Location
About Nandi Hills
Nandi Hills is a highland area of lush green rolling hills at the edge of the Great Rift Valley in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The scenic area is known for its tea estates, and is home to many world-renowned athletes.
It is a very significant area of Rift Valley province and the Nandi community. It was a battleground against the Luo and Luhya communities and the burial site of the renowned Nandi seer Koitalel Arap Samoei. He is buried under a symbolic tree. On top of Nandi Hills sits Samoei with its red earth. When Koitalel was killed by British officer Richard Meinertzhagen,some belief, the ground turned red on the spot of his death.
The Climate​
Nandi Hills has a cool and wet climate with two rain seasons during the equinoxes. Temperatures vary between 18°C and 24°C which coupled with the rich volcanic soils make the area ideal for growing tea.
The transport system in Nandi Hills is mainly land-based via tarmac and weather roads. The Nandi Hills road network connects it to major Kenyan towns and cities, including, Eldoret, Nakuru, Kericho, Kisumu and ultimately, Nairobi and Mombasa.
Located near the edge of the Rift Valley, it is home to Kenya's tea plantations. Its high altitude plays a major role in athletics in Kenya where every morning international athletes are seen running up and down the hills, through the tea estates.
The people
The area is mostly inhabited by the Nandi people.The Nandi speak Nandi dialect, they are a sub-group of the Kalenjin people. Before British colonization, they were sedentary cattle-herders, sometimes also practicing agriculture. Their settlements were more or less evenly distributed rather than being grouped into villages. Like other Nilotic peoples, they were noted warriors. They traditionally practiced circumcision of both sexes, although female circumcision is fast fading as a rite of initiation into adulthood. Boys' circumcision festivals took place about every seven and a half years, although now is done every year and boys circumcised at the same time are considered to belong to the same age set; The Nandi social organisation centres around the age-set, or ibinda ( pl. ibinweek) with given names from the seven age-sets (ibinwek) which are rotational, meaning at the end of one age set (15 years) new members of that generation are born . Each age set is further subdivided into a subset (siritieet, pl. siritoiik).
The Social structure
The Nandi have had a well structured 'political' system revolving around what might be referred to at the Nandi Bororiet. No other Kalenjin community organised themselves in the Bororiet (pl. bororiosiek) system. The Nandi political life was ordered around 'bororiet' which is distinctly different from oreet (clan) but is probably an expanded form of the advanced order of the 'kokwet' or village system. As explained earlier, people of the same oreet were not necessarily restricted to one bororiet. However, some families were advised, perhaps to avoid recurrent catastrophes, not to live in certain bororiet. A case in point is the long-standing banning of Kap Matelong (and all Kipkenda?) from inhabiting Chesumei which is populated by the relatively obscure but conservative borioriosiek of Cheptol, Kapno and Tibingot.
Their Strength
The Nandi people are pioneer athletes in Kenya. From this community have come great distance athletes like the legendary Kipchoge Keino (Kip Keino), a gold medalist at Mexico (1968) and Munich (1972) Olympic games and Prof. Mike Boit, a Bronze medalist at Munich 1972 Olympics. Others include Peter Koech, Bernard Kipchirchir Lagat who represents the USA and Wilson Kipketer who ran for his adopted home of Denmark. Current world beating athletes like Pamela Jelimo, Richard Matelong, Wilfred Bungei, Janeth Chepkosgei and Super Henry Rono, United Nations Goodwill Ambassador Peter Rono, Tecla Chemabwai, Kenya Paralympian Henry Kirwa among others are Nandi. The father of Kenyan Steeplechasers Amos Kipwambok Biwott comes from the community
The Livelihoods
Agriculture is the main source of income in Nandi Hills, the main agricultural crop is tea. There are several tea plantations and small holdings. The economy of Nandi Hills relies mainly on surrounding tea estates and the small holdings. Many people work on tea farms as pluckers, managers, field maintenance, factory service works, official duties and businesses.