Some landscapes cry out for you to take a hot air balloon ride to see their full majesty, and the Serengeti is one such space. But balloon flights take place at dawn for the smoothest rides, which means one has to be up at 3 am for the long bumpy ride to the balloon launch site. Of course there is not much in the way of steering these things, so you go wherever the wind takes you, and staff try to follow the balloon on land so that they are there ready to help when the balloon lands in the middle of nowhere. For this trip, the balloons fly pretty low, just over the tops of the trees, so you can see the animals. But on this morning, there weren't many animals to be seen. Just a couple of elephants, giraffe, a cheetah and youngsters, and hippos in the waterways.
