March 17, 2025

St. Patrick’s Day

Olakira Migration Camp Ndutu, Serengeti National Park, Sinoni, Tanzania

Good morning. It is clear but still very dark at 05:00 when we get our wake up knock at the door. We hope out of bed and prepare for our balloon safari. Layered clothing are the call for the day. It is cool in the morning but will warm up as the sun joins us.

05:25 our guide walks us out to the front lobby to meet our driver, Suni, who will take us to the launch site for the balloon. It takes about a half hour to get there. The road is still slippery and there is an occasional slide sideways as we make our way across the savana.

We reach the launch site just a little after six. We are the first group to arrive. They have begun setting up the ballon when a call comes over the radio, aka “bush iPhone” that the pilot and car have gotten stuck in a mud hole. Part of the crew takes off in one of the Toyota Land Cruisers to get the pilot. An auspicious start for the day.

The other parties begin arriving as we continue to wait for the pilot. Finally, he shows up and they begin testing the wind and temperature conditions. They begin the safety briefing and we each attach a harness around ourselves. This is a little disconcerting. They have you enter the ballon basket while it is still on its side.

In previous ballon rides the ballon is fully inflated and the basket upright when you get in. The pilot explains that here due to the wind conditions we need to start on the ground, add the hot air to the ballon and make a “running” start on take off. We cheerfully climb into the basket, attach the harness and wait for the take off.

We slide along the ground for a minute or so, seems a lot longer, and the finally the ballon takes to the air. We now all get to stand up and begin enjoying the ride across the Serengeti. Up in the air looking down from several hundred feet is simply breathtaking.

The next hour is spent looking down at the herds of animals and gazing across the beautiful Serengeti. We pass over an acacia tree where a Martial Eagle has made a nest. Wow, what an amazing site to see the all white chick in nest from just tens of feet above it. The animals don’t seem to like the blasts from the burners and take off running when the pilot fires them up. It is an amazing journey.

The landing wasn’t bad. We managed to stop just before a good sized water hole. Landing in it wouldn’t have made our day that is for sure. We climb out of the basket but still manage to get mud all over ourselves.

Once the ballon and passengers were secured, they offer a champagne toast before loading us into the Land Cruisers and taking off across the Serengeti to have breakfast. The champagne may have been important before the ride. We literally made our own roads along the way.

We arrived at the breakfast site. A long table with a fancy white tablecloth and nice utensils. More champagne followed by fresh fruit, coffee and tea. Breakfast was either a full English breakfast (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, grilled tomato and baked beans) or an avocado breakfast replacing the eggs with avocado. After breakfast it was back into the Land Cruisers and off to our various camps.

We were taken to the airstrip at Lake Ndutu where Hansani met us and drove us back to camp. We made it back to camp just about 11:00. Returned to our cabin and changed out of our dirty clothes and turned them over to the staff to wash.

13:00 was lunch. We weren’t really hungry, but dinner won’t be until 19:30 so we ate a little. It was pork wienerschnitzel, carrot and ginger salad, a couple different sauces for the wienerschnitzel and baked beans.

Then it was off the the cabin for a shower and rest. We were supposed to go out again with Hansani for another look for the leopard at 16:00 but Mary was still sleeping, so we begged off. I worked on my blog and Mary finally got up about 17:00. We did our DuoLingo before heading off to dinner.

Yesterday I forgot to mention that we saw a Hammer Cop or Hammerkop (bird). The name comes from the shape of its head. It has a long bill and crest on the back of the head which is really reminiscent of a hammer or handheld pick. The Hammer Cop builds really enormous nests, which is how we first noticed them. A nest can weight several under pounds and several internal chambers. Interestingly they love building nests – even if they aren’t going to use them for breeding.

Dinner was out on the lawn in front of the dinning room around the campfire. It was a chicken curry, rice, and vegetables. As usual very good. The old problem is they didn’t even bring the soup, potato leek, until after 20:00. We didn’t finish dinner until almost 21:00. Way too late to eat.

Buonanotte e caio, Enrico e Maria