22nd March 2010 was a day that had to be marked by some ballooning as it was Sarah’s 40th Birthday!! With the weather in the UK not being predictable at that time of year it meant we had to make it into an overseas balloon trip. We visited Sunbird Lodge in Kenya which is run by Gunter and Othmar – two Austrian balloonists.
The lodge is absolutely fantastic. You don’t have to be a balloonist to stay there. The hospitality is unbelievable, the staff are great, the food is awesome and there are many other things to do as well as go ballooning. Gunter and Othmar fly passengers as well so if you fancied going on a balloon flight we would highly recommend it. There were quite a few people staying at the lodge who were bird watching enthusiasts and the types and colours of birds that we saw whilst there were really unusual. The lake is a salt water lake and has literally hundreds of thousands of flamingos.
We had four great flights flying over Lake Elementatia and the surrounding area which is owned by a English Lord! We saw lots and lots of wildlife including Giraffes, Wildebeast, Zebra, Antelopes of all shapes and sizes as well as monkeys and baboons.
We met some lovely people including Michael who crewed for us whilst we were ballooning.
Our trip was completed with a few days relaxing on the beach in Zanzibar which is another great place to visit. The highlight of our time in Zanzibar was swimming with dolphins on the last day – definitely a trip to remember!
