Serengeti Safaris From the Air

I’m sure that you all know about safaris on the ground, they are the mainstay of what a ‘safari’ is all about, journeying across the (usually) African bush enjoying the travel, glorious scenery and looking out for the abundant wildlife, birds and plant life that Africa is rightly famed for. ‘Safari’ is, after all, the Swahili for ‘journey’. And conventionally you would think this ‘journey’ would be by 4x4 truck or perhaps on foot.

But what about a safari from the air? Yes, quite often visitors might travel to the more far-flung wildlife areas in a light plane and that’s an incredibly exciting experience, it’s so much more immersive than sitting in an airliner with no idea about what’s going on outside.

What I really want to talk about is a safari from the air in a hot air balloon. That’s as raw and real as you can make it without trying to emulate Icarus. Imagine standing in the open air of a wicker and leather basket, feeling the fresh air on your cheeks as you gaze across the wild lands of Africa in the magical light of sunrise. You may be looking down at the endless plains of Serengeti, hearing the calls of the black bellied bustard in the grass below, or floating over a pod of hippo in the Seronera river, replete after a night of grazing in the adjacent grasslands. You might drift over a pair of honeymooning lions that are completely hidden from view from the ground, or spot a herd of elephants from afar, making their way across the plains. The wildebeest migration may be in reach and you could be lucky to see the ‘hard edge of the migration’ as the leading animals all bunch up, it’s an extraordinary sight and almost impossible to see from the ground.

A safari from the air is also about the views, what a privilege it is to see these incredible lands from high in the sky, being able to pick out the Ngorongoro highlands to the east, or the waters of Africa’s largest lake, Victoria, far in the west, look deep into the Maasai Mara in Kenya or just gaze at the rolling, acacia clad hills of Serengeti.

As almost every single one of our guests tell us, a balloon safari is the absolute highlight of their entire safari, so if you are coming all this way, don’t miss the opportunity to see it for yourself from the air.