Is a Masai Mara Hot Air Balloon Ride Worth it?
You might be wondering if adding on a Masai Mara hot air balloon ride to your East Africa safari vacation is worth it. We did a hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara as an add-on excursion to our East Africa safari trip. If you’re wondering about what it’s like going in a hot air balloon ride in the Masai Mara, or if the Masai Mara hot air balloon ride is worth it, this post has you covered with all the details you need.
Hot Air Balloon Ride in the Masai Mara – Basics
Cost: Prices range from about $400 USD – $700 USD per person, depending on the season you go. We visited in March and paid $500 per person.
What’s included in a Masai Mara Hot Air Balloon ride: Transportation to / from the launch site from your lodging, hot air balloon ride, and a champagne bush breakfast.
What to Wear on a Masai Mara Hot Air Balloon Ride: There isn’t any dress code per se, but because you’re doing this at sunrise, you’ll want to dress warm. We wore sweatshirts and joggers. We didn’t need any hats or gloves and we did not get too warm. Depending on what you’re doing after your hot air balloon ride, you might want to pack or dress in layers.
How Far in Advance to You Need To Book a Masai Mara Hot Air Balloon Ride?
You can add it to your safari package when you book with your tour operator if you know for sure that you want to do it. Otherwise, you can easily do this when you get there! Our guide asked us if we were interested — there was absolutely NO sales pressure at all — when we got to the Masai Mara. I had been internally debating this since I booked the safari, as it was very expensive! Ultimately, this was a YOLO decision and I decided to do it — my sister and I have never been in a hot air balloon before and what better place to do it than over the Mara?
We booked it one day prior to our Masai Mara hot air balloon ride and our guide made the arrangements with the hot air balloon operator. We paid by credit card. You will also need to sign waivers.
We booked our safari via SafariBookings.com which is an amazing safari aggregator site.
My Experience – What is the Hot Air Balloon ride in the Masai Mara like?
Wake up call / Pick up process
Your day starts with a very early wake-up call — I’m talking a 3:30AM wake up time! You will likely be picked up by a driver for the hot air balloon company, not your tour guide driver. We had a few other stops at nearby Masai Mara lodges to pick up the rest of the people assigned to our balloon. Then we were off, headed deep into the Masai Mara in complete darkness. No signs, no lights — just the driver casually navigating the pitch-black wilderness of the Mara like they’ve got Google Maps downloaded into their brain. Honestly, it’s amazing how they do this!
We stayed at the Mara Sopa Lodge during our time in the Masai Mara, and we picked up other travelers staying at lodges in this area.
At the launch site
Your driver will bring you to the launch site — as you get closer to where your balloon is launching, you’ll see a bunch of other hot air balloons being prepped for launch when you’re driving around. Finally you’ll get to the site, where you’ll get out of the car, and see the hot air balloon team preparing to fire up the balloon. You’re given an orientation to loading and unloading from the balloon.
Getting in the hot air balloon
Our balloon held 8 people total but we had 7 total, including the pilot. We had a balloon with one basket — some of the balloons can hold up to 16 people, with partitions dividing the interior basket. The basket is on its side prior to launch, so you climb in and you sit down, but you’re sitting down at an angle. When you look up, you’ll see the fire inside the balloon – it’s pretty cool! There are also handles you can hold on to if you need it, but honestly, we were up in the air before I even realized that we had launched — it’s that smooth!
Riding in the Hot Air Balloon over the Masai Mara
The ride in the hot air balloon is incredibly peaceful. It’s very quiet, very smooth — the only sound you’ll hear is the occasional sound of the burner firing up, which sounds like a blow torch and is used to gain elevation. Turbulence? None. Temperature? Perfect. The altitude doesn’t freeze you, and the burner’s heat doesn’t roast you—it’s that sweet spot of ‘just right,’ even on chilly mornings. The basket is pretty deep – I’m 5’3″ and the basket comes chest high to me, so there is no risk of randomly falling out.
Your Masai Mara hot air balloon ride will last about an hour, give or take. Where you go and how high you go will depend on weather, wind speed and wind direction, all determined by your pilot.
