Despite that the winter in Bulgaria is no different than our “gypsy summer”, Niki Yotov started his annual African expedition.

Niki was accompanied by the bulgarian national paragliding champion – Yasen Savov. They have a few trips planned for the next two months in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Niki and Yasen spent January in Kenya.

Unfortunately the season in Kenya this year prooved to be unusually wet with lots of rain and flooding which made the flying conditions in Kenya difficult for acheiving long distances.

Here’s what Niki shared about the Kenyan trip this year.

Winter is usually dry in Kenya with high cloudbase, moderate North- Easterly winds, dust devils at the bottom of Rift valley and golden grassy Savanna. But it was different now. Indian ocean is more active with convection clouds and rain which bring humidity deep into Africa, Tanzania and Kenya. It might be the warmer waters, but most probably it’s the north winds which bring instability over the ocean. When you win something, you lose something else. And vice versa. The extra humidity and cloud development reduced winds and turbulence and allowed us peaceful flying over famous Kerio valley and Longonot crater with unforgettable landing inside a natural park between giraffes, zebras and antipopes. Luckily the leopards and hyenas are lazy during the heat of the day… Tindering is another crazy experience in Kenya with an important lesson: “Don’t hunt what you can’t kill!”.