THE MOTHER OF ALL KARENS

Everyone is familiar with the term "Karen," but have you heard of the mother of all Karens? Her name is Karen Blixen.
She was a Danish writer and aristocrat who ‘owned’ a 6,000-acre coffee farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills in colonial-era Kenya. A small army of servants toiled and attended to her needs. The land actually belonged to the local Maasai, who’d been forcibly removed from it to make room for colonials like herself.

Her writings were infused with racism and a White-saviour complex. Yet Nairobi still honours her by having a suburb named after her - one that still has a whiff of colonial exclusivity and snobbishness.

African Stream takes you to the place where it all started.