February 18, 2000 Arusha, Tanzania - Pallson's Hotel We arrived at the airport around 6:30am. Savuka had sent a representative to pick us up. It wan Won Jow, the driver and guide that I had last month. He took us to the hotel I had my motorcycle stored at, and I picked up some more film. I greeted the employees at the hotel who had remembered me from my long stay over a month ago. He then drove us to the office, and we settled up our payments for the upcoming safaris that I had arranged previously by fax and e-mail. Our first safari was going to be in Tanzania. Since we had already missed the 8:00am shuttle, we went back to the hotel to check in for a rest until the 2:00pm shuttle to Arusha, Tanzania. The shuttle bus was a small bus. While not a luxury bus, it was far better than a matutu which is what most locals would take. A matutu is a white Nissan van which would carry nearly as many people in a third of the space. We stopped at the border crossing. Kenyan side just stamped us out. However, on the Tanzanian side, all the luggage was unloaded, and a Tanzanian looked through each bag. Basically all he did was, open the luggage, touch an object, and zip it up again and write an "X" on the bag in white chalk. While most of the people on the bus were foreigners, Sharon and I were the only Americans. We were charged $50 for a visa. When I showed signs of disbelief, the clerk pulled out a book which had written down what citizens had to pay what for a visa. [Later note: I met a Chilean who had to pay $30] On the positive side, they told me it was multi-entry. The shuttle bus arrived in Arusha nearly five hours after departing Nairobi. It stopped at the Novotel hotel parking lot. The area the shuttle bus pulled into was surrounded by chain linked fence which seemed odd. The entrance to the fenced in area had two guards. People stood along the fence looking in. It seemed very strange. While the bus was unloading, all of sudden there was a commotion going on behind me. While a guards back was turned, a local had tried to run in to the fenced in area, however he was caught and escorted out again by guard and a civilian. People that stood along the side appeared to be taxi drivers, hotel solicitors, and hawkers. I suppose they wanted a secure area for the luggage to be unloaded from without worry of locals walking amongst. Before Sharon and I got off the bus, a man stepped on looking for "Mr. Dave". When no one replied to this summons, I took a chance that Mr. Dave might be me. I was correct. I was informed that I was to be introduced to the Savuka (our safari company) representative for Tanzania, who had come to pick us up in our Land Cruiser that we were to tour in for the next five days. He took us to the Pallson's hotel which at the price we thought we would be paying of $40, was a dump. However since the Tanzanian tour company picked up the bill, we didn't complain. Their hay-day had passed, and it was clear that the owners had never reinvested in upkeep. February 19, 2000 Lake Manyara, Tanzania - Lake Manyara Lodge Our driver Sharon and I were the only ones in our White LandCruiser. There was another couple that was suppose to join us, however they had just finished climbing Tanzania, and so opted not to start their safari the day after. While still in Arusha, I pointed out to our driver that both his forward and rear gas tanks fuel gauges were reading past empty. He said they didn't work, and however he was going to top off before we leave town. Two minutes later as we were stopped ready to turn on a hill, he backed the car down the hill with the engine off, With a big embarrassed smile he said we were out of fuel. He ran off to get a small bit of fuel in a can. Of course, not being a gas engine, he couldn't just turn the starter over to get it going again. Since it was diesel, he had to get under the hood and manually pump the fuel back through fuel line before he could attempt to restart. He hopped back in the car still looking embarrassed and said "This will not happen again." We pulled into a gas station and he added 170 liters of diesel fuel (90000 Tanzanian shillings). This filled up the combined forward and rear fuel tanks. diesel is currently 530 Ts (Tanzanian Shillings) per liter gas is currently 560 Ts per liter. 