We did two balloon flights while in the Mara. The first flight was on the Eastern side of the park and was in the company of another balloon and then the other flight was on the Western side of the park with the landing site close to Tanzania’s Serengeti boundary. This a quiet and pleasant way to see the savanna and wildlife without alarming them unduly.
Another good turnout for this annual event. I arrived at 11.45am for what I thought was the start at Noon to find that the races started at 10am. The Westpac Rescue Helicopter gave a demo of a rescue from the water and shortly after landing were called away to an emergency near Whangamata. All photos are low resolution.
A true gem for wildlife photography, the Mara (as it is popularly known) is well known for the Wildebeest migration as they move from the Masai Mara in Kenya across the Mara river where they run the gauntlet of the lurking crocodiles on their way to the Serengeti in Tanzania. Some of the Wildebeest are taken by the Crocodiles but many are drowned in the melee of the crossing. Zebra accompany the Wildebeest and quite cunningly wait until the Wildebeest …
This is a great park with lots of birds and animals throughout and we could have easily spent more time here. It is also where the movie ‘Out Of Africa’ was filmed. The following is taken from Wikipedia: Lake Nakuru is one of the Rift Valley soda lakes at an elevation of 1754 m above sea level. It lies to the south of Nakuru, in the rift valley of Kenya and is protected by Lake Nakuru National Park. The lake’s abundance of algae attracts the vast quantity of flamingos that famously line the shore. Other birds …
Lake Naivasha is home to a variety of wildlife with over 400 different species of birds reported. There is also a sizeable population of hippos in the lake. There are two smaller lakes in the vicinity of Lake Naivasaha: Lake Oloiden and Lake Sonachi (a green crater lake). The Crater Lake Game Sanctuary lies nearby, while the lake shore is known for its population of European immigrants and settlers. The town of Naivasha (formerly East Nakuru) lies on the north-east …