Encircled by seven mountains, Wayanad, in northern Kerala, boasts some of southern India’s most superb upland scenery, and a climate that’s ideal for the cultivation of tea, coffee and spices. Plantation stays in the outlying forests provide the perfect springboard for safaris to the region’s pair of wildlife sanctuaries – Muthanga and Tholpetty – where encounters with herds of wild elephant and Indian bison are virtually assured.