795 Ts = US$1 As drove to Lake Manyara, we passed through the town called Mosquito river, which is named that for good reason. situated near Lake Manyara, we did have a lot of mosquitoes pass through. List of creatures seen on our game drive.... marabou stork olive baboons silvery-cheeked hornbill - cool looking bird... common here too. crowned hornbill vervet monkeys giraffe (~12) red-billed oxpecker zebra sea gull - not sure what type giraffe blackened with about 24 red-billed oxpeckers on it impala blue monkeys several several silvery-cheeked hornbills monitor lizard 2 water turtles yellow-billed egret helmeted guinea fowl mouse bird - possibly blue speckled mousebird buffalo Long crested eagle warthogs mom and dad and 5 piglets... later 3 more Egyptian geese (10) dik dik - 3 - 2 males fighting over one female 1 male ostrich ring necked dove Defassa waterbuck (1) drinking water in a spring Excellent view of the lake below from our lodge... With the binoculars from our rooms balcony,, I could see herds of buffalo and a herd of zebra grazing near the edge of the lake. A half dozen marabou stork stood along the waters edge. While I couldn't be sure, it appeared as though about three flocks of a half dozen each silver-cheeked hornbills flew by. Dinner was typical for a lodge. Wine by the bottle was way overpriced as well as water. The lodge shop was 2-3 times more expensive than the expensive ones in Kenya. Prices were in US$. [This turned out not to be typical for Tanzanian lodges, just this one] Note: The air is dry. Together, Sharon and I consumed over 5 liters of liquid for the day, and we were not doing anything strenuous. The locals expect "the short rains"to come any day now. However the big rains come in April. In between is when they will plant their crops. In this region people grow corn, wheat, barley (for beer), and coffee February 20, 2000 Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania - Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge Left at 8:00am for Ngorongoro crater. We ascended to the rim of the long extinct volcanic crater up to 2365 meters, Inside the base of the crater is 1680 meters. There is a large shallow lake with brackish water which the flamingos feed in. The large animals graze on the grass in the base of the crater, get their salt from the lake, and drink fresh water from the streams that feed it. Along the well worn animal paths and the safari vehicle paths, I could see that just under the grass is a white volcanic ash. In some places the trails are red ash. If what they said was true at Olduvai gorge, the white ash was laid down over the last 100,000 years, and the red from as long as 500,000 years. Ngorongoro turned out to be an excellent area for spotting a variety of animals. Animals that require trees were not to be found (leopards and giraffe) The only elephants that we saw were on the outside of the crater rim. Animals spotted at Ngorongoro crater: elephant common fiscal (bird) wildebeest (brindled gnu) common zebra Grant's gazelle African buffalo Thomson's gazelle warthogs ostrich (many) gray crowned crane (many) white egret spotted hyena blacksmith plover (bird) greater flamingo lesser flamingo black headed heron common golden jackal hippo Egyptian geese Northern choveler (except male has a more purple/black head rather than green) sacred ibis - breeding adults two groups (3-5 in each group) hartebeest beast pride of 11 lions just gorged on a buffalo lying around with distended stomachs - later saw three more 1 female, 2 male. In total 14 for the day. black rhino with baby kori bustard eland herd heuglins masked weaver or more probably speke's weavers black kite Augur buzzard Abdim's stork (2) black crowned night heron (probably) gray heron helmeted guinea fowl We stayed at the Ngorongoro Sopa lodge which despite the large French tour group, was a nice place to rest at the end of the day. Our spacious bantu (hut) had a curved bay window 8 feet high by ~15 feet wide overlooking the crater below. There were two rocking chairs and a table for just hanging out looking over the crater. It was wonderful waking up in the morning as the sun came down from behind, and lit up the crater. As the sun ascended the Eastern crater rim, I could view the rapidly retreating rim shadow and see the crater light up in a orange/pink hue, all while still lying in bed. Note: breaking out in sweat only after one has had a drink February 21, 2000 Serengeti, Tanzania - Lobo Wildlife Lodge Visited Olduvai gorge and museum where Leaky discovered foot prints dating back 3.6 million years ago. It's a strange museum that feels like they get a lot of traffic from tourists. The museum has a few skulls on the wall of extinct species, and a simple explanation of the significance of the area. Leaky discovered a set of well preserved foot prints in volcanic ash that of some humanoids that walked upright 3.6 million years ago, which is currently the oldest evidence of anything resembling a human. I think I might have appreciated this museum more if I hadn't been to the Kenyan national museum where the Leaky's put together a much more informative display. We entered Serengeti at the Naabi Hill entrance and passed through Seronera area of the Serengeti. Turaco (Ross's or Hartlaub's) waterbuck male and several females. osterich Thomson's gazelle - 1000's grant gazelle - 100's superb starling - dozens of them at the park entrance giraffe- including a sleeping giraffe with head curled. zebra - 100's- 1000's wildebeests - 100's hippos cheetah (2) resting in the shade of the tree leopard panting up in a tree with a half eaten gazelle in the tree elephant helmeted guinea fowl two tawny eagles lioness - Sharon spotted the head popping out from behind a bush Bohor reedbuck lions - 2 