Mara Balloon Safaris pioneered game-viewing by hot-air balloon in Africa. Today they operate from Governors' Camps. They have some of the world's most experienced pilots flying some of the world's largest balloons. And their distinctive colours are known the world-over. The adventure begins just before dawn. Flames from the balloon burners light the darkness as the crews inflate their craft. The first, pink tongues of sunlight flicker across the skies and the balloon fills then rises.

Suspended in a basket beneath the rainbow-coloured canopy, you're off for a game-viewing adventure with an entirely different perspective. The thing that amazes most first-time balloonists is the absolute stillness, the silence as you float above the plains, the forest and the rivers of the Masai Mara. And if you've flown elsewhere, you've seen nothing like this. The sounds below drift clearly upwards: a lion's roar, elephants crashing through the bush, baboons perched in the tips of the trees startled and screeching to see something above them.

For an hour or so you drift wherever the air currents take you. If you're lucky you'll climb high above the Mara for the view of a lifetime. Then Mara Balloon Safari finishes with a flourish. In the time honoured tradition of balloon flights the world over you toast your return to earth with a champagne breakfast.