Hot air balloon safaris in Serengeti National Park are an exciting opportunity to obtain a birds-eye view of the park. Nobody has ever enjoyed birds from the sky more than a helicopter pilot. Unless they were being pursued, of course. If you are flying a helicopter to take pictures or video footage of animals, which is frequent but not the norm, you may encounter a grave peril. Today, thankfully, people may still enjoy wildlife from the skies as it flies over the park. The excitement grows as balloons are inflated before sunrise in Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park. As the hot air in the balloons fills up, they rise above their stored energy and pile into the atmosphere.
The sound of the heating flame, the soft whistling of air currents and the occasional oooh from your fellow adventurers break the silence. It’s freezing up there, so dress warmly! You’ll be lost in the sky in a few minutes as you smile goodbye to your guide, who looks at you with tremendous pride. As morning unveils dazzling colors on the eastern horizon, the area below seems peaceful. The coldness of early morning is the greatest time of day for game viewing, and a hot air balloon provides you with an especially beautiful view of the plains as the earth heats. The balloon can fly relatively low over vast herds (unlike other balloons). The balloon, unlike helicopters and light aircraft, can fly rather low above big herds, making it one of the greatest ways to experience the entire splendor of the Great Wildebeest Migration.
When you return to solid ground, a delicious champagne brunch will be waiting for you, prepared and served on the savannah, the ideal finish to an exceptional and quiet safari experience. When visiting Serengeti National Park, hot air balloon tours are a must-do. Soaring lightly over the grassy plains in the golden light of dawn and observing wildlife from your hanging basket is an unforgettable experience. If you are staying in the Central Serengeti, you can arrange for a pick-up and drop-off at the hot air balloon launch site near the Masai Kopjes from your lodge or camp. The incredible adventure concludes with a champagne breakfast after arrival.
The Serengeti National Park hot air balloon safari can be included with your complete game drive safari on your Tanzania Safari or East African Safari package. Get in touch with our team to explore how we can include this into your African safari experience with us for a better safari experience.
Balloon safaris are certainly expensive. You’ll soar above the treetops in a hot air balloon as the sun peeks over the horizon. Animal sightings are possible at this time. You may even spot some nocturnal predators getting ready for the day. It’s worth the price. On most flights, the pilot will fly sections at high altitudes to give you the best view of the Serengeti. Other sections may involve lower altitude flight time as you may see wildlife near rivers or snaking swamp grass. Highly experienced aircraft pilots can take on any terrain and follow rivers or streams without getting in and out of much larger aircraft or gliding down the side of a floodplain.
Your chances of seeing the Great Migration of Tanzania’s wildebeest and zebra are best between December and March. If you are lucky enough to see wildebeest and/or zebra elsewhere during this time, you will experience the animals together rather than randomly passing each other in the distance. Because most of the migration is grassland, video footage with long lenses is beneficial when observing the animals. How you spend your time in Tanzania matters, as the Great Migration tends to only happen in one place for a short time.
Everyone concerned with wildlife conservation suffers when vessels like balloons are less safe, less powerful, and less affordable. More than 80% of the world’s biodiversity occurs in remote areas like Serengeti National Park, where the operating cost of a hot balloon flight is >= $100,000. This high price has to be compared with the price of a new balloon. The cost of a balloon flight still requires six people to operate it (including the pilot), fuel, and a crew to assemble to bring the toys down from the sky. The balloon must be in top condition and the operators must be paid. We also need the recovery and transport vehicles and the support staff. Transport costs may exceed the funds required for preservation.
Balloon flights depart daily from four launch sites within Serengeti National Park, however, the one adjacent to Seronera flies all year, and (from 25 December to 15 March) in the Ndutu area, the Western Corridor is always more active (from June to October), and the northern Serengeti (from June to October) (from July to October). Please come and enjoy hot air balloon safaris in Serengeti National Park.