females, 4 cubs, and one dead buffalo topi - herd of about 10 warthogs vulture impala rock hyrax - everywhere vervet monkeys I witnessed elephants gouging their tusks into yellow acacia trees separating the soft bark from the tree trunk, and then pull it off the rest of the way with their trunk. They would then eat this. Elephants are pretty rough on trees. In addition to peeling and eating bark, They sometime will munch on the acacia branches, thorns and all. Sometimes they will knock down trees just for the heck of it. They can have a pretty devastating effect on a clump of acacia trees. The last 80km or so, we crossed North Eastern Serengeti. It was surprising how few wildlife there were this far north at this time, compared to further south around the Seronara area. At the Lobo wildlife lodge, they have a sunset viewing platform on top of the highest boulder overlooking the great plains below. Very nice, but I still think most sunsets are over rated. While the Lobo wildlife lodge's rooms are nothing special, the dining hall, bar, and pool are really well done. It's completely designed around an outcropping of boulders set in the Serengeti plain. The architect really did an excellent job designing a well lit nature lodge that feels remote,natural, comfortable and is aesthetically pleasing. I came back and took a shower to remove all the trail dust of the days safari. Sharon had already done so while I was out checking out the sunset. While I was in the shower, a clerk knocked at the door looking for another guests misplaced luggage, seeing if it was delivered here by mistake. On Sharon's way back from answering the door, she got what she thought was a splinter in her bare foot. It turned out to be a piece of glass that had been wedged in between the cracks of the hard wood floor. While it wasn't large, it did need some treatment. All of my first aid supplies, I thought were back on the motorcycle in Nairobi. I went to the front desk to ask for some disinfectant and a band-aid. They were very concerned, and despite only wanting the supplies said they would send someone. Five minutes later, a nurse and a hotel clerk showed up at the door. Sharon wanted to treat herself rather than have a nurse treat her, so I took the supplies she had, and told her I would return them later. Sharon saw what they had brought, and was disturbed enough to refuse to use them. There was a unmarked bottle of what looked like mecurichrome, an unwrapped roll of sticky bandage, an unwrapped wad of cotton, some old scissors, all in a not so clean stainless steel bed pan. At first I didn't understand her resistance and thought her to be squeamish beyond her own good. She washed her wound out with drinking water, and put some sticky bandage over it. Her foot was fine the next day. The hotel staff was concerned to the point of the manager sending over a bottle of their finest Tanzanian wine for dinner. It went well with the buffalo, topi (antelope), and beef that was served for dinner. Chicken was also served. I thought the buffalo was excellent. The topi which was served on spaghetti, i didn't care for. It was very tough, lean and had a hint of gaminess. February 22, 2000 Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania - Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge Our room at the Lobo Wildlife lodge had a glass wall facing East two stories up overlooking the Serengeti. Sharon and I watched the sunrise from our bed. Three buffalos were out our window looking in at us. Lobo wildlife lodge, where we are now, is so far North, near the Kenyan border, that the Mara Sopa lodge in Masai Mara is only 50km (30 miles) from here; So says my GPS. However since the Tanzania government only allows locals to cross at this border, We have to drive back to Arusha, Nairobi, and then to Masai Mara. This will be approximately 18 hours instead of less than one. I'm told that this border crossing was closed in order to preserve Arusha and Nairobi as the safari centers for their respective countries. Today we began heading back. The rocks often have hyrax climbing over them. I saw my first hyrax here. A nice way to think of a hyrax is a bunny rabbit without ears and cotton ball tail. I think they look more like a tailless giant rat. There behavior is more like an intelligent energetic guinea pig. These rock hyraxes have a dorsal sebaceous gland that gives off a scent. At first I was wondering what that slight skunk smell was when I know this area doesn't have skunks. As the day progressed, I began to associate it with rock piles that I could also see rock hyraxes crawling over. It's wasn't to the point of being unpleasant. At it's strongest, it was the equivalent of smelling a dead skunk a half mile down wind. It was cool enough in the morning such that I wanted to wear a long sleeve shirt. For the most part of the day, the temperature was very comfortable. It was only the hot direct sun that made things uncomfortable. We had reservations at the Serengeti Sopa Lodge, however our driver as