Do it while you can
Saturday, December 10, 2022 at 09:08AM
I have been enviously viewing a friend’s Facebook posts about her trip to Africa - Benin and Kenya to be exact - with my memories of a long ago trip there and the lesson it taught me stirred…
The NESA (NearEastSouthAsia Council of International Schools) teachers’ conference in 1987 was held at the Kenyatta Conference Center in Nairobi. And I, as a school librarian for the ARAMCO schools in Saudi Arabia, submitted a breakout session proposal (reading aloud to secondary students) that was accepted. So, off to a new country…
I remember little about the conference itself, but I vividly remember the few days following the conference when I “went on safari” in the Masai Mara.
After a long van ride, a small group of teachers was housed in a lodge just outside the perimeter of the national park. The lodge consisted of a large hut-like structure which included the reception area, bar, and restaurant with a dozen or so smaller huts spreading like wings that each contained a couple bedrooms. One’s room was accessed by a sidewalk with bushes growing in close proximity. After dinner when it was time to go to one’s room, a Masai tribesman in native dress complete with a long spear accompanied each guest - just in case a lion should attack.
After supper the first night, a small table was set up in the lobby. A company which offered hot air balloon rides over the park was taking reservations. When I asked the cost, I found it was a whopping $219! At a time when a US teacher’s beginning salary was about $15,000, that was a lot of money. But after a great deal of angst, I signed on for the morning excursion.
Early the next morning when the rest of the tour group was going out in a jeep to look at hippos, I was riding through the dark, dodging hyenas, toward the balloon staging area - an open plain again guarded by Masai tribesmen. As the sun started to peek above the horizon, the brilliant flames of the gas burner began to inflate the multicolored balloon. Rising slowly with the burner’s roar, the balloon grew huge, inflated with buoyant hot air.
About half a dozen tourists were crammed into the waist-high wicker basket along with the pilot. And off we went, slowly and peacefully rising into the brightening sky. Soon the entire plains spread before us. On sighting a herd of elephants, the balloon descended and the elephants lifted their trunks to trumpet at us. We rose and fell as we viewed giraffes, wildebeest, zebras, and antelope. A number of other balloons of different colors shared the sky with us. Any acrophobia one might have had was displaced by awe.
We floated above the open plains for about 2 or 3 hours and then landed near a single tree on an open expanse of grassland where a jeep was parked. The jeep was carrying our champagne brunch and was our game viewing ride back to the lodge. The balloon safaris always landed in the same place and the length of tide depended on the strength of the winds, I was told.
I never once regretted spending the $219 dollars on the ride. Never. I recognized at the time that even at my then young age of 35, I might never have the opportunity again to soar above the African wilds. And although I have been back to Kenya, I’ve not been in a situation where I could float above the world again.
My motto became, and remains, “do it while you can.” And as age slowly takes its toll on my physical strength and mental ability, the motto has become even more meaningful.
Oh, a few other things I learned on the trip:
- Lesson of the Ngong Hills
- Don’t sunbathe on the equator - I got a very bad sunburn the last morning at the lodge.
- It’s a lot more interesting to see animals in the wild than in a zoo, even if from a jeep. Same reason I loved the Galapagos.
Photo source (I took slides of my trip, including the balloon ride, but I tossed them for some reason.)
Reader Comments (4)
"Do it while you can" is a wonderful life motto, one I've tried to follow (not always successfully) and convey to my nieces and nephews. I need to work harder to convince my wife to adopt that philosophy. :)
Like you, I don't remember much about the conferences I traveled to since attendance was mostly an excuse to explore someplace new. While I've never had the opportunity for an adventure like the one you describe, the money spent for that balloon ride certainly sounds like a great investment to me.
Hi Tim,
I consider myself extremely fortunate for the multiple opportunities for travel I have had - and hope I've made the best of them. I still run into people now and then who have never left the state! I've taken both my kids and grandkids on international adventures so I hope the travel bug is one that remains in the family.
Happy holidays!
Doug
My travels may have inspired this post—but we
Did not take the now $700 balloon ride. Even so, the trip was magical. We too had Masai tribesmen escort us to our clamping tent. Every moment was full—of wonder and amazement!
Hi Jane,
From your postings, your trip looked amazing! I too enjoyed the jeep safaris. So happy you had a good trip.
Doug