Day 95 Mombasa, Kenya

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What an amazing birthday!!!! I woke at 0400 to begin my balloon adventure over the Masai Mara. My armed escort walked us out to our vehicles at 0500 and we were off. After a short ride and crossing the river on a boat that was pulled by rope across the river, I was at the balloon launch site. The morning was perfect for a nice flight. The only thing missing was my ballooning friends from Albuquerque and my favorite balloon pilot Eric Hodges but…. It was still amazing. I have never been in a commercial ride balloon but this was only taking about 16 people so it wasn’t too bad. The flight was just incredible. Cruising over herds of wildlife was an amazing experience. With the early morning light it was difficult to get photos as we moved along but that was OK. We flew for a little over an hour and landed near the site where they had set up for a big champagne breakfast. We landed shortly after passing over a herd of elephants and the landing was great. Once we got to breakfast I had a nice surprise, very nice birthday cards from my friends and… a couple of diet cokes brought from the ship. Thanks to my traveling companions, Charles, Patsy, Martha, Hanna & Lynda for making my birthday a memorial one. We took an abbreviated breakfast because we wanted to go on a game drive on that side of the river. It was definitely a great decision… the herds of elephants, zebras, giraffes and antelopes were fabulous. We also got a good close up look at some lions and cheetahs which is just mind boggling. We stayed on our drive for a long time (perhaps a bit too long) and just made it back across the river to get back with our guide Moses for a trip to the Maasai village. We stopped for more game along the way to the village and once we arrived we were greeted by the chief and his people. There was dancing and a lot of jumping and it sure was colorful…. Very cool. I loved seeing how they lived and especially seeing the kids. There was a lot of goods for sale and it was a grand time. We left and went back to the Governors Camp for lunch (stopping for wildlife along the way). Lunch was great as were all the meals. After lunch it was time for one last game drive on our way to the airstrip to head back to Mombasa and the ms Rotterdam. The trip was more than I could have possibly imagined. What a great birthday!!!!