Serengeti Hot Air Balloon Safari at Sunrise with Breakfast

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.00 (6 reviews)

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1/18

Duration1h 30m

GroupUp to 49

LanguagesEN · FR

PickupAt your hotel

Floating Over the Serengeti at First Light

You're picked up before dawn, briefed by the pilot, and lifted into a hot air balloon for a one-hour flight over the Serengeti's plains and herds. The pilot controls altitude so you float from treetop to high altitude, then land for champagne and a full English breakfast served in the bush before returning to your lodge. No transport, entry fees, or meal logistics to arrange yourself.

1h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Serengeti hot air balloon safari

Be collected from lodge at 0500hrs
Transfer to Maasai Kopjes for briefing
Meet pilot and watch balloon setup
Balloon takes off at dawn
Float over Serengeti plains
Enjoy aerial game viewing for one hour
Land and celebrate with champagne
Have full English breakfast in the bush
Receive certificate
Drive back to lodge

The Experience

A basket lifts off the ground as the sun breaks the horizon, and it's you inside it, rising above the Serengeti plains. The guide collects you from the lodge at 5 a.m. — early enough that the air is still cool and the animals are moving — and drives you to Maasai Copjes, where the pilot waits with the balloon already laid out on the grass. There's a briefing, a walk around the envelope, and then you're stepping into the basket before most of the park is awake.

The flight lasts about an hour, and the pilot controls the altitude so precisely that you'll skim treetop height one moment and climb high enough to see the curvature of the plains the next. Below you, herds of wildebeest move in patterns you couldn't see from the ground, and if the timing is right — June through October is the sweet spot — you might catch the great migration itself. The wind takes you wherever it wants; the pilot doesn't fight it. You're just floating, watching, and occasionally the radio crackles with another balloon's position somewhere else in the sky.

When you land, there's champagne waiting and a full English breakfast laid out on linen tablecloths in the middle of the bush — the kind of thing that feels absurd and perfect at the same time. After you eat, you get a certificate, and the driver takes you back to the lodge so you can carry on with whatever else the day holds. The whole thing, from pickup to drop-off, is arranged; you don't negotiate transport or timing or where to eat.

The dry season runs June to October, and that's when the flights are most reliable. Rainy months still have balloon rides available, but weather can cancel them — heavy winds or downpour means the balloon stays on the ground. It's worth checking conditions if you're traveling in March, April, or May.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off from your Serengeti lodge.
air-conditioned vehicle transport to and from the balloon site.
pilot briefing and one-hour hot air balloon flight.
champagne and full English breakfast served in the bush.
flight certificate.
all fees and taxes.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Tanzania Serengeti Safaris

Is this one for you?Book this if you want the signature Serengeti experience without arranging your own transport, timing, or meals — the early pickup and fixed schedule are what make a full balloon flight and bush breakfast possible before the rest of your day begins.