By Bob Van Leer

  (SIENNA SPRINGS, KENYA, East Africa, Feb. 7, 1995) - The Masai Mara,seen from a balloon, is a whole new dimension. This morning, Betty and I went for our first balloon ride. Just watching the balloonist and crew getting the big bags ready is an experience all by itself. The balloon, when inflated, is 110 feet high and 65 feet in diameter. It takes a crew of a half-dozen to inflate a balloon. First, the polyester bag was strung out along the ground and attached to the gondola. Then the bag was inflated by air from two large gasoline powered fans.

   When the bag was mostly inflated, we were loaded on the gondola. This was a basket-like affair laid on its side on the ground. It was cut up into several compartments. We got in like sliding something on to a shelf. When all 10 passengers were aboard, the gas burner that heats the air to provide the lift was ignited and the huge bag rose overhead,turning the gondola upright. I noticed the balloon was tethered to a truck for safety's sake.

  Our pilot was named Peter. He is a professional balloon pilot from Napa Valley, CA, who has taken a one-year contract to fly balloons in Kenya. Our group consisted of two balloons. The other pilot was Andrew, from Zimbabwe.

  When the balloon was getting lighter than air, the safety line was cast off and we rose, rather quickly, into the air. The view is something like that from a helicopter, except there is no vibration and little noise. The pilot regulates the height of the craft, and keeps it in the air, by periodically turning up the burner. This makes a noisy blast and talking has to be interrupted during the firings.

  The compartments in the basket held two or three persons and were a little more than waist high which allowed for 360 degree viewing. The Mara is a rolling plain at an altitude of about 5200 feet, surrounded by mountains about a thousand feet high. First, our pilot took us up about 2000 feet above the mountains for the grand overall view. The whole operation is done early for best lift from the air. The sun was just coming up as we lifted over the mountains.

  Then Peter brought his craft down for wildlife viewing. Some of the time we were literally at treetop level, scraping branches at times. Control of the balloon is limited. The craft can go up or down, and the pilot looks for air layers moving in the direction he wants to go. By manipulating flaps, the pilot can rotate the balloon in the air, but he can't steer. There was virtually no breeze, so we did not cover much area.

  From the air we saw a few elephants, several jackals, a number of zebras and lots of impala. Our flight was about an hour. The balloon can carry enough butane fuel for a maximum hour and a half in the air. Peter picked a small clearing and set the balloon down to a very soft landing. Apparently, when there is a considerable breeze, landing can be more exciting.

  The ground crew found us readily. We were in radio contact, and it is difficult to conceal anything 11 stories high. Deflating the balloon was more of a problem than inflating it. As part of the tour, the ground crew had set up tables and chairs out on the Mara and served us breakfast there. Champagne was served before breakfast. According to Peter, this is a ceremony among balloonists to celebrate getting back safely. After breakfast we returned to the camp to rest up before lunch.

GAME DRIVE

  In late afternoon we went for a game drive. This does not mean setting us up somewhere and having the natives drive game to us. This would be considered harassment. Instead, tourists are put into minivans with open tops and driven around the network of roads in the park. But before the drive, we stopped at a Masai village near the park entrance. For a fee, we were allowed entrance into the village compound, an oval area surrounded by a fence of thorn bushes. Inside were the wattle huts the Masai live in and on display were tourist items for sale.

  The Masai put on dances and songs for our entertainment. Masai, both men and women, have pierced ears. I noticed one man who had a plastic 35 mm. film container in the hole in his earlobe. The only animals we saw on this game drive, different from what we have seen before on this trip, were cape buffalo which our guide calls the most dangerous animal in Africa because it is unpredictable.

  One way to see where unusual animals are is to watch for concentrations of minivans. The vans are roaming over all of the park roads. When one guide sees something unusual, he signals his friends, who do the same, and when more than three vans stop at a place, others think there must be something there and stop also.

  On this drive, we saw two solitary bull elephants, and we saw a couple yesterday. Their's is a sad story. At some point the old bulls are driven out of the herd and they live their last days in a solitary existence on the Mara.

  Just as we were returning to camp, it started to rain, and a heavy rain. This presents a small problem for tomorrow. A party of us are scheduled to be flown to Lake Victoria in the morning to fish on the lake. We were to be flown from a primitive strip by the camp but our guide said this was not possible because of the rain, so we will have to return to Masai International, the strip we flew in on, for the flight. Betty was not interested in the fishing, so she is going on a long game drive tomorrow.