well as the other locals felt that the following day from the Serengeti Sopa back to Arusha by 2:00pm would be impossible. We were able to make last minute arrangements to stay at the the Ngorongoro sopa for tonight. As we drove South over the Serengeti from Lobo, again the wild life really picked up around Seronera. I'm told that it all depends on the timing of the rains. List of animals spotted for the day: rock hyrax impala zebra grant gazelle thompson gazelle helmeted guinea fowl topi wildebeest - 100's huddled up together in the shade of acacias hartebeest giraffe vervet monkeys hippos (20) crocodiles (6) Egyptian geese blacksmith plover sacred ibis gray heron banded mongoose (troop of about 12) leopard lapet faced vulture perched in a tree and on ground warthog elephants lions (3) lying on some rocks overlooking the plain cheetah on top of a rock looking out over the plain ostrich Kori Bustard supreme starlings red-billed buffalo-weaver rufous-tailed weaver Marico sunbird The hippos all hang out together in a deep part of the now non-flowing river. about 20 of them all together touching, and seishing eater on to their backs with their tail. A couple meters away, 6 crocodiles lie motionless on the shore, some with their mouths open. We spotted a leopard up in a tree. While we were viewing him through our binoculars and camera lens, he hopped down out of the tree, and then jumped back up with a fresh looking zebra leg in his mouth. He sat on a branch and chewed on it for a while. He looked like he was really getting into it. Having seen so much large animal game, I find myself more interested in spotting and identifying birds I haven't seen before... Over 1400 species in this area. Elephant shmelephant... February 23, 2000 Nairobi, Kenya - Downtown Hotel Again we viewed the rays of the sunrise light up the crater below while lying in bed through our 8'x15' curved bay window in our bantu. Very cool. We left Ngorongoro Sopa lodge at 8:30am so that we could arrive in Arusha to catch the shuttle bus to Nairobi. We arrived at the shuttle bus stop at 1:30pm, a half hour before departure. I told Sharon to get on and find us a seat. All the seats had been reserved with things like bottles of water, bananas, bags, etc. Apparently the shuttle is often over booked. We were fortunate to get a seat by ourselves in the back. Too bad it would be on the Western (sun) side with no curtains, and over a wheel hump, so no leg room and maximum glutimous maximus jostling. Because it was over booked, the isle seats were used. I had a Japanese tourist packed close next to me who sat in the isle. It was not a very comfortable ride. I was surprised by the people on the shuttle. Sitting near by was a bi-lingual French guy who seemed to be travelling with a bi-lingual spanish guy. They both had their satellite phones and laptop computers within easy access, and the French was actually trying to get satellite lock whenever we would stop, supposedly checking for messages. He had bought a second ticket for his backpack to take up a seat, and looked to be the only semi-comfortable person on the shuttle. I read in my International Herald Tribune that on Monday, Nelson Mandela, and other European and American dignitaries met in Arusha. I assume these people must be associated with the press, and stationed in Nairobi. I can only assume they didn't take the airplane because they read the same article I did about Kenya Airway's recent safety record. We spent the night at the downtown hotel, and had Chinese food at the Hong Kong restaurant. Note: While Americans and Kenyans say TanzaNia with the accent on the 'nia', many Tanzanians pronounce it with the accent on the 'zan' as in TanZania. The Tanzanian safari we just completed was booked through Savuka which is based in Nairobi. They subcontracted us out to (2000) World Tours & Safari P.O. Box 12751 Arusha- Tanzania Tel/Fax: 000255-57-500564,504349,508220 e-mail: info@2000wordtours.com or hss@cybernet.co.tz February 24, 2000 Masai Mara, Kenya - Mara Sopa Lodge Woke up early, had a mediocre breakfast at Wimpies, went to the cyber cafe to check up on how the markets back home have been doing this past week, and then stopped in the market so Sharon could pick up some souvenirs to take back home. The Savuka Safari vehicle picked us up at 9:30am from our hotel for a three day trip to Masai Mara. As we approached Masai Mara, we saw: superb starling thompson gazelle grant gazelle zebra hooded vulture wildebeest impala tsetse flies dik dik elephant (dozen) blackbacked jackal banded mongoose secretary bird helmeted guinea fowl baboons two-banded courser hartebeest magpie shrike von der decken's hornbill The tsetse flies are common. They bight hard and fast. Fortunately, they don't all carry sleeping sickness. While we say "TeetZee", the locals pronounce it more like "ZayZay", hence the strange English spelling "tsetse". They look most like a deer fly back home. Other than man, the number one predator of the lion was sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis) caused by the bite of the tsetse fly. February 25, 2000 Masai Mara, Kenya - Mara Sopa Lodge baboon giraffe impala male herd zebra hartebeest lions pride of 9 spread out thompson gazelle topi lilac breasted roller cheetah resting in a bush for shade buffalo crowned plover -- saw this through Tanzanian safari, but didn't know name until now. battleur african wattled plover waller's starling vervet monkey hippos warthog crocodile (4.5 meters) waterbuck ground hornbill leopard good reason to take binoculars park rules... must stay on trails, not on grass, and must stay 20meters away from animals... 