High altitudes and wild encounters – a family safari in Tanzania
Fraser and Carrie-Ann took their sons, Aaron and Jake, on a three-week family safari to Tanzania. Their journey started high on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro and finished on the savannah, where the family was rewarded with epic wildlife sightings, including the extraordinary spectacle of the wildebeest migration. Fraser shares the stories and photographs from their big adventure with us in this latest blog.
Ten or so years ago, my wife and I had a dream, “when we turn 50, let’s climb Kilimanjaro as a family”
Fast forward to Monday, 28th July 2025, and we were all on a plane to Kilimanjaro Airport – excited yet a little nervous. We arrived in the early hours and breezed through customs quickly (thanks to Jo’s advice to do an online visa application) and were met and taken to our lodge for two nights. Even though we were arriving at the lodge in the middle of the night, everything was very easy and went smoothly.
Waking up early the next day, we fell in love with Ngare Sero Lodge. Set amid 50 acres of forest, built around a beautiful, clear lake and with lush greenery everywhere we looked, it was an ideal starting point for our journey. The main lodge is an adapted colonial farmhouse, and various other buildings are used for accommodation, pool houses, and to service the site.
Lush greenery surround Ngare Sero Mountain Lodge
The staff couldn’t have been more friendly and welcoming, and the food served in the peaceful areas of the garden was excellent. On the first day, we were taken out on the lake by our wonderful guide (Dio), who pointed out the different types of monkeys and bird life that we could see. It felt like a proper getaway. In the afternoon, my wife, sons (aged 19 and 17), and I went on a horse ride around some of the land and surrounding areas – another great experience. The croquet lawn was also the scene of some pretty intense competition.
Before dinner, a representative of Summits and our head guide came to the lodge to give us a briefing and check our kit. It was becoming very real now. We went to bed looking forward to the challenge. We also met Chris, a very friendly American who was joining our climb group. We were very lucky to have him with us – throughout the trip, he provided support and help and was always great fun.
Fraser and Carrie-Ann exploring the lush greenery of Ngare Sero
Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro
We did the seven-day Machame Route with Summits and would strongly recommend both. Climbing Kili was an amazing experience to do as a family of four. During the climb, you see a real variety of landscapes – jungle rainforests, heathlands, alpine deserts and then the snow at the summit.
The altitude affected us more than I had expected; just getting up and walking to the toilet will make you short of breath. And there were times when I didn’t think we were going to all make it, each one of us having slightly challenging periods (well, apart from my youngest, to be honest). But if it’s not hard, it’s not worth doing, and so this made the sense of achievement of making the summit even better. The guides led us at a perfect (“Pole, Pole”) pace to allow us to acclimatise and looked after us at times of struggle and doubt.
Mornings at camp during the climb
On summit night, Aardvark Safaris and Summits had arranged for us to stay at Kosovo Camp. This camp is higher than the one most commonly used, whilst this means that day five is 60/90 minutes longer, it does shorten the time to reach the summit, important for the longest day of the trek. The day before summit we ate an early dinner and went to bed early before being woken up around 12.00 am for our summit climb. Being honest, I am not sure any of us slept for more than 90 minutes; we were all apprehensive and keen to get going. Leaving the camp at 1 am on summit day, in the dark, we followed a stream of head torches and climbed for about 5 hours before reaching Stella Point at 6am. Heading from there for Uhuru Peak, the sun came up and gave us spectacular views, and we all felt very proud and happy. After a few photos and congratulatory hugs, we headed down…a lot quicker than we headed up, and were greeted by the camp singing us in.
The summit push
Moses, Monas and Ellie (the guide and assistant guides) and all the team from Summits were amazing. They celebrated when we made it to the top and made the whole experience a lot easier. Considering you are climbing Africa’s highest mountain, the three meals a day were always great and fuelled us well for the next stage of the adventure. We, with Chris, had a private toilet and would strongly recommend this; we didn’t feel the shower was necessary, but were very happy when we got a shower back at Ngare Sero Lodge. This was a once-in-a-lifetime achievement that the four of us will forever cherish.
