Plenty of adventurers have scaled Africa’s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro, but far fewer have done so in a hot-air balloon. In December, 22 balloon pilots highly experienced in mountain flying completed the journey – among them Caption Abeid Soka, Chief Pilot and Director of Flight Operations of Serengeti Balloon Safaris.
“Ooh it was cold up there!” Captain Soka says of the experience, which was arranged by Josep Maria Llado, Founder of Ultramagic Balloons.
“We took off from Usseri, very near the Kenyan border on the eastern side of the mountain and ascended steeply through the clouds. Within 55 minutes we were above the height of Mawenzi, Kilimanjaro’s second-highest peak, before descending over the saddle and climbing again,” Captain Soka explains.
“By this point were breathing oxygen though nasal tubes, which we had been doing from 10 000ft. This is an important safety measure, particularly with a fast climb. Even the burners needed oxygen, injected through specifically designed ports. After a few more minutes, we were flying over the summit and the crater of Kibo, the highest point on the African continent.”
Planning was meticulous and the pilots waited four days for the perfect weather for the flight. Each balloon carried 300kg of fuel and many landed with only half of that used.
Captain Soka is from the Chagga tribe that call Kilimanjaro home and the mountain of God, and grew up on the southern slopes of the mountain. He has been piloting hot air balloons since 2010, when Serengeti Balloon Safaris sponsored his trip to Europe and America to get his private and commercial balloon pilot licences.
Just last year, he was appointed Tanzania’s first ballooning examiner by the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority.
“Carrying my Tanzanian flag as I looked down deep into the crater was an incredibly proud moment. It was amazingly clear up there; that image will never leave me,” he says.
