Have you seen the movie, Out of Africa? It’s based on the writings of Karen Blixen where she recalls her life in Africa after moving there from Denmark in 1913. The plan was to start a Dairy ranch in the vicinity of Nairobi British East-Africa, However, plans changed. Upon arriving in Kenya, she learns her husband spent the money on a coffee farm instead.
Blixen quickly learns about the new challenges she faces and gets to work. She comes to love the African people and begins to look after the Kikuyu tribe who are squatting on her land. She offers them work on the farm, establishes a school, helps with medical needs, and arbitrates their disputes.
The farm eventually yields a good harvest, but a fire destroys much of the farm and factory forcing her to sell out. She prepares for her departure from Kenya to Denmark by appealing to the incoming governor to provide land for her Kikuyu workers to allow them to stay together.
The Nairobi suburb that emerged on the land where Blixen farmed coffee is now named Karen. Changing hands several times, the original farmhouse occupied by Blixen was purchased by the Danish government and given to the Kenyan government in 1964 as an independence gift. The government established a college of nutrition on the site and then when the film Out of Africa was made in 1985, the college was acquired by the National Museums of Kenya.
The descendants of the Kikuyu tribe are still running the farm to this day. With generations of coffee growing experience, they have come to produce some of the highest rated coffees in the world.
This is where our Kenyan coffee comes from.
