Half Day Karen Blixen Museum, Kazuri Beads + Lunch

If you loved Out of Africa, you'll want to visit the Karen Blixen Museum in Kenya where the author Karen Blixen lived between 1914 and 1931. She left after a series of personal tragedies, but the lovely farmhouse has been preserved as a museum. Set in 4,500 acres of expansive Karen Blixen museum and gardens at the foot of Ngong Hills, the museum is an interesting place to wander when you are in Nairobi, Kenya

The Karen Blixen Museum

Danish writer Karen Blixen, the author of Out of Africa who is also known by her pen name, Isak Dinesen, was born Karen Christenze Dinesen on April 17, 1885. She was born in Rungsted, Denmark, north of Copenhagen. and was called Tanne by her family and friends. The young Karen marries Swedish Baron Bror von Blixen Fincke Baron and moves to Kenya to run a coffee plantation below the Ngong Hills about ten miles southwest of Nairobi. They have trouble making it work, after discovering that he is unfaithful, Karen develops feelings for Denys, a game hunter. Denys Finch Hatton, dies in a plane crash in 1931 which prompts Blixen to return to Denmark.

While still in Kenya, Blixen is said to have written to her brother Thomas, "I have begun to do what we brothers and sisters do when we don't know what else to resort to, I have started to write a book."; which later becomes her memoir. As a young girl, Karen Blixen often mixed her writing exercises with her sketches and was a good artist as well. She believed that one form of expression was inextricably tied to the other. she was only 23, Karen Blixen, when she was only 23 used a pseudonym – Peter Lawless and published some humorous drawings in a political-satirical weekly magazine.

Karen Blixen used the pseudonym Isak Dinesen when she published the Seven Gothic Tales in English and Danish. She published Out of Africa in the US under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen but changed to Karen Blixen for the Danish version. The Karen Blixen Museum sits in a beautiful garden and you can see the tractors and other equipment used by the coffee farm. Inside the house, you can see Blixen's library, her office where her typewriter still sits, the kitchen with her pots and pans, her cuckoo clock that the Masai children came to see every day at noon and the patio where she sat down to prescribe medicine to the people.

Experience the

Half Day Karen Blixen Museum, Kazuri Beads + Lunch

Kazuri Beads

The Kazuri Beads Factory is a classic example of how to support community and save the environment through best practices in recycling. By supporting the vulnerable in society at the same time doing environmental conservation, a great project with an impact into the world that you travel.

The Kazuri Beads Factory is an artisan workshop in Mbagathi Ridge in Nairobi. The establishment is famous for making ceramic beads, jewellery and pottery. Guided tours include observing the women's work and visiting the different sections of the factory-like the clay processing area, pottery room, storage facilities etc.

The Kazuri Beads Factory is known for its workforce of over 300 women from villages around the city. These women make jewellery, cups, plates, vases etc., by hand and paint them in bright colours to represent the culture of Kenya. The establishment dates back to 1975. One can also try their hand at pottery under an employee's guidance and buy some items from the store on the premises.

the carnivore experience

Later on transfer to the famous Carnivore Restaurant for a sumptuos lunch before returning you to your hotel. The Carnivore is not just a restaurant – it is an experience. Travellers from the world over flock to this outstanding venue for what is hailed as the ultimate “Beast of a Feast”. Barbecue lovers will savour the unique tastes on offer, from traditional lamb, pork, beef and chicken to the more uncommon ostrich and crocodile. The prime meat is ceremoniously roasted to perfection on Maasai swords hung over a huge charcoal pit and carvers then move from table to table delivering unlimited amounts onto cast iron plates. Add to this some delicious soup, fresh bread, mouth-watering side dishes, exotic sauces and a selection of irresistible desserts. Diners will not go hungry — this is a feast that does not stop until a white surrender flag at the centre of the table is lowered.

Combining the atmosphere of a rustic rural setting and a medieval banquet hall, this is arguably the most famous nyama choma (barbecued meat) in Kenya. Besides the hearty fare, a must-try is the house cocktail, Dawa, meaning magic potion in Swahili. Based on a famous Brazilian drink, your magic potion is served to you by a medicine man, aptly named Dr Dawa. Enjoy!