NANDI HILLS
Nandi Hills is located in southwestern Kenya in the Highlands. Its cool, humid climate combined with rich volcanic soils makes the region ideal for growing tea, which developed there during the 20th century. To discover this region, we propose two excursions from Iten, to be discovered below.
Like Iten, the area is well known for the number of champions it produced such as Kipchoge Keino, the famous Eliud Kipchoge, Augustine Choge, Wilfred Bungei, Amos Kipruto, Peres Jepchirchir, Alfred Yego (Javelin World Champion) and Agnes Tirop. The list is endless. Most of these champions train in the surroundings, in Kapsabet, Kaptagat or Eldoret.
OPTION 1 : Agro-Tourism in Nandi Hills
This excursion offers you to visit the region and participate in an introduction to agro-tourism including harvesting, picking, weighing, processing and then tasting the tea. The activity begins in the morning with a brief orientation. Once ready, you participate in the actual picking and weighing of the tea and then bring the tea leaves to the shopping center. After lunch, you are taken to one of Nandi's 19 factories to follow the tea production process, from the arrival of the black tea leaves to the final stage: tasting. An exciting workshop that takes you through the complete process of tea production in one day, from harvesting to final consumption.
OPTION 2 : Hiking in Nandi Hills
This hike leads you through the breath-taking lush green tea plantations to a stopover at Sugut Falls, in the jungle. You then initiate a hill climbing that ends at the Nandi Escarpment at the peak. From there, you are able to see a historical site called the valley of death (Sheu Morobi) where the old men and women used to throw themselves in style (holding hands moving backwards while singing to their deaths !). You then reach by car the Nandi escarpment, that gives you a spectacular view of the Kano Plains and, by clear weather, the Lake Victoria.