Day 1: Lilongwe, Zambia

Arrive into Lilongwe and met by a Wilderness Safaris representative and assisted to the transit area where you will wait for your onward flight to Mfuwe. Guests on this Malawi safari should not have to pay for departure tax in Lilongwe as they will be in transit to Zambia.

Sometimes this is impossible to avoid and guests should be prepared to pay. Flying time to Mfuwe is 45 minutes. On arrival at Mfuwe guests will be met by a guide from whichever camp they are staying. Transfer to camps will be around 35 minutes to 2 hours depending on what camp they are staying at.

Day 2: Nkwali Camp

Nkwali Camp is located overlooking the National Park, each chalet set back into the bush on the banks of the river. The land is superb game viewing country, with a beautiful area of Ebony woodland and open grass plains. Elephants often cross the Luangwa, seen from the bar, or come to the waterhole near the thatched dining room. The chalets are cool and spacious, tastefully decorated, overlooking the river. Access to the park is through the main entrance over the bridge, by boat or by our nearby pontoon. The area is renowned for leopard and giraffe sightings.

Day 3: Kapani Safari Lodge

Kapani is a small privately owned lodge situated on a quiet lagoon beside the Luangwa river accommodating up to 16 guests. The stone built rooms are designed for the warmer weather with tiled roofs, high ceilings, overhead fan and large gauzed windows. Each bedroom has an en-suite shower, washbasin, toilet and private verandah with bar fridge. The lodge is on mains electricity and offers most modern facilities. A thatched open plan bar and dining room provides meals and service to an excellent standard.

There is a shady viewing platform and two thatched chitenges where you can relax overlooking the lagoon. It is one of the most established camps in the valley, started by the legendary Norman Carr one of the pioneers of the South Luangwa National Park. The camp offers a swimming pool - welcome in the hot months where one can relax between game drives on your Malawi safaris.

Kafunta River Lodge is situated outside the South Luangwa National park in the game management area, just south of the main park gate. The 8 spacious, raised chalets look out over a broad floodplain towards the Luangwa River. Chalets are fashioned from local materials - thatch and wood  - and all have balconies, roof fans and en suite facilities.

The main bar/dining area surrounds a magnificent wild mango tree offering superb views over the river. Drives on this Malawi safari are taken in the park which is accessed by a pontoon across the Luangwa river as well as through the main park gate. Walks are taken in the drier months into the surrounding area which is excellent for giraffe and elephant sightings. Kafunta has a swimming pool, spa and offers twin, double and family chalets.

Mfuwe Lodge is situated inside the South Luangwa National Park a stones throw from the main gate, in an area well known for its high concentrations of wildlife. The Lodge offers luxurious accommodation in 18 chalets overlooking lagoons which are frequented by wildlife. The chalets themselves have a wonderful airy feel and guests can enjoy game viewing from the private timber deck in front of their rooms or from the main pool deck.

A superb library with natural history and collectable books from Africa's early explorers provide fascinating reading between drives. Each room has been carefully positioned to afford guests maximum privacy and the attention to detail in the chalets makes them the most luxurious in the valley. Game activities on this Malawi safari include walking safaris and day and night game drives.

Bookings will be made for 3 nights on a fully inclusive basis except for drinks at Kapani and Mfuwe Lodge.

Day 4: Mvuu Lodge

Transfer back to Mfuwe airport in time to connect with flight back to Lilongwe. Flying time is 45 minutes and departure tax is paid per person on leaving Zambia. On arrival into Lilongwe guests will be met by a Wilderness Safaris representative and assisted through customs and immigration. After the formalities have been dealt with they will be transferred by road to Mvuu Lodge. Driving time is 4 hours and a packed lunch and refreshments will be provided en-route. At some point during the rains the access road into Mvuu Lodge becomes impassable. When this happens the last hour of the transfer into the Lodge will be by boat from Liwonde town.