Masai Mara Hot Air Balloon Landing
After about an hour, it’s time to land. The pilot will prepare you for landing — basically, you will sit down as you did when you took off, and you can hold on to the straps inside the basket. The landing will be a bit rougher than take off and how rough it is depends on weather and wind conditions. We got a pretty smooth landing with only a few bumps, but you might get a landing where the balloon will bounce and drag a bit before coming to a stop. Either way, just hold on to the straps and you’ll be fine.
How many animals will you see from the Masai MAra hot air balloon?
This is going to depend on a lot of factors, as you’re viewing wildlife. It will also depend on what season you go. We did this in mid-March, so the low/rainy season. We saw plenty of animals – giraffes, and a pride of lions, all from the air. But it’s very difficult to photograph them from so far away.
Ultimately, we saw more animals from the vehicle on game drives than we did from the Masai Mara hot air balloon ride.
Doing the hot air balloon excursion sacrifices your morning game drive. So you will likely be going back to your lodge after you finish the ride, and not out on another game drive.
Champagne Breakfast in the Bush
Now, it’s time for breakfast! Every Masai Mara hot air balloon ride includes a champagne breakfast in the bush — and it’s really good! After landing, you’ll likely need to get into a vehicle to be transported to where your breakfast has been set up.
Was a Masai Mara hot air balloon ride worth it in March?
I’d say maybe…and here’s why:
The Masai Mara hot air balloon ride itself was a ton of fun – the pilot was friendly, funny and knowledgeable and just riding in the balloon was fun. It was really neat seeing the landscape of the Masai Mara we had driven all around the day before, from above. Seeing animals from this perspective was also really cool — how many can say they’ve seen a lion cub from above?
However, aside from the animals, and only in terms of landscape beauty, the Masai Mara isn’t that incredible. It’s plains, so you’re not going to see anything too spectacular from the air — patches of grass, dirt tracks and trees.
If you’re going for the wildlife photography aspect, dampen your expectations for viewing animals. It’s difficult to get decent photos from the air – and overall, there just wasn’t that many animals to see. I probably took 500+ photos and most did not turn out. However, if you go during the Great Migration, you’re probably going to see many more animals.
I loved the champagne breakfast-in-the-bush after our ride. It was hands down the best breakfast of our entire 3 week trip to East Africa. Everything was really well done. We also had a chance to meet and chat with the other travelers in our balloon, which was fun.
I’m definitely glad we did a Masai Mara hot air balloon ride — it was a very memorable experience, it was well organized, and all the staff were amazing. But it was extremely expensive, and looking back, I wish would’ve done a hot air balloon ride in the Serengeti instead of the Masai Mara. Which leads me to my next point…
Hot Air Balloon Ride: Serengeti vs Masai Mara? Which is better?
We visited Serengeti National Park after we visited the Masai Mara. You can take hot air balloon rides in the Serengeti too — and after visiting the Serengeti, I would say that we would’ve probably seen way more animals from the balloon in the Serengeti than in Masai Mara. There were just so many denser herds of animals (wildebeests, zebras) — yes, even OUTSIDE of the Great Migration season — and getting photos from above of these massive herds would’ve been amazing. However, Tanzania is also much more expensive than Kenya, and I can imagine that the hot air balloon ride prices reflect that.
Overall, if you’re doing your safari during the Great Migration (June – October), I don’t think it would make much of a difference where you do the balloon ride, but if you’re doing this off-season, I would recommend doing your balloon ride in Serengeti if you have the option, as you’ll see gigantic herds of animals like you’ve never seen before! When we went in March, the sheer amount of animals in Serengeti vs Masai Mara was incredible.
Have you ever been on a Masai Mara hot air balloon ride? What did you think?
Wow, this was such an honest and insightful read! A hot air balloon ride over the Masai Mara sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thanks for breaking down the pros and cons—it’s super helpful for planning!
I’ve never considered a hot-air-balloon ride in Masai Mara but your post has given me inspiration to try this alternative way of experiencing Africa.
I never heard for Masai Mara but hot balloon looks like a fabulous experience with its views…
What an incredible experience! I love that it ended with a champagne breakfast! To see that scenery and wildlife from the hot air balloon had to be completely unreal.