2000shilling ($27) fine otherwise... usually rangers are lenient first time. Our driver only cared that he didn't get caught. Factoids from MuLi: sausage tree... the Masai make beer from the fruit of this tree. They mix the fruit with sugar and water and let it ferment. It's considered a strong cheap beer. it sells for 10 shillings a glass, and so for about 30 shillings, one can get drunk... so say MuLi our driver. more info on this.... the sausage tree is used as more like a yeast... When a Sausage fruit is well fermented, it is cut in two. This cutting is specialized to the point of their existing a profession of sausage tree fruit cutter. This expert cuts it down the middle, and the seeds are extracted. The fruit is then boiled, and then it ready to use for brewing beer. The fruit is very fibrous like clothe. MuLi says that where the seeds holes existed in the fruit, there is a kind of acid. This acid is used for brewing beer. This one prepared fruit can then be reused for many years...(10)... From his description I suspect that this is like a kind of vegetable rennet Captain David (balloon ride), says they use honey for this sausage tree drink. There are two varieties of bees (a larger and a smaller one :-) ). The difference in taste between the honey that is produced by these two bees is barely perceptible, However the resulting beer is supposedly quite different. Capt. David says he prefers to skim off the top and strain all of the insect and plant material before he drinks it. Unrelated factoid: there are 42 different tribes in Kenya Elephants are Matriarchal families... usually large groups of mothers or sisters... when males get to pubescent years, they are driven away from the family herd, in that way they insure no inbreeding. They prefer to bath in muddy water. The mud dries on them, and gives them protection from biting tsetse flies. We saw an elephants nursing. We saw ostrich drinking... they fill their mouths with water, then raise their head to swallow. they skim water off the top. They make a kind hissing noise.. MuLi's theory is that there is a long distance between its lungs and mouth, so not much sound comes out. When they do use their lungs and force a lot through, it's like a trumpet. (I'd like to see that) The ostrich have large holes behind their jaw and eyes which I assume to be a large ear opening. We saw the skin and bones of a wildebeest in a tree... obviously it had been an old kill of a leopard, and was still wedged up there During Lunch while the ranger, Marcel and I went to check out the 4.5 meter crocodile, Sharon thought she spotted a snake. She said Muli got concerned because there are quite a few dangerous snakes out here. green mambas, puff adders, spitting cobras, pythons. MuLi says the spitting cobras can spit up to 10 meters (33 feet). He says it's mostly a problem if they hit someone in the eyes. Spotted a very lucky zebra. It had been attacked by a lion today, but lived to tell about it. It's upper hind quarter was all ripped open, and bright red with fresh blood. On the underside it had a deep gash which was now bright pink. The wound outlined the large claws of the lion. In the way it was attacked, the lion was pretty vulnerable to a kick from the hind quarters of the zebra, which may just be what saved it's life. The zebra was now grazing, flicking it's tail more regularly than normal probably swatting flies from it's huge gash. While it looked fine now, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't make it from infection. Flies are really bad out here. And the piles of dung they are attracted to are quite numerous. three lions 20 feet away..one rumbled a lion call, and moments later 3 more arrived... they greeted each other ...got up to do so Having been here at the Mara Sopa over Christmas several week ago with my sister, I had this very pleasant memory of a very nice place. My memory was warmer than I remembered. They had put Sharon and I into what they called a suite bantu. I didn't like it as much as the standard bantu. There were several other things that disturbed me. the two beds were smaller than I remembered, I went to the front desk to do something about it. I told them that I enjoyed staying here so much last month that I went home to get my wife and bring her here. I didn't need two smaller beds, but would rather have one big bed. I said I was talking to Paul (deputy manager) last