Taita Culture 😊 (inspired by Maryamsaidi)

Sharing about culture is beautiful. It lets us see people in all their shades, their glory, their glamour and their skeletons hidden in the traditional veil. 

But today I'm not focusing on the bleak and gloom rather on the colourful aspect of my culture. 

I come from a small community in the coastal region, Taitas or Dawidas as we call ourselves 😃 Our county Taita Taveta is very far from the coastal line though, geography is a mixture of semi arid in the plains bordering Tsavo East National Park, that is, Voi and Mbololo. These are mostly hot and dry areas. Then we have the very hilly and lush region, Taita Hills I tell you are remarkably beautiful! These regions include the administrative town of Taita Taveta County, Wundanyi and other areas like Mghange Nyika, Mwanda, Werugha, Mbale to mention a few. The weather in the hilly places is very cold and wet. Not to mention foggy especially during the months of May-July when we experience our mini winter, lol.  

And then bordering Tanzania, is Taveta. Wow! This is where Tsavo West is at with beautiful volcanic lakes, Lake Jipe and Lake Chala. Sarova Salt Lick Lodge is one of the