A photograph of the full team
Safari at Tarangire National Park and Serengeti National Park
After another excellent night at Ngare Sero we were collected by our guide Phillip and headed to Tarangire National Park. After a strenuous week climbing the mountain, we were very ready for the safari. My sons had been to South Africa 13 years ago, but had no real recollection of the trip, so I was very excited for them to see the amazing wildlife of Tanzania. The three-hour journey to Tarangire flew past, whilst I chatted to Phillip, the others slept.
After the obligatory photos at the park entrance, whilst Philip signed us in, we were off. Very quickly, we were stopping for lunch at a water hole, spotting elephant, eland, wildebeest, zebra, monitor lizard and loads of birdlife – it was amazing! We stayed for three nights, and the days were brilliantly similar. Out early, we enjoyed breakfast and lunch in the park before returning late afternoon for a drink and relaxation before dinner. We quickly understood why Tarangire is famous for elephants; we saw so many over the four days. Apart from the elusive leopard, we saw everything we probably wanted to – all up close and personal with few vehicles around. For one of my sons, his favourite animals were the ostriches, something I really didn’t expect. My other son loved, as we all did, the 3 hours we spent watching three young lions hunting. It felt very special to be with them for this. I think my wife was secretly pleased they didn’t catch anything. Phillip, our guide, said the young lion’s immaturity showed. One evening, we did a night drive, something I would highly recommend. It allowed us to see lots of animals that we hadn’t seen before, including hyenas, genets and owls.
The Houlder family smile with a lion
Before we knew it, we were heading to the airport, saying goodbye to Philip and jumping on a plane to northern Serengeti. Seeing the migration had been on my bucket list for years, and here we were. It quickly became apparent that for a lot of people, they were only interested in seeing a river crossing, and whilst we were lucky with seeing one, this wasn’t the reason we had come to the Serengeti. On our first day, we were by the river for breakfast at 7 am. Our excellent guide, Ian, felt that there wasn’t going to be a crossing that day (too many cars, wildebeest weren’t heading in the right direction etc.), so we headed off for the day. Again, we were very lucky with amazing wildlife viewings, and driving back to camp, we heard some guests had sat by the river all day and seen nothing! Good call, Ian.
Ostrich proved to be an unexpected favourite
Whilst at times, around the river crossings, there were a large number of vehicles, when we drove out through the Serengeti, we could go an hour without seeing another vehicle. Like Tarangire, we got very lucky and saw lots of lion, elephant, and buffalo. We were lucky enough to enjoy a fleeting view of a leopard and two rhinos (the best viewings Ian has seen in years, he told us). The big 5 in one day! The number of wildebeest was mind-blowing. We saw hundreds, if not probably thousands, all heading in the same direction into the horizon with the zebra following. We felt extremely privileged to spend an hour or so with three cheetah brothers stalking and evaluating crossing the Mara River and being five feet away from a hyena who was perfectly calm with us so close. Hyenas are odd-looking animals, but fascinating. We were slightly unlucky with the rain that started at around 4pm or 5pm each evening. Whilst this impacted the animal behaviour, we were still very lucky with what we saw.
Wildebeest crossing the river
Both safari experiences were excellent. Our guides were knowledgeable and experienced, and we trusted their gut feelings, and I believe it paid off. Spending time with these incredible animals up close and in their own environment isn’t something I will ever forget, nor take for granted, and we saw more than we could have hoped for. We were sleeping in luxury tents, under amazing African night skies, and it was great fun to hear the animals so close to our tents – hyenas laughing, lions roaring, and elephant and zebra grazing – so cool! After one last night at Ngare, it was time to head home. The mood at the airport was very sombre, and we are all excited to return to Africa again soon…but where? If you are thinking about doing a similar trip, do it! It was thanks to the support of Jo and Aardvark Safaris that we enjoyed the holiday of a lifetime.
What next?
Francis, Jo, and Alice have all stood on the summit of Kilimanjaro, and they’d love to put their firsthand experience and knowledge to work to help you plan your perfect challenge.
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