Early rise at 415 for our balloon experience today. Time for a quick coffee and a biscuit then off for a drive in the dark to our take off site.

We met our pilot Frank who loaded us in the balloon basket whilst on it's side. There was 16 of us in total lying horizontal in our little sections of the basket, and then Frank fired up the burners and we dragged along the ground before take off. After that it was a smooth ride as we saw many antelope, zebra, ostrich and wart hog as we soared across the plains.

At max alt we got a real idea of the extent of the serengetti plains extending far beyond the horizon.

After a gentle landing it was champagne and a full English in the middle of the bush.

After that we met back up with Alfred, romi and Jenny and the game drive that followed was incredible. Alfred spotted three leopard, a mother and two juveniles in a tree approx 20 m away. After a good few pics we bid them goodbye only for 15 minutes later whilst stopped right next to a tree we spotted one of the juvenile leopards approaching the tree. He put on a show leaping up the tree in front of us before his brother turned up and did the same.

The thrilling finale was mother leopard turning up dragging a kill which she pulled up into the tree right in front of us. She began to devour the kill and we were so close fluff from the thompson's gazelle actually fell into our land cruiser.

As mother leopard turned her attention to the kids the kill slipped from the tree until the last second she caught it before it fell juggling it back into the tree. Even Alfred was speechless at How lucky we had been with this Particular show.

It was typical that our camera battery ran out before this but it meant we got to experience it all as it happened.

We carried on and saw a lion stalking a kill before it disappeared and we also saw a huge herd of elephant which passed within 5 meters of us complete with a baby elephants. One briefly briefly charged the jeep but Alfred assured us we were never at risk!

In the final part of our drive we visited a hippo pool with approx 150 hippos hugged tightly together with babies on the go. This was fantastic but the stench was almost unbearable from the hippo turds on the go. As happy as a hippo in s*** is the new expression as seen in the photo.

Back to the lodge which we saw in daylight now for the first time. It was an older lodge with plenty of character, a dip in the infinite pool followed by a fabulous buffet diner and we were ready to drop.'an exhausting but thrilling day.