This tour adds a three days visit to South Luangwa National Park to our 20-days Malawi Birding Tour. On this tour you see the most important birding spots of Malawi and spend two and a half days at the fascinating South Luangwa National Park. For the one who is not restricted to birding only but enjoys seeing mammals, too, a visit to this park is a must, but even for the strict birder a visit to the Luangwa valley with its more than 440 recorded species can be rewarding.

 

Lilongwe
Dzalanyama Forest Reserve, 3 nights
South Luangwa National Park, 3 nights
Luwawa Forest Lodge, 2 nights
Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve
Nyika National Park, 3 nights
Nkhata Bay
Liwonde National Park, 3 nights
Zomba Plateau
Thyolo Mountain
Mulanje Massif
Lengwe National Park
Lilongwe
Transfer to the airport

 

Day 1
We welcome you at the airport and take you to your lodge in Lilongwe. If time allows, we take you to the Nature Sanctuary. Chances here are excellent for White-backed Night Heron. African Broadbill and African Finfoot have been recorded here, too. You have dinner at the lodge with your guide who will provide you with information about the tour.

Day 2, 3 and 4
Dzalanyama Forest Reserve is situated about 50 km from Lilongwe. Accommodation is in the rustic and clean Forest Lodge with only four bed rooms, a dining and a sitting room. This game reserve is Malawi`s prime spot for miombo birding, the most sought after birds here include Stierling`s Woodpecker, which can be surprisingly common in places, Souza´s Shrike, Shelley`s Sunbird, Olive-headed Weaver, Spotted Creeper and Boulder Chat. The dambos in the reserve hold a number of interesting species; Lesser Seedcracker has been recorded here.

Day 5, 6 and 7
Via Lilongwe you make your way to South Luangwa National Park. Being one of the greatest parks of the continent it offers both, excellent birds as well as mammals. Lion and leopard are common, so are buffalo and elephant. The park is famous for its night drives with a large variety of nocturnal mammals. South Luangwa is especially good for Pel´s Fishing Owl, African Skimmer and Brown-breasted Barbet. Racket-tailed Roller and Southern Ground Hornbill are found in mopane woodland. Non-Malawian birds include Grey-backed Cameroptera, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver and Three-banded Courser. Swainsson´s Francolin and Double-banded Sandgrouse are very localised in Malawi but commonly seen here.
Accommodation is in one of the comfortable camps with excellent service, usually Wildlife Camp, overlooking the Luangwa River.

Day 8 and 9
Today you go back to Malawi, to the Luwawa Forest Lodge in the Vyphia Mountains. Situated at an altitude of 1,600 meters, it is surrounded by several different habitats: miombo, bracken and briar, patches of evergreen forest and a vegetated dam. Birding here is surprisingly good. Anchieta´s Tchagra, Bertrand´s Weaver, African Broadbill, Whyte´s Barbet, Coppery and Anchieta´s Sunbirds have been recorded on our safaris. Blue Swallow can be very common. Spend the evening with an excellent dinner at the open fire place in the dining room of the lodge.

Day 10
Today you make your way to Mzuzu via the highland grassland of the Viphya Mountains. Chances here are good for the endemic subspecies of Scaly Francolin, which is often found on the tracks of dirt roads. Peregrine Falcon, Wattled Crane and Denham´s Bustard have been recorded here and a number of grassland species occurs in beautiful scenery. In Mzuzu, you could pay a visit to the colourful market. There might also be time for the internet cafe and the bank. We reach Lake Kazuni Camp in Vwaza Marsh Game Reserve in the afternoon.
After occupying our chalets you spend the afternoon on a game drive along Lake Kazuni. You will find that this is more than a mere stop over on the way to Nyika. Waterbirds along the lake are plentiful. Specials here are Senegal Coucal and Yellow-billed Oxpecker. Raptors are numerous. Being at 1100 meters altitude the nights never get too hot and never really cold. Accommodation is at Kazuni Safari Lodge.

Day 11
In the morning you could do a walking safari, escorted by an armed guide. But you may rather decide for a very early start to reach Thazima Gate, the entrance to Nyika National Park quite early. Just a couple of kilometres from the gate there is the place that is best in Malawi to see Black-backed Barbet. From the gate you pass 20 kilometres of miombo forest. Of course, the driver will always keep an eye open for passing birds, ready to stop. Reaching the beautiful plateau you soon get to a small patch of acacia abyssinica forest. Look here especially for Brown Parisoma. You will also enjoy the remaining 40 kilometres to the lodge. Especially look out for Scarlet-tafted Malachite Sunbird in the Protea bushes. A short stop at the Zambian Resthouse should produce Angola Swallow, nesting under the roof. After lunch at the camp you spend the afternoon on a game-drive in the grassland. Denham`s Bustard and Wattled Crane are frequently seen in places. Secretarybird has been around in recent years from September to November. Pallid Harrier and Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk can be common. Enjoy the unique scenery of montane grassland with stunning view points. Your chances to see Leopard or Serval Cat are best on night game drives which also should produce Rwenzori Nightjar and, if very lucky, Grass-Owl. Interesting mammals include Roan and Eland Antelope, Common Reedbuck, Honey Badger, Bush pig and the commonly seen Side-striped Jackal. Spend the evening after the at the open fire place in the dining room of the lodge with an excellent dinner. Depending on the time of year the nights can get cold. From June to August temperatures of less than 5°C are not uncommon.

