Tea Farm

Most of my life in Kenya is filled with working with the Maasai, but occasionally, I take the time to see other parts of this beautiful country. In June when my daughter and her husband were here, we went to a tea farm about an hour out of Nairobi. This farm sits about 7,000 feet above sea level; the air is crisp and fresh -- a welcome relief after the exhaust fumes in Nairobi.

This is a close up of the bloom on an old tea bush. The bushes they use these days are a hybrid with much larger leaves. This old bush was planted by the owner's grandfather in the early 1900's.

The farm is run by an old British couple. Fiona welcomes every visitor into her home, sits you down with a cup of tea and homemade biscuits (cookies) and tells you the story of this particular farm. She is a very interesting story-teller. Along with the history, she goes into details about tea from bush to factory and even discusses the tea auction in Mombassa, Kenya. I was surprised to learn Kenya has the largest tea auction in the world. All-in-all it is very educational and interesting.

After tea and the "talk" we are escorted outside to see their beautiful grounds, a small indigenous forest, and of course the tea plantation. Pictured below is one of their dogs named Chuma. He is anxiously awaiting the arrival of the troop of Colobus monkeys that live on their property.

We weren't disappointed. They showed up and waited at the edge of the roof, while Chuma danced around on the ground. I believe this is a daily occurrence for the monkeys and for Chuma! One of the workers brought out some pieces of bananas and invited us to feed the monkeys if we wanted.
Rachel was quick to accept and stood on the porch and handed up the banana. It was very entertaining and we somehow knew that the dog and those monkeys know that when visitors show up on a daily basis, they must do their part to welcome them.
When you look at the acres upon acres of tea bushes you might forget they are bushes. They just look so carefully groomed and almost like a lawn. But you can see that they are really waist high.
Well, waist high for some. Ricky is a tall guy!
Rachel took this inviting picture of a perfect cup of tea! What a wonderful day.