If you’re a fan of the film Out of Africa, you might have heard of Baroness Karen Blixen, played by Meryl Streep. The film depicts her coffee farm in the Ngong Hills, southwest of Nairobi.
Born in Denmark in 1885, Baroness Blixen dreamed of living and owning a coffee farm in Kenya. In 1913, that dream came true when she bought the land that would later become her beloved home.
She was one of the first people to grow coffee in Kenya. However, as more people pursued coffee farming, prices dropped. Consequently, Karen found herself stuck with high production costs and low prices.
She eventually went bankrupt and returned to Denmark, where she died in 1962. Her book, Out of Africa, inspired the making of this famous Academy Award-winning romance drama.