Kenyan kaleidoscope

“Hi guys, I am your captain and this is my first flight… I have no control over the vessel and let us hope we are going in the right direction..” I am sure the veteran balloon pilot has been using the same introductory remarks every day for the past two decades, but half of what he said was true.The balloon does not follow his orders, at least the direction of the flight. All he can do is vary the height between 10 feet and 1000 feet as the gentle morning breeze takes command of the vessel and its excited passengers.The hot air balloon safari is an ‘out-of-this-world’ experience, especially when combined with the great natural wonder called the Great Migration of Masai Maara.Imagine a million wildebeest and zebra beneath you, marching in unison, with one single objective in mind - reach the greener pastures on the other side of the treacherous Maara River. From dawn to dusk, the great march continues and the best way to enjoy this natural wonder is from the silent gliding hot air balloon.The Maasai Village tour was another revelation. Speaking flawless English, the head of the village greeted us. “Please pay $ 20 per head and you can shoot whatever you want in my village…!!!” True to the words, no one objected to the cameras trained on them. With at least 50 to 100 tourists visiting their tiny village everyday during the season, the chief must be a very rich man. And he can afford a lot of wives with this kind of money as well. You still need to pay the father of the bride 10 cows. What’s quite surprising is the fact that it’s the first wife who will choose the rest of her husband’s wives! What a lovely tradition! Is someone listening down here…?At every entrance to the national park, you are cornered by Maasai women selling handicrafts. Unless you have a knack in bargaining, you are in for a ride. As some of my teammates learned it the hard way, a curio with an introductory price of 2,000 shillings can be bought for 400 after a bargain. But then, you need to pay 2,000 for the same item in a curio shop in Nairobi. So its a better buy at the production point itself.For someone who is trained in the “art of disappointment”, as I would call wildlife photography in India, Kenya was a refreshing change. While we have to drive and drive for hours inside the wildlife sanctuaries of India before an animal makes an appearance, the great plains of Maara was like a chocolate factory for a child. Animals of all kinds were roaming all over the place and by the end of the first day we had our fill of wildebeests, zebras and impalas. By the third day we were so fed up with wildebeest and zebra that a standing instruction was given to our guides NOT to stop for these ‘ordinary creatures’.The eight-day tour of the Kenyan National Parks of Amboseli, Maara, Lake Nakuru, Lake Naivasha and Aberdares was so thoroughly exciting. The team of seven aspiring wildlife photographers, whom I was leading - Manoj M G, Prof Kunhikrishnan, Rishabh Thomas, John Lionel, Venu Gopalakrishnan, Mohan Kumar, Lekha Mohan - have vowed to return next year.I have already packed my bags for the Great Migration Wildlife Safari 2012 and I am sure many more wildlife and photography enthusiasts will join me next year to witness this great celebration of life called Kenya. For more details, log on to www.inspireworkshops.in.