Away

I can now safely say that I have NEVER been more frightened. I booked a night away at Heia Safari as part of a birthday package.
We started saturday morning at 4am - fetch Pat and Eddie, thenoff to DE WILDT Cheetah Park tour at 8.30 am. It was amazing. The Cheetah is such a gorgeous graceful cat. We saw the enclosures, and even went into an ares where they are free and we could see them up close. One of them hissed and spat at the guy who was opening the gates for us. They know food is coming so follow us until they are fed. We got to have a photo shoot with one of their ambassadors. Stunning.The wild dogs reminded me of Benj with their crying and the hyenas close up, were not half as ugly as I would have thought.
We then booked into Heia Safari, had a game drive, saw Rhinos and hundreds of buck of various species. Heia is one of my favourite places , soothes the soul.
The sundowner at the hippo pool was a good end to the day.
Off to supper and bed.
Sunday morning 4am we got up to prepare for the big event.
Balloon trip. Pat,Eddie and Andreas loved it. I have never been so frightened.
While the flight is so very peaceful, and at no time were we in any danger, the height was my undoing. Over the tree tops , I was fine, and loved the views.
At 5400 feet I found it hard to breathe and all I could do was control the panic.
Thankfully the trip was an hour, and in that hour we only went that high three times.
Coming down, and heading for a landing , and finally I could begin to wipe my streaming sweat streaked hands off.
It was all worth it, and I can say I did it, but I won't be doing that again.
It was an adventure, and I am so glad that it was enjoyed by Andreas, as thsi was the point after all.
So - feet on the ground, champagne and orange juice.
Breakfast back at Heia, and we finished the weekend off with a visit to Glenburn. Where this fairy tale that I live called marriage all began. How beautiful it still is.
How lovely to get away - seemed to be so much longer than one night.
Soul food.