David’s purple tea farm is in the Nandi Hills region of Kenya. Nandi is one of the many tribes in Kenya, with its own unique language and culture. Nandi speak at least two languages – Nandi and Swahili – and younger generations speak English, a legacy of British colonization. School is taught in English and Swahili.
The Nandi Hills region is one of three tea producing regions in Kenya. Nandi Hills is a lush, highland landscape filled with tea and corn (the highest we’ve ever seen) with pockets of rainforest. Black and white colobus monkeys (think skunk) are common, as are the vervet monkeys (with blue genitalia). Roasted corn on the cob stands are everywhere, corn mush is a staple.
Monday through Saturday, tea pickers dot the fields, school age children walk to and from school (and home and back for lunch), interspersed with tea gathering trailers. Tea from the large plantations is delivered daily to the tea factories scattered throughout. We learned that the Nandi Hills tea factory produces 8 grades of black CTC (cut tear curl), and is also where our Sunrise in Kenya is produced. Tea drives the economy in the Nandi Hills.
