22:35, Tuesday, 12 July, 2011


This morning we four IRES girls set off to ride in a hot air balloon! JP, the balloon pilot friend of Fisi Camp, took us up for free because he needed more people to weigh down the basket. So essentially, we didn’t have to pay for something that would normally have cost us about $400. It was so nice of him, and what a gorgeous ride! The sensation of floating in a basket over endless stretches of African land is miraculously unforgettable. Our bird’s-eye view revealed the migration in the distance across the river: so many wildebeest! They looked like a thousand little bushes dotting the plain, all the way to the horizon beyond. The winding, twisting, and intersecting paths of elephants and hippos were visible in the long grass below. A couple of our hyenas loped along the paths, impossible to ID from such a height. We rode over the land of Happy Zebra that took my breath away from the ground, let alone the air. The plateaus and escarpment and snaking river lined in trees were just unbelievable. If only pictures did justice.

Slight aside- for some reason the animals haven’t habituated to the sound of a hot air balloon, even after all of these years of balloon safaris. It really scares them, which bothers me. But I suppose the money from the balloon rides goes into supporting the conservancy where they live, so perhaps it balances out.

We tipped over onto our side when we landed, and just like on BEAM, had a champagne breakfast afterwards. While we were eating in the middle of the savanna, straddling the border between Kenya and Tanzania (we got pictures standing in two places at once at the border marker), we met some wonderful people. Ian and Joyous were from Germany, and Shrenell (sp), her husband whose name I didn’t catch, and their son Alan from England. Shrenell’s husband was born in Mombasa, and they were taking Alan on a tour of where he grew up. All of them were so interested to hear about hyenas, and told us afterwards that they no longer thought of them as mangy scavengers. I suppose you can only change one mind at a time, so that was progress. Shrenell and her family might actually come visit Fisi Camp!

We opted to go on a game drive on the way back. Janie, Lia, Adrianna and I stood up through the pop-up roof pretty much the whole time, bathed in the wind and exhilaration. We saw a cheetah! I said a prayer that we would since they are Alan’s favorite animal, and he hadn’t seen one yet. I was doubtful since we had only seen one very briefly three times in the last month, but God delivered, as usual. We also saw a parking lot of thirty hippos. Yes, a parking lot. It was ludicrous the way they were all lined up perfectly along the edge of the Mara River in the same direction, noses to the bank opposite us. I wanted to run across their backs; it totally would have been possible if they weren’t, well, hippos. A few were lying on the bank, including a plump little baby. Very near the hippos was a large crocodile, the teeth lining its crooked mouth visible even though its jaws were shut tight. A little ways further up was...a JUVENILE CROCODILE! It was superb to see a little croc. Somehow I just always picture crocs as being too frightful a creature to ever have passed through a baby stage. That baby made crocodiles seem more human (which is a bit unfortunate since they are in fact crocodilians).

When we returned to camp, Adrianna and Janie couldn’t find their shoes that were left outside beside their tent the previous night. We began to look around, and soon found little pieces of Janie’s favorite running shoes and sandals; one of Adrianna’s sandals was missing altogether. Hyenas had come and chewed them up. Janie felt bad about her shoes, although she kept telling herself that she shouldn’t get so upset over material things (I love this girl). But I told her that I bet not many people can say that hyenas in Africa chewed their favorite pair of shoes up, which seemed to help a bit. Philiman is going to try to repair Janie’s sandals with some old clothes as straps.

Alice joined us for dinner this evening after obs, and I was entrusted with driving her home in the Maruti. (The conservancy where she stays is just up the road by the lodge, Dad.) It was a little nerve-racking when we came upon some hippos at the end of the driveway, but Alice assured me it would be fine if I just drove past them, and she was right. It was so odd on the return trip, just me in a car on a road where I could run into any sort of animal imaginable. It was quite the sensation, even if it only lasted for about three kilometers.

I am exhausted from getting up so early all the time; I cannot wait to sleep!