Warthog safari: In full

On arrival at Lilongwe Airport you will be transferred by road to Liwonde National Park, a 4-hour journey. Liwonde National Park encompasses the wide Shire River, as well as lagoons, open savanna and mopane woodland – all of which support a wide variety of plants, animals and birdlife. Here you will spend 4 nights at Mvuu Wilderness Lodge, which is situated in the north-west of this lush and tropical park. It offers boat trips and games drives both during the day and at night. Boat trips on the Shire River are the highlight and the best way to seeing the park's elephants as well as the huge crocodiles and the birdlife. Walks with qualified scouts are also possible.

After a leisurely breakfast, your days will be spent relaxing on your private deck viewing the game that come to drink from the river or going for drives and walks with experienced guides. There are huge numbers of hippo and crocodile which are best viewed from the water during a morning or an afternoon boat trip. Watch them lazing on the banks of the river in the sunshine. Open savannah attracts antelope such as sable and bushbuck, while waterbuck take advantage of the lagoons and marshes. Amongst others, Boehm's bee-eater, the palmnut vulture and Pel's fishing owl have all been spotted in the park.

This morning, you are driven south for about an hour and a half, to Zomba Plateau, Malawi's oldest forest reserve. There are pine and indigenous montane forests here which are dissected by flowing waterfalls, walking trails and trout dams. You spend the following 3 nights at Ku Chawe Inn. This scenic hotel sits in the middle of the forest and commands spectacular views of the valley below. It is a comfortable base from which to explore the surrounding areas. Gentle hiking is possible from here and is one of the best ways to view the scenery and the varied wildlife and birdlife.

Your time here can be spent relaxing at the hotel or exploring the Zomba Plateau, which is home to the occasional antelope, beautiful flowers such as wild orchids and a variety of birds, including the augur buzzard and the long-crested eagle. On its lower slopes, monkeys and baboons can also be found. It is however, most well known for it's spectrum of butterflies. The Mulunguzi River flows to the north of the inn, is home to rainbow trout and is a wonderful spot for fly-fishing during the months of September to April.