Serengeti Safari Tennis Experience hosted by John & Patrick McEnroe

Big game, local cultures and stunning landscapes combine to produce the holiday of a lifetime. Coupled with celebrity tennis professionals as your hosts - this is truly a bucket list experience.

30^th November - 1^st December 2023

Overnight flight from your chosen UK airport to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

1^st December - 2^nd December 2023

On arrival at Kilimanjaro International Airport you will be transferred to the Gran Melia Arusha.

Arusha is situated in northern Tanzania on the eastern edge of the Great Rift Valley within easy reach of the Serengeti National Park, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Lake Manyara National Park.

This evening you will enjoy a welcome reception hosted by the President of Tanzania.

2^nd December - 3^rd December 2023

This morning transfer to the Kilimanjaro Golf & Wildlife Estate (Kiligolf) for breakfast and a morning of tennis. Late morning return to the airport for the short charter flight to Seronera Airstrip – the gateway to the Serengeti.

Upon arrival, you will board the luxury safari 4x4 vehicles bound for the Serengeti Four Seasons Lodge, home for the next four nights.

The world- famous Serengeti is famed for its healthy stock of resident wildlife and is also rumoured to have the largest population of lion.

This afternoon you will venture out for your first of many game drives, you will have the opportunity to stop for photo opportunities, enjoy snacks and sundowners in the African bush and even tennis in the bush where the support team will build pop-up courts for the occasion.

Enjoy dinner this evening at the lodge. 

 

Accommodation: Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

3^rd December - 4^th December 2023

The morning starts with an early game drive followed by breakfast and tennis in the bush. 

Enjoy a full day of tennis, spa and optional activities at the lodge including the opportunity to enjoy a bush walk with the Resident Lodge Naturalist and local Maasai guides. They will highlight the smaller details that are often missed when on game vehicles including insects, animal tracks and how the local tribes have used plants for centuries. 

Following your evening game drive and sundowners you will enjoy dinner with the Maasai Tribe Experience at the lodge. 

Accommodation: Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

4^th December - 5^th December 2023

This mornings early game drive will finish with the opportunity to enjoy a bush breakfast. 

This afternoon witness history in the making as the McEnroe brothers face each other in the first ever tennis match in the heart of the Serengeti. With an incredible backdrop and surrounded by local wildlife this will no doubt be the highlight of the week. The match will be played on a court especially built for the occasion by The Tanzania Tourism Board and Wildlife Authority.

The day will culminate with a special reception in the Four Seasons Wine Cellar where you will be joined by your hosts and local dignitaries. 

 

Accommodation: Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

5^th December - 6^th December 2023

This morning you will have the opportunity to witness the magnificent Serengeti from above with an hour long hot-air balloon flight. Witness the stunning landscape as you glide over the African bush before landing for a lavish champagne breakfast.

This afternoon you will return to the purpose built bush tennis court where you will have the chance to take photographs with John and Patrick – you may even get the chance to have a volley with them.

Following your afternoon game drive you will enjoy your final dinner at the lodge before getting a good nights sleep ahead of your early start tomorrow.

Accommodation: Four Seasons Safari Lodge Serengeti

6^th December - 7^th December 2023

After an early breakfast, depart for the Ngorongoro Crater once a gigantic volcano, it is now the largest intact caldera in the world. It is thought that before it erupted it would have been taller than Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak.

As your game drive descends into the Ngorongoro Crater you will pass through lush highland forest with an abundance of magnificent colourful birdlife. Once on the grassy crater floor, you will discover a large variety of grazing herbivores, as well as the predators that are attracted by this abundant supply of prey. You will also witness huge flocks of pink flamingo on the shores of Lake Magadi.

If you are after the ‘The Big Five’, you will not be disappointed - Black rhino, Tusker elephants, lion, leopard and hyena along with healthy herds of wildebeest, buffalo and zebra, serval cat, cheetah, jackal, Grant’s and Thompson’s gazelle.

We will spend the full day in the crater with a stop for lunch to enjoy sites and sounds of the bush  while indulging on a four-course meal with wine.

In the evening you will travel onto your chosen lodge where you will spend your remaining 2-nights in Tanzania.  

Accommodation: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

7^th December - 8^th December 2023

Awake to views of the Crater before heading off on a morning game drive on the Crater floor where again you will witness the abundant wildlife the natural wonder has to offer - Black rhinos that are protected within its rim, giant tusked elephants, big-maned lions stalking the grasslands, and bright pink flamingos crowding the soda lakes.

The afternoon will yield another unforgettable experience as you get up close and personal with Maasai at a local Maasai Cultural Village. A special pop-up court will be built in the village in honour of the McEnroe’s who will conduct a clinic for the Masai children.

On departing the village a sunset game drive will return you to the lodge for a farewell dinner with special guests.

Accommodation: Ngorongoro Serena Safari Lodge, &Beyond Ngorongoro Crater Lodge

8^th December - 9^th December 2023

This morning you can choose to enjoy a final game drive before returning to the airstrip for a private charter flight to Arusha.

Overnight return flight to your chosen airport or why not opt to extend your stay in East Africa. The Black Opal Team will be happy to discuss available options.