Liwonde National Park is considered to be the finest park in the whole of Malawi for game and accommodation. It is also said to be one of the top birding locations in Southern Africa. The park well deserves these accolades as it offers some of the most scenic game viewing, beautiful riverine surroundings and varied bird watching you could wish to find. A great deal of the terrain is Shire River floodplains, much loved by the healthy population of Elephants in this park. They are best viewed during your boat safari on the Shire River, one of the many highlights of a stay at Mvuu Lodge.

Mvuu Wilderness Lodge is situated along the banks of a quiet lagoon flowing off the Shire River. The lodge offers comfortable tented accommodation in 5 spacious 'Hemingway'-styled safari tents, with own en suite facilities for a maximum of 10 guests.The dining room, which is high above the lagoon on stilts, is a breezy and relaxing place to spent time in-between your Malawi safari activities. There is a pool which is especially welcome during the summer months set amongst shady trees within earshot of hippos in the river.

As well as boat safaris, game drives and nature walks enable guests to experience a wide range of game, including large numbers of sable antelope, hippo, impala, and waterbuck. Huge crocodiles and serval are also fairly common. Birds are prolific, especially along the Shire River, where the African Fish Eagle and the Pel's Fishing Owl are frequently sighted, as well as Böhm’s Bee-eater, White Backed Night Heron, and a host of local 'specials'. In addition to the main game viewing activities, guests can do bicycle trips from the boundary of Liwonde to the local villages outside the park - an amazing cultural experience.

Day 5: Ligwangwa, Malawi

Guests on this Malawi safari can also experience a night in Ligwangwa, a typical rural Malawian village. Lastly close to the Lodge there is the Ntangai hide which is a raised platform (about 4 metres from the ground). It is situated just back from the edge of a seasonal river which flows into the Shire. In June-July the river is likely to be fairly low exposing mud and sand banks and attracting all manner of waders, and water birds.

Booking will be made for 2 nights on a fully inclusive basis except for drinks.

Day 6: Likoma, Malawi

After a morning game activity on your Malawi safari depart by light aircraft to Likoma, flying over Lake Malawi and the scenic waters of the Cape Maclear Peninsula and the rugged uninhabited coastline and stunning forests of Mozambique. Met on arrival where a boat will be waiting to transfer you round the island to the Lodge. Likoma is the larger of 2 small islands situated in the far north of Lake Malawi and is well over on the east of the Lake very close to Mozambique.

Day 7: Likoma Island

Its first contact with the outside world was with the English Missionaries of the Universities Missions of Central Africa, who had followed the original Scottish Presbyterian Missionaries into this part of Africa and chose Likoma Island as a suitable and safe place for a base. The island thus remained under the protection of the British and eventually became a part of independent Malawi in 1964. To visit the island is to step back in time. Just 17 sq kilometres with one small dirt road and 2 vehicles, the local population survives largely by fishing, and rice and cassava farming.

The island has hundreds of huge baobab trees and a number of glorious sandy beaches and rocky coves-the waters are crystal clear throughout the year and the diving and snorkeling is among the best in Lake Malawi. The feeling of being of another era is completed by the impressive Anglican Cathedral built in the early 1900s. Kaya Mawa Lodge is situated on the south-western tip of the Island at the head of a crescent shaped bay, surrounded by mango trees and ancient baobabs.

Translating as 'Maybe tomorrow' in the local Tonga dialect the lodge is the brainchild of 2 eccentric Englishmen, Will Sutton and Andrew Came, who have used the stunning natural surroundings of beach, rock, island and lake to create a lodge of unique character, imagination and very special ambience. With no  machinery available on the island Kaya Mawa Lodge is built entirely by hand, in partnership with the local community. It consists of seven stone and teak framed thatched cottages set into a granite headland.

There is a honeymoon house tucked away on its own private island that is reached by boat. Each cottage faces the lake and has a 7-foot by 6-foot mahogany 4 poster bed, a shower, a sunken stone bath tub and a loo with a view. All the cottages have private terraces with direct access to the water and some can only be reached by walkways built over the lake.

Day 8: Lilongwe

Transfer back to the airstrip by boat (or walk if you are feeling energetic!) for flight back to Lilongwe. Met on arrival and assisted with check in for your onward flight. Please note that you will pay an international departure tax.

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