night at dinner and he said that you were only at 65% capacity. Besides I told them there was no hot water only luke warm, Sharon could faintly smell sewer gas. I also skittishly through in the fact that my plate of cookies was not provided like it was last time. The hot water thing seemed to stick the most. The front desk manager (Harrison) told the clerk "Put Mr. Thompson in the Honeymoon suite... room 99". ChaChing... WooHoo, the honeymoon suite was sweet! Humungo bed on an elevated platform in a double size bantu. Bathroom with double sink, separate shower and recessed bath tub. Colonial antique furniture, a balcony with the best view in the resort, and another shaded eating area. This particular bantu also had the largest manicured garden containing many variety of attractive African plants. On the desk was a hand written note informing us that our personal room attendants name was Geoffrey in case we should need something. And to top it off there was an extra large plate of cookies waiting for us. In the late afternoon after our safari, we sat out on our balcony over looking the valley below munching on our cookies. An enthusiastic young looking Masai came by. He was wearing the awkward looking blue trench coat and cap of a Sopa security guard. He had a Masai bow and three metal tipped arrows. He was on animal patrol. He told us his name was Sow Congkurou and he was there to protect us from zebras, hyenas, and any other creature that might come through. I can just imagine how excited some guest might get if some wild game was just outside their door. Sow Congkurou's enthusiasm betrayed how new he was to his job. He looked silly in a blue trench coat, but I suppose if he was shooting arrows or throwing clubs around the complex wearing traditional Masai warrior clothes, some guest might freak. When our friendly interaction off our balcony ended, Sow walked off through the manicured garden trampling across the succulents and orchids. It occurred to me that a Masai warrior has probably never seen a garden that was planted for aesthetic purposes. Plants in the serengeti are either there to be eaten or walked on. February 26, 2000 Nairobi, Kenya - Downtown Hotel We got our wake up call for the balloon ride at 4:45am, which was delivered by a punctual knock at our door by a security guard. Being pitch black and forgetting that in the honeymoon suite the bed was elevated on a pedestal, I stumbled as I walked off the pedestal and the floor fell out from underneath me. The guard waited by the door. I'm not sure if that's because he heard the loud crash and wanted to make sure I didn't break a leg, or because he thought we should be escorted given that we were in a large game park that animals could just walk up to the bantus. As we were walking down, the security guard shined a light up into the trees and, we saw a silver bushbaby on a limb. It was actually dark gray in color. Our ride to the shuttle left at 5:15am, We were picked up in a military surplus troop transport vehicle made by Land Rover that had a suspension so hard that one's back would break before any part of the vehicle might. The driver started the engine. The turn signal started to blink and then stopped. Then the hazards came on for a second and turned off. The driver was looking for the headlight switch since it was pitch black out. When he seemed to have found the headlights, a big red flashing button with a buzzer lit up, he pushed it and it went out. I thought of the conversation I had with the guy who sold me the tickets last night that said he was the captain. I had asked him how long he had been flying, and got back an evasive answer of "many years..." Driving through in the night along the same trails we had driven over on the safari during the day was quite different. We saw three rabbits as if they were common at night, however we had never seen these during the day. Some impala just lay by the side of the road, not moving from the on coming vehicle as they would certainly do in day time. We saw a topi cross our path. The antelope behave similarly to the deer caught in the headlights back home. We were the first ones in to arrive for the balloon launch. There were to be 14 in total plus the captain. A ground crew of ten prepared the balloon. They wore rubber rain boots to protect the balloon as they walked on it. They had four gas-powered Honda engine hurricane fans to fill up the balloon with air. The basket was laying on it's side attached to the deflated Lindstrand balloon by thin steel cable. The basket was designed to hold 16 people plus captain. It was divided into 5 compartments. The center compartment was for the fuel, burners and captain. The other four compartments were large enough to hold four people each, and allow them to sit on a padded bench. It was a nice basket built for comfortable riding. All the edges were suede leather padded. A car pulled up, and a white guy with a North American accent asked the crew where all the passengers were. He was captain David from