Could I pass up a hot air balloon ride over Serengeti at sunrise? Not a chance!
We rose at 4 am and after very light breakfast (for good reasons) drive to the air field where hot air balloons were being prepared for the sunrise flight.
I watched the workers blow field-temperature air into mouth of the balloon so it would stay open. Then the hot air form the torch could inflate the balloon for take off. The tricky part was to have the balloon inflated just enough with hot air to be on the edge, so when the pilot opened up the touch full blast, the basket would lift off the ground within few feet. Otherwise, it would not be a pretty picture.
Once the basket got off the ground and gained some altitude, it was absolutely majestic watching the sun rising over Serengeti. It was so peaceful and quiet that you could hear the wind passing through the ropes of the basket. And the heat form the occasional quick burns confirmed that I was not in a dream—this heaven was real.
There were two balloons in front of ours and one behind us, all fallowing the river at low altitude, particularly when passing over large pools. These pools and deeper parts of the river were packed with hippos and crocodiles.
I believe this was one of the largest, if not the largest, pool. The pilot knew the location of this pool and dropped down to about 20 feet or so well before we passed over.
As we approached this pool, I tried to doge the head of the guy in front of me to get a full shot of the pool and two balloons ahead of us, but he persistently stayed in my frame, given my 16mm super wide angle lens.
One of the ladies in our tour group was in my box and became the navigator of what was coming up and what should I capture. I was hypnotized by what was flashing through my viewfinder. I wanted to soak in every frame of it—the movie that was playing right under my feet.