After our exhausting, but exciting trip to Majete, we were headed back to Lilongwe so that Brianna and Noah could catch their flight. But we had time to make two stops along the way. 

First, we visited Thyolo, the region of southern Malawi where they grow tea and coffee. The Satemwa Tea and Coffee Estate (https://www.satemwa.com) is stunning. There are rolling hills of tea plants, lush natural forests, and (closer to the guest house) manicured lawns and gardens. If you ever find yourself in Malawi, take the time to visit this place. It’s beautiful and stately, and the gentle breezes carry the scents of freshly cut tea leaves. You can order an ice tea or cocktail that has tea incorporated. 

From Satemwa we made our way to Dedza where we made a quick stop at the Dedza Handmade Art Company and the Dedza Pottery. 

I met Henry (the owner of Dedza Handmade Art) when we lived in Malawi in 2017. Henry is amazing; all of his paper products are recycled; he collects paper waste from companies around Dedza and Lilongwe and processes them into beautiful pieces of art: paper, notebooks, greeting cards.

Henry’s wife also makes beautiful cloth items (dolls, trivets, and notebook covers). His brother is an artist, he paints the fronts of the notebooks that Henry makes, as well as beautiful canvases. Every time we visit Henry’s shop he has added items to sell and made some kind of improvements. Again, if you ever find yourself in Malawi, go visit Henry at his shop (http://www.dedzahandmadeart.com/Dedza_Handmade_Art_Gallery/Welcome.html), it’s worth a visit, and if you go earlier enough in the day Henry might show you the process he uses for making paper.

We made it back to Lilongwe late in the evening on Thursday. On Friday we dropped Noah and Brianna off at the airport. It was a privilege to show them a little bit of beautiful Malawi.

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