Day 12 and 13
After an early breakfast we take you to the highlight of Nyika National Park: the montane evergreen forest. Bar-tailed Trogon is particularly common here. Other specials that we have seen include White-chested Alethe, African Hill Babbler, Chapin`s Apalis and Red-faced Crimsonwing, Fülleborn´s Boubou and Olive-flanked Robin. Interesting mammals inside the forests include Tanganyika Mountain Squirrel, Blue Monkey, Red and Blue Duiker and the difficult Chequered Elephant Shrew. After lunch we take you on another game drive, taking one of the various roads leading through the hills of rolling grassland.

Day 14
You leave the lodge in the morning. By experience we know that on birding trips the way out could take extra long. You stay in Nkhata Bay at Safari Cottage, if time allows you go in the afternoon to the lowland evergreen forest. There are chances for Bat Hawk, Red-headed Quelea and Green Twinspot in Nkhata Bay.

Day 15
East Coast Akalat is the special of the lake shore forests. Even though you are in a lowland rainforest, it is not too difficult to find the bird, even without calling it up by tape. Other birds of interest include Green Coucal, African Broadbill and (from October) Narina Trogon. From the lake shore forest you continue to Liwonde National Park On the way to the lodge you pass through mopane forest where Racket-tailed Roller could be seen as well as Lillian´s Lovebird and Southern Ground Hornbill. When arriving at the camp you will be welcomed by Böhm´s Bee-eater. Birding on the lodge ground can be quite rewarding. Even Livingstone´s Flycatcher could be seen here.

Day 16 and 17
The morning walk should be done in search of Brown-breasted Barbet. After breakfast you should go on a drive along the Shire River (African Skimmer, Palm-nut Vulture). Both, thicket- and shorebirds are numerous here. After lunch, there is time to relax at the pool, before afternoon tea is served, followed by a boat ride. If possible this can be done quite late on arrangement to have a chance for Pel´s Fishing Owl.

Day 18
After the morning walk and breakfast you could go on another boat ride on the Shire River. Thereafetr you leave the camp towards the Zomba Plateau. At an altitude of up to 2,000 meters, the plateau is dominated by grassland, indigenous evergreen forest and exotic pine plantation. White-winged Apalis is the most sought after bird here, but there is a good number of montane forest birds on the plateau.

Day 19
The way to Thyolo Mountain is not far. Accommodation is in a colonial style bungalow on a tea plantation. Even when sitting on the veranda with a cup of tea birding in the beautiful garden is quite good, but the main habitat here is mid altitude rain forest. Although most of the forest has been destroyed, birding here can still be excellent: White-winged Apalis; Green-headed Oriole; Thyolo Alethe; Green Barbet and Black-fronted Bush Shrike have been seen on our safaris.

Day 20
You stay in a colonial style bungalow on the premises of a tea plantation with great views over the tea fields on the one side and the Ruo Gorge of the Mulanje Massif on the other side. This is also the place of interest for bird watching: as the gorge ascends the rain forest changes from lowland to mid-altitude and montane forest. After most of the Thyolo forest has been destroyed, birding here seems to have improved. Chances are especially good for Thyolo Alethe.

Day 21
You pass Blantyre and get to Lengwe National Park. This park holds a number of thicket specials, such as Crested Guineafowl; Thick-billed Cuckoo and Grey Sunbird as well as Böhms and Mottled Spinetails, Black-and-white-Flycatcher and Thrush Nightingale. The meals from the Italian run lodge are excellent, so are the chalets.

Day 22
A special of Lengwe National Park are the hides next to the waterholes where you sit and watch the animals that come to the waterhole and drink. This is best done in the morning. If you want to see Rock Pratincole we could do the detour via Majete Game Reserve, where this bird frequently is seen on rocks at a dam near the entrance gate of the reserve. You make your way back to Lilongwe. If time allows, you could pay a visit to one of the dambos around Lilongwe that hold a number of interesting species.

Day 23
If time allows you may have a last visit to the Nature Sanctuary or one of the dambos in the morning. We take you to the airport where the journey ends.

 

 

We offer our safaris on three different levels of quality:

The DeLuxe Tour takes you to the best available places in the country. Of course, meals in those places are of best quality, they usually include three course dinners and the choice of English or Continental breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea.

Our Comfort Tours we recommend to you if you think you can do without the flair of luxury on your holiday in Malawi, but still want to ensure a high quality of accommodation and meals. These safaris do not primarily concentrate on the luxury side of a tour, but optimise the chances for our guests to develop a true safari feeling. We make sure that environment, accommodation and atmosphere go well together. These tours in most cases take you to the same places as the DeLuxe Tour. A high standard of quality is guaranteed.

Our Standard Tours are still of good quality. You often find accommodation that we offer on our Comfort or DeLuxe Tours. In some places there are good accommodation and services on offer for a fair price. This allows us to offer you a tour package of good value for an affordable price.

Rates for Camping Safaris are on request.

 

 

Prices Include :
Transport in 4x4 vehicles (Mitsubishi Pajero or Toyota Hilux).
Accommodation (according to the booking).
Park Entry Fees except South Luangwa NP (50 USD per person in total).
Three meals per day.
Day Game Drives (as described above).
2 activities per day in Liwonde.
4 activities in total in South Luangwa.
Experienced resident Birding Guide.

Not Inclusive
Flights.
Visa.
Drinks.
Extra like Horse-riding, diving, etc.

 

 

 

	4+	3		2
Standard	2,960$	3,530$		4,410$
Comfort	3,320$	4,050$		4,870$
DeLuxe	4,890$	5,840$		6,620$