Three cheers. We got our first sleep-in. Most of the others were off for the balloon ride at some ungodly hour. After a leisurely get-up we went on a game drive. A highlight of the morning was watching a cheetah slowly close in on a gazelle.

About 11 a.m. we picked up the balloonists at a gift shop (of course) and proceeded on. Stopping by a riverside (with an armed guard) to view hippos we were inundated with a class of school children who as children the world over found getting their picture taken and seeing the result on a digital camera an added highlight to their outing.

We stopped at the Mara Council's facilities to clean up and then like the other animals in the conservancy we found a tree to escape from the sun and had a picnic.

After lunch while gradually making our way back to our lodge we followed the river for a while where we spotted a crocodile. We also made a short side trip into Tanzania as we circled the marker.

Arriving at the lodge a little early so the balloonists could catch up on their sleep gave us a chance to study the plants and birds in the area.

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