By African standards, Malawi is a small country (a bit smaller than England, in fact), but with its diverse landscapes and vast lakes, it can offer a wide variety of experiences in a single safari holiday, says Ben Lerwill in National Geographic Traveller. For a gentle start, head to the Shire Highlands, in the southeast, where forested hills rise above 2,000 metres, and tea plantations have flourished for more than a century.
Among these estates is Satemwa, which was founded in 1923 and later became the first in Malawi to be Fairtrade-certified. Guests stay in a 1930s bungalow, Huntingdon House, with “roaring” log fires, clawed bathtubs, antique furniture and “luxuriant” plants in silver vases. Satemwa’s 3,700 acres are interspersed with swathes of mahogany woods that shelter creatures including antelopes, porcupines and more than 600 avian species, some of them spectacular, making birdwatching trips “a joy”. Coffee is also grown on the estate, but tea tastings are particularly delightful, with black, green, oolong and white varieties to sample, some of which are served at Claridge’s.
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