On day 2 of our safari we opted for a balloon safari over the Mara plains. This is a one hour hot air balloon ride over the Mara followed by breakfast in the wide outdoors – also called a bush breakfast.

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Early morning drive and boat ride to the balloon safari camp site

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Getting ready to inflate our hot air balloon

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Hopping on board and sailing high

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The view down below

Elephants and hippos from the air

Watching the sunrise over the Mara

Our one hour balloon ride went by too fast! Ready to off-board and have our breakfast out in the wild

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Breakfast at the Mara triangle

There is something truly magical about the African sky!

Hitting the road for the river crossing

After our hearty breakfast and discussing with Paul our guide rather than head back to the camp we drove to the Tanzania border to see if we would be lucky enough to catch the river crossing.

Saw more elephants and giraffes on the way.

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Patience is a virtue when on safari

We waited for over an hour by the river and watched and watched the animals on the other side (in Tanzania) to see if they would ever cross over. it only takes one to start crossing for everyone to follow. Once the crossing starts animals in the thousands and thousands follow. Over 1 million animals make this migration every year! Its a sight like no other.

The river crossing at Sand River

The river crossing or migration from Tanzania to Kenya and vice versa is considered one of nature’s wonders. Every year animals in the millions cross the river after the rains to graze on the lush grass found at the Mara. The migration as it is called can go on for hours, days weeks. An endless number of willdebeest, zebras, antelopes cross the river and along the way some get captured by crocodiles, lions and hyenas as with such a chaotic scene its easy to find prey. We are talking over 1.5 million animals cross over every year!

False Alarm.

After almost 2 hours of waiting as we debated if we should move on to see other animals, the action began!

The wildebeest started to migrate and hung out on the river. We thought the they would cross over but instead they lingered on the river and then started to head back to Tanzania!

Then 45 minutes later this time they actually crossed the river, in the thousands!

The crossing can go on for hours, even days

After watching the crossing for more than an hour we headed back as we still had a long drive back to the camp. Diid you know, the crossing went on for hours! It was still going on the next day. That’s how many animals migrate over each year after the rains.

Heading back after a show of a lifetime

We could have stayed and watched the migration forever but had to head back as it was going to take us more than 2 hours to get to our camp. Saw more animals on the way 😆

Taking a short cut via boat to cut down on our time getting back

Sundowner by the hippo river to celebrate a phenomenal day!

Family pics at sundown

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Photo with our two amazing guides!!

I love the dramatic sky in this country!!!

The colors are incredible!!

I hope you enjoyed a look at day 2 of our safari in Masai Mara.

Tomorrow’s Post – Day 3 of our safari – looking for the elusive cheetah and leopard!