(Posted 29th October 2023)
Courtesy of Jayne Rose Gacheri and with permission from Lucy Waruhi
During the marking of this year’s World Tourism Day, I found myself in Nyeri. Nyeri tourism stakeholders were marking the day by celebrating River Gura, and part of the activities were cultural performances and traditional activities.
The last time I visited, Nyeri I thought that a one-day schedule was more than enough for a road trip and a three-hour hike for the three-kilometre stretch of trekking along the Gura River. A day was enough for me to tick this bucket list out and be back in Nairobi in good time. This time around I took a more leisurely pace.
First on the itinerary was a bounty-traditional breakfast served at a spectacular site along the river with an amazing background. This was followed by a hike.
During the guided hike, we got to learn several things about Tetu and Nyeri and the highlights of tourism attractions which included Gura, Mt Kenya, historical monuments such as the Mau Mau caves, the Aberdare, Sister Nyaaga monument, the Scout memorial monument and the famous but now closed Tree Hotel where the late Queen Elizabeth became a queen.
Later, we ended our hike at a spot set aside by the county government and the Tetu community. There are traditional huts and a viewing platform has been set up.
The community’s participation was necessary to promote the conservation of Gura River and its surrounding environment.
Part of the day’s activities included folklore, traditional coffee brewing demonstrations and lessons on the need to conserve River Gura.
The background was set by soft music from traditional songs sang by a team of traditional women and men as they went on with their “traditional activities” such as basket weaving, knife and spear sharpening (men) and mock coffee and honey harvesting activities.
The cultural conversations happen against this background of the traditional setting, with the participants in traditional attire.
Margaret Gathigiwa, 84, spoke about the way of life of the traditional Agikuyu community.
She says she is always prepared to teach the younger generations the importance of utamaduni (culture) and the value of traditional foods such as uji. The uji she explains is made from millet, wheat and sorghum.
