Sitting in the reception at the Aruba Mara Bush Camp, occasional wafts from the non-flushing toilets were just an added bonus whilst I waited for the truck to return from their game drive... for 2 hours! Made bearable by the fact that I was alone because I'd been on my BALLOON ride over the Masai Mara! Left at 6am, Heath walked me into the darkness as two African men appeared from nowhere and said they were collecting me for the balloon ride a wee bit scary, but I was told to follow them nonetheless, and they did turn out to be from the balloon company. Luckily! Had to jump in the balloon with 3 tall men, managed to swing myself in with a smidge of decorum... I think!! Very strange feeling as the balloon ascended, kept waiting for something to happen! Fair to say we went quite far up, so much so that I didn't lean over the basket too much! Saw some hippos , vultures, antelope, giraffe, and the migrating zebras and wildebeest!

After the ride our pilot took us on a small game drive towards where we had breakfast: rolls, sausages, fruit, and apple strudels (?!)... Oh and Champagne of course darling! Although after 3 glasses that I felt I should have simply because of the price I'd paid, my head felt a little woozy (it was only 8am!) and so I switched to the hot chocolate. On the drive back to camp I fell asleep, not the best form to take when you're in the Masai Mara, but hey ho! Got my certificate for the flight, made sure he spelt my name right too! Took some photos, but the balloon had a camera attached that they took pictures with and then sold for $30 to us!

Back to reception smelly Masai guard sitting with me the whole time, which was sweet, but a can of deodorant wouldn't have gone amiss. I thought they'd have special plants or something at least that they could use for fragrance... apparently not.

Went to a Masai village yesterday, more smelly people, but it was quite cool to see them do their traditional dancing and show us around their homes, although after a while staring at the children playing in the dirt whilst the rest of the group took pictures it seemed a bit sour. I know they got a fee from us, but it was still a bit queer. I'm sure they were happy enough with the visit though, as most people got dragged into buying something: stingy old me did not! Did I mention how much that balloon ride cost?