On November 7, an expert crew from Serengeti Balloon Safaris completed a world first expedition to traverse the entire Serengeti from east to west by hot air balloon. This unique adventure was joined by the acclaimed TV presenter and conservationist Kate Humble along with a few select clients.

The expedition team arrived in the Serengeti on November 1 where they departed from Central Serengeti’s Gol Kopjes and then, over five consecutive days, they flew westwards before landing on a football pitch in a remote village on the shores of Lake Victoria. Here, the community had never seen the spectacle of a hot air balloon.

Each morning the team flew for roughly two hours in order to make the distance and complete the journey in time. The team made the most of the steady morning weather conditions taking off just before dawn and then enjoying the magical Serengeti landscape from the air, traversing over unseen areas and hidden corners of wilderness.

On landing each day the team were joined by the Wayo Africa expert walking guides as they continued on foot to their mobile Wayo fly camps which moved daily along with the expedition team.

Due to exceedingly high rainfall on their penultimate day, the team were forced backwards and so needed to extend the planned expedition by one day to allow them to complete the journey and land on the shores of Lake Victoria.

The team were joined by friend of Serengeti Balloon Safaris Humble who, along with her award-winning filmmaker husband, captured the magic of this adventure on camera for a future TV commission.

This expedition was effectively a test flight for Serengeti Balloon Safaris who are looking to expand their ballooning expeditions into next year with the launch of a repeat trans-Serengeti journey planned for October 2024.

John Corse, MD of Serengeti Balloon Safaris, said: “On behalf of the Serengeti Balloon Safaris team, we are thrilled with the result from this first trans-Serengeti test flight. It fulfilled a long-term dream of mine to traverse the entire Serengeti ecosystem by air and I have to say the experience was second to none. The feeling of adventure combined with the total peace and tranquillity of multiple balloon flights was incredibly special. We look forward to sharing this experience with others in the future.”