Overview: Balloon Safari over the Serengeti
For the next hour (flight times vary from 50–70 minutes) you drift above the plains with the winds, tracked by the ground crew in their vehicles. Depending on conditions, you may fly high over the forest, peering into vultures’ nests and watching baboons waking in their tree-top roosts, or swoop just a few metres above the dew-covered grass as zebra and antelope scatter. Skilled pilots can follow streams, to glide just yards above snorting hippos or prides of lions taking water, and skim the savannah low enough to capture aerial wildlife photos. However for much of the flight, you’ll soar like a tawny eagle through the dawning landscape as the sun transforms from a burnished orb on the shadowy horizon to a brilliant disc above the plains. You may have other balloons – often strikingly patterned – accompanying your flight.
Landings vary: as you descend, the balloon may drag the basket onto its side, leaving the passengers grasping the rails in a giggling cluster of arms and legs; or if the breeze is kind your pilot may execute the perfect finish, setting the basket upright onto suitable ground as the balloon collapses neatly to one side.
A full bush breakfast will be waiting for you after you land, with photos and certificates part of the fun, and you’ll toast your success with sparkling wine.
You'll then continue your day with game drives and other activities, depending on what you’ve planned with your guide.
Availability: Balloon flights are available every morning, subject to suitable weather conditions. If the flight is cancelled because of poor weather, you will be re-booked on a later flight or your money refunded.
Height and age restrictions The basket height is 1.2m (4ft). Children need to be at least 1.2m in height and can then fly at the pilot’s discretion, depending on their age and maturity.
Please note: Expert Africa only books excursions as a part of a full, Expert Africa itinerary.
- Start location
- Any of Expert Africa's camps in the vicinity of the Serengeti National Park
- End location
- Back at your safari camp
- Meals included
- Full bush breakfast & drinks
- Duration
- Three hours - approx. one hour flight
- Maximum group size
- Usually 16
Ballooning over the Serengeti: Picture Gallery
What to look forward to.
Balloons often fly low over the plains.
You start the experience at dawn…
…with the basket on its side, as the balloon is first inflated by fans.
The pilot is in charge of this process, which takes about half an hour.
Once you're aloft, it's amazing what you'll spot, from lions…
…to birds in their nests…
…and indignant hippos…
After landing, it's time for more photos…
…and a slap-up bush breakfast, with sparkling wine.
Balloon Safari over the Serengeti reviews
19 independent first-hand comments from our travellers.
Ideas for holidays which can include Balloon Safari over the Serengeti
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Other excursions in Tanzania
Inspiration and great ideas for other experiences in Tanzania to include in your safari.
Safari in Ngorongoro Crater
Typically a full day
To drive into the Ngorongoro Crater is to immerse yourself in a renowned wildlife park. Prides of lion and clans of hyena patrol amongst herds of zebra, wildebeest and Thomson’s gazelle, whilst flocks of crowned cranes keep out the way of jackals. Come for elephants with big tusks, too. And then there are the rhino…
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Lake Manyara Safari
Half-day or full-day
Set against the spectacular backdrop of the Rift Valley escarpment, Lake Manyara National Park makes a great safari destination. Here, along with elephant herds and plains game, you’ll find jungle-like forests that are home to blue monkeys, a soda lake tinged pink by flamingos and some of Tanzania’s best birding.
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Olduvai Gorge visit
One - two hours
See for yourself the renowned archaeological site of Olduvai (or Oldupai) Gorge, which lies en route between the Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti National Park. Famed for the discoveries of early hominin remains as well as the Laetoli Footprints, the site offers beautiful views, an engaging museum and potentially the opportunity to visit an active dig.
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Half day or full day
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Two to three hours - afternoon activity
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Half day, two - three hour walk
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Crater Rim Walk
Half day - two hour walk
For some fantastic views, and the chance to see flora and fauna up close, take a walk along the rim of the magnificent Ngorongoro Crater. Led by an experienced safari guide and accompanied by an armed ranger, you will be able to take in the scale and beauty of the landscape from a different perspective.
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Olmoti Crater walk
Half day - two to three hour walk
Follow an ancient Maasai cattle trail on this private hike up the Olmoti Crater, led by an experienced guide and accompanied by an armed ranger. The crater may not compete in size with the neighbouring Ngorongoro Crater, but the birding is good, the mountain views wonderful, and the array of ferns is a botanist’s dream.
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Full day
Experience Africa’s highest mountain – in just a day. In the company of a private guide, hike through the forests of Mount Kilimanjaro’s western side to an altitude of 3,400m. From here, explore the Shira Plateau and its surroundings, perhaps spotting wildlife along the way.
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A chance to catch a glimpse of a unique group of chimpanzees that are in the process of being habituated on Rubondo Island. Trek, in search of these remarkably human-like creatures, follow their calls, and with luck spend some time watching them in their natural environment.
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Balloon Safari over Ruaha
Three hours - one hour flight
Varied and scenically stunning, Ruaha National Park features rolling hills, woodlands, open plains and two wide meandering rivers: the Ruaha and the Mwagusi. What better way to view it than from the air, at sunrise? A balloon safari offers just this, the landscape unfolding below your basket as you float almost silently above.
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