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Travel Through Kenya With Vava Angwenyi

Discover Kenya's culture and learn to truly enjoy its coffee. Know the diverse regions where the lots you cup are cultivated and the music to play at the cupping table. Find out what to read, from satirical essays and political biographies to poetry, and how to appreciate the landscape whilst escaping the clichés.

Discover Kenyan coffees

Coffee is a door to discover a country’s culture. And a country’s culture is what makes coffee deeply fascinating to all who fall in love with it. As samples from the latest Kenyan crop become available, we invite you to taste not only the country’s coffee but also its land, music, and literature. 

This is why producer and exporter Vava Angwenyi prepared a guide with the best of Kenya. Discover the country through the lenses of a local woman with an entrepreneurial mindset, a drive to bring change to her community and a passion for her country's history and culture. 

Read about Kenya below in Vava's own words and gain experience that goes way beyond the cupping table. Keep scrolling to find a curated playlist and links to the latest offers!

Kenya's country profile

Vava Angwenyi (Photo: Vava Coffee)

Kenya by Vava Angwenyi

Kenya is truly a beautiful country. It tells a story of contrasting landscapes, treasured wildlife, all year round sunshine and hospitable people. I invite you to sample delicious, complex coffees with notes ranging from floral, dark chocolate and plum to lavender. 

Travel to Kenya through our coffees and get an unmatched experience. Discover the beauty of the Rift Valley, the joy of conquering Mount Kenya, the drama of the Tsavos, the peace offered by the Nairobi National Park and the allure of the Mount Elgon region. 

Kericho County, Rift Valley region (Photo: Vava Coffee)

Kenya is many things to many different people. The nation's capital is Nairobi and other major cities are Nakuru, Kisumu and the port city of Mombasa. Kenya has dozens of cultures, tribes and sub-tribes. It is also well known for its fusion of wildlife, its range of topography and extremes of climate. The topography and beauty of Kenya are breathtaking. This is the land of great contrasts. About one-third is covered by the grasslands of the savannah, another third by the desert and the remainder is cool highlands, deeply wooded forests and snow-capped mountains such as Mount Kenya.

The Kenyan coast (Photo: Vava Coffee)

The Kenyan climate is subtropical. Rainfall is very low. Normally there are long rains in April and May and shorter rains in late November and December but this pattern can be erratic -  just as everywhere else these days. Kenya also boasts superb footprint-free beaches and warm tropical waters, ensuring a complete safari vacation experience for those who want to combine a coffee trip with a cultural one. Kenya has a system of well-managed nature reserves across the country, where lions, rhinos, elephants and large numbers of zebras, antelopes and birds can be seen in the wild.

Kapkiyai, Rift Valley (Photo: Vava Coffee)

From Mount Kenya and Aberdare to Nairobi

Coffee is grown by an estimated 700,000 smallholders in Kenya. For the most part, these are family farms averaging two acres in size. Collectively, the total growing area is estimated at 170,000 hectares. Production is bounded to high altitude areas ranging from 1,400 meters to 2,200 meters above sea level, where the soil is volcanic. The main coffee grown is Arabica.

The Mount Kenya region, stretching from the foothills of Mount Kenya and Aberdare to the outskirts of Nairobi, contains a pristine indigenous forest with a unique microclimate that is teeming with wildlife. The coffee produced here is famous for its unique flavour profile. However, the Western and Rift Valley regions of Kenya are slowly starting to receive recognition for the amazing gems they produce each season.

View from Chepsangor Hills Farm in Nandi county (Photo: Vava Coffee)

A land of great contrasts

Bordering Uganda to the East and Tanzania to the South, the region of Mount Elgon and Lake Victoria is home to mountain forests containing rich flora and fauna including the world’s biggest variety of birds. Most of the coffee grown here has a mild fruity flavour but the Southern part of the region is associated with the world-famous Blue Mountain coffee, characterized by its mild acidity.

In stark contrast, the expansive landscape of the North and South Rift Valley regions - created by shifts in tectonic plates at the dawn of time - provides a niche coffee-growing area in the high places where the air is cool. Kericho and Nandi are the more popular regions, with parts of Nakuru slowly surprising us with some amazing lots.

Travel

How to organise a visit to Kenya.

Go

Good reads

What to read about Kenya.

Learn

Afrobeats

Turn the volume up and enjoy a playlist with recommended songs from Vava Angwenyi.


Coffee offers 2021-2022

Kericho county, Rift Valley

Past
KE-9

Chepnorio FCS AA - Kericho-R.V -For Lamu Youth in Coffee Project

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
85.75
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
57 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag
Past
KE-17

Kichawir FCS AB - Kericho, Rift Valley

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
86.0
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
49 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag

Central Kenya

Past
KE-18

Kiungu AA - Kathima Factory - Mount Kenya

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
87.0
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
40 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag
Past
KE-32

Ngoe Farm AA by Helen Gichohi - Muranga County - Lamu Youth in Coffee Project

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
85.5
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
18 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag
Past
KE-33

Kii Factory C - Mount Kenya

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
85.5
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
10 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag

Nandi Hills, Nandi County, Rift Valley

Past
KE-23

Kibukwo FCS C - Nandi, Rift Valley

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
86.0
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
13 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag
Past
KE-30

Kibukwo FCS AA - Nandi, Rift Valley

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
85.25
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
55 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag
Past
KE-31

Kibukwo FCS AB - Nandi, Rift Valley

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
86.25
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
57 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag

Produced by women in Nandi Hills, Rift Valley

Past
KE-11

Kapkiyai FCS AA - Nandi, Rift Valley

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
86.25
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
19 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag
Past
KE-21

Chepsangor Hills Estate AB by Rosebella Langat - Nandi County

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
85.5
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
16 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag

Mount Elgon, Namwela, Bungoma district, Western Kenya

Past
KE-28

Kutere Factory AB - Western Kenya

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
87.5
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
53 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag
Past
KE-29

Kutere Factory C - Western Kenya

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
87.5
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
12 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag
Past
KE-34

Kikai Factory AA - Western Kenya

Vava Coffee Verified Seller

Origin
Kenya
Score
85.0
Process
Fully washed
Bags available
38 X 60 kg
Minimum order
1 bag

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