Gathoni Sensory Garden & Tea Farm Tour

This article looks at the Gathoni Sensory Garden and Team Farm Tour. Gathoni Tea Farm is located along Limuru Road, less than 1 km from St. Paul’s University’s main gate. Gathoni Tea Farm is a world of tranquility, aroma, and flavor. Gathoni Farm is popularly known for hosting both Naishola and Naiposha Gardens.

Visiting Gathoni Tea Farm, you’ll learn the art of tea cultivation, processing, and tasting. You will also get the opportunity to go on a Sensory Garden Tour. Most of the tourists who visit the Gathoni Tea Farm are Kenyans. They want their children, born in cities, to learn about tea traditions and sort of pay homage to their ancestors. Since the introduction of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC), which emphasizes hands-on learning experiences, Gathoni Tea Farm has seen a jump in visitors. The tea farm tours have become a favorite pastime for families, couples, groups of friends, and schools.

Sensory Garden and Tea Farm Tour

The Sensory Garden Tour at Gathoni Farm is not only the first one in Kenya but also in all of East Africa. A sensory garden is all about stimulating and engaging the five basic senses of sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste. This type of garden not only allows you to connect to nature but also encourages you to become more aware of your surroundings and your response to them, tapping into the principles of mindfulness. Spending time in a sensory garden can help enhance your sense of well-being, reduce stress, and calm your mind.

Tour Highlights

Tea Farm Tour
Tea Harvesting
Making Orthodox Tea
Scented Garden Tour
Making a scented bag
Herbal Tea Tasting
Composition and Recycling
Plant Nursery
Hike to Naiposha Gardens
Picnic (bring your food and drinks)

Tour Details

1. Tea Farm Tour

Leave Nairobi behind for an ideal day in the lush green tea fields of Gathoni Farm. This is one of Kenya’s oldest tea farms. It is a picturesque tea farm that transports visitors into an idyllic realm of nature’s splendor. The experience begins at 10 am with the host giving an informal history of Gathoni Farm, followed by an introduction to the later tea tasting before you head out to the tea farm.

2. Tea Harvesting

Next, step outside to see for yourself the deep green rows of tea growing in the fields. While at the farm, guests are taught how to pick tea, after which they pick some Kenyan tea. This tea will then be taken to the neighboring Karirana Estate Limited’s factory. Karirana Estates Limited, the home of Eden Tea, is an integrated agribusiness involved in the production, manufacturing, packing, and exporting of tea.

The lecture on the growth of tea is a good learning experience. For instance, you will see tea pickers on the farm plucking the top two leaves and bud from each plantation. Tea is hand-picked year-round for the best quality assurance. The bottom half is for green and black tea. Green tea is less oxidized and retains much of its original form, thus maintaining many of its vitamins. The stem of the stalk is also included in the tea process, but it is not always the best part of the tea. Hence, people are better at discerning which leaves to pick than machines. After they are picked, they are sorted by hand before being carted off to a factory, where they go through a process called CTC (cut, tear, crush), are oxidized, dried, and repacked to be sent off to Mombasa for exportation.

Note: The tea trees, if not picked on time, will eventually grow into trees with flowers similar to magnolia. Gathoni Farm has a tea tree growing in the front yard.

3. Making Orthodox Tea

Some of the tea will then be taken back to the farmhouse, where you will be taught how to make your own specialty orthodox tea, which includes learning to roast it, roll it by hand, dry it, and then pack it for themselves.

4. Scented Garden Tour

The sensory garden is a space containing herbs and flowers that are arranged to stimulate your senses, whether that’s individually or together as a group. Most visitors at the Gathoni Farm love the sensory garden since it connects you to Mother Nature. The garden has then been designed around aromatic portions made of:

Lavender
Rosemary
Lemon Verbena
Lemon Grass
Orange Mint
Common Thyme
Lemon Thyme
Pineapple Sage

5. Making a Scented Bag

Scented bags, also known as herbal sachets, are filled with aromatic herbs and flowers and have not only stood the test of time but have also provided a wealth of benefits for those who incorporate them into their lives. These decorative bags have found their place in closets, drawers, and wardrobes. By doing so, they protect clothing, linens, and personal items from musty odors and pesky insects.

Certain herbs, like lavender, have been known to aid sleep and improve concentration. Placing a sachet under your pillow or near your workspace can have a positive impact on your daily life. Guests are allowed to create their own scented bags from their favorite herbs and flowers, which they will take home with them.

6. Herbal Tea Tasting

After strolling through the lovely gardens surrounding the main house, guests are then treated to an expansive tea tasting of all the delicious herbal variants made at Gathoni Tea Farm Kitchen, including their luxurious tea line. The tea is all freshly made and prepared, farm-to-table style. The tea is served with homemade biscuits.

7. Composition and Recycling

Guests get the opportunity to physically separate, weigh, and categorize waste, which is then recycled to produce manure, which is used on the farm for farming purposes.

8. Plant Nursery

Guests visit different greenhouses on the farm, where the farm propagates seedlings of tea, herbs, flowers, and trees for farmers of all capacities, from large-scale to small-scale to kitchen gardens, and distributes them conveniently countrywide.

9. Hike to Naiposha Gardens

Naiposha Gardens is an enchanting, serene, private, and spacious venue with a great view of Lake Tigoni. Naiposha and Naishola are located within the tea farm and are 1km apart. Naiposha is by the lake, and Naishola is higher up and enclosed by tall trees (shade).

Naiposha Gardens beckons visitors with its aura of enchantment and serenity. As guests step onto its sprawling grounds, they are immediately enveloped in the soothing embrace of nature. The mesmerizing views of Lake Tigoni provide a captivating backdrop for any occasion.

10. Picnic at Naishola Gardens

Nestled amidst the undulating contours of Limuru, where velvety hills sweep and embrace the horizon, Naishola Gardens stands as an enchanting sanctuary, defying the relentless hustle and bustle of the urban sprawl.

Naishola Gardens, a sister garden, has carpet-like grass and mature trees that make you feel like removing your shoes and walking barefoot. The air is fresh. There is a tea farm next to a gate, adding to the greenery, and an English-style colonial house, part of an investment cultivated over the years.

Guests are urged to bring snacks or lunch for a picnic on the grounds following the tour. Also, the farm can arrange food at a separate cost. Then spend the afternoon outside in the sun, surrounded by fresh air, friends, wonderful food, beverages, and laughter. Remember to bring snacks, drinks, picnic blankets, pillows, chairs, or umbrellas. Guests are then free to depart at their leisure.

What to bring

Comfortable walking shoes
Sunscreen and a hat
Camera or smartphone for capturing memories
An appetite for adventure and a love for tea

Additional Information

The tea farm tour is suitable for all ages, including families, groups, and solo travelers.
Children can also participate in fishing at the Tigoni Dam located in Naiposha Gardens, which is included in the tour package.