Vancouver, British Colombia. I felt a bit relieved since I hadn't had much confidence in the guy who sold us tickets yesterday and later claimed that he was the balloon pilot. David said he had been here two years doing these flights. After he checked over all the equipment, I asked him about flying here. He said it gets too windy during the day, so they only do early morning flights. He was familiar with the annual Danville balloon festival a half hour from my house back home, which comforted me a bit as to how well rounded his experience might be. Another Land Rover troop transport vehicle arrived, carrying a dozen passengers, half of which were elder hostel. The other half being a group of guys all about Sharon and my age. The surprising thing was that they were all American. One of the tourist later commented that you could see which countries economy is doing well. The guy who sold me the ticket had said that usually only American and Japanese go up in the balloon. This is strange since the largest groups I see in the tour lodges are French. Captain David explained the balloon procedures. He wanted to make clear that as they were preparing that no one venture further than the support vehicles parked around us, since in the past they have seen lions very near which often happen to like to hunt around dawn. No one had a problem remembering that tip. Because of the elder-hostel group, the captain decided to pre-load the group. That is, everyone climbed in to the basket while it laid on it's side. The design of the basket made this easy to do. After we were all loaded, and the balloon was full of air, he ignited the burners, and heated the air. He held the burners as if they were a huge flame thrower. The heat generated from them below was incredible. It felt good given the morning chill, however half way into the flight I wished I had a hat. Looking up while he was flaring made my eyebrows feel as though they were curling. The lift off was incredibly gentle. The balloon sat up, and turned the basket gently upright. The crew than detached the basket from the two support vehicles which were use as anchors. The Captain gave another flair and the balloon started to rise. it was so gentle that I had to look down to see the ground falling away to realize I was going up. Very cool. For the most part we were at what I would guess to be 100-150 feet above the ground. (My watch with altimeter died earlier this morning). We floated over topi, zebra, wildebeest, giraffe and elephant. The shadow of the balloon would cross over them and they wouldn't care. They didn't seem to care at all about the balloon. I thought our landing was good. At least it was much softer than I expected. It seemed the captain wasn't as pleased since he didn't spot until it was too late, the several small termite mounds that the balloon basket bounced over on landing. Everyone was so excited having just completed such a cool ride that no one remembered that we're still in the Serengeti. I read the crews anxiety at getting all of us into the transport vehicles before some large animal happens along, and happily obliged. They transported us to a special place still in the park within the shade of a large tree where we were to have what the called our Champagne breakfast. It irritated me that all the balloon outfitters sold their trip with this Champagne breakfast as if the Champagne was suppose to justify the price they were charging. I felt their price justified a case of 1973 Crystal, but somehow suspected I'd get screwed with Asti Spamanti or best case Frexinette. I was surprised to find that they did serve real French Champagne, and something I might expect to pay around $30 for in a liquor store back home. I was too distracted later in conversation to notice the label. Crepes, omelets were made to order, and there was an assortment of fresh pastries. We sat at a long linen covered table in the grass plain, with cloth camping chairs. Afterwards, they shuttled us to our respective lodges. Having never been in a hot air balloon, I thought it was most excellent. A lot of my emotions I think are mixed up in the novelty of this first ride. I was concerned about it only being about an hour long ride, however this seemed to be just enough. I noticed that Captain David had a very friendly way of interacting with his customers. However, his sincere mannerisms often seemed to end just moments too soon as if he resented a subservient role. I thought he might have been in the tourist industry too long with too many transient silly people passing through his life. While flying a balloon over the serengeti sounds romantic, I would suspect the repetitiveness has reduced it to a not so personally rewarding job in a remote part of the third world among a foreign culture. I thought of Hans, the German pilot we met in Guatemala who had flown tourists around in Africa for 14 years. He said he hated it. ---- Dave Thompson http://www.roadkill.com/~davet/worldtrip ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com