is it "lied there?") and rested after his morning breakfast of a wildebeest that was being picked over by a flock of vultures about 200 feet away. Sarah (22 yrs. old) was a little disappointed that she wouldn't be able to see a rhino, but I told her not to give up hope for the rest of the day.

Along the way to Tanzania, we saw thousands of wildebeests and zebras (and elephants, giraffes, etc. and HYENAS) We never saw ANY trucks on the way to Tanzania. Once we got to Tanzania--the Serengeti--the only thing that marked the boundary between Kenya and Tanzania was a white triangular concrete post that said K / T . (Kenya on this side, and Tanzania on this side). The 5 of us posed for pictures (George, Sarah, Vincent, David and I).

Vincent brought a picnic lunch from Olonana and he set up the picnic on the hood of his truck--complete with table cloth and everything. We sat under an Acacia tree in Tanzania and had a wonderful lunch by just watching the wildebeests, zebras and elephants all heading in a line--in the same direction.

On the rocky road back to Olonana, guess what we saw? A RHINO!!!! Vincent spotted it from very far away. The rhino was hidden behind bushes with a baby. Since the rhino was Sarah's wish for the day, Sarah asked Vincent if he could "off road." We were getting close to the Masai Mara, and Vincent was skeptical about off roading since there were more rangers patroling that area. Vincent said he would go up to the rhino really quickly to take a couple photos and then leave quickly. We all got awesome pictures of Mom rhino and her baby. Sarah was so excited that she got her picture of a rhino, and I told her that now there are 10 rhinos in the Mara since Mom had a baby! Shortly after we left the spot, another safari truck came looking for the rhino (the drivers all know that it was the rhinos "territory.") They chose not to off road when they got there and I saw the truck driving away. Shortly after that, a ranger truck came whizzing by us--phew--we didn't get caught off-roading!

Tommorow: Last safari and a visit to the Masai Tribal Village for another tour and I want to get another tribal collar. The collar necklaces are kind of expensive but worth it because they take several days for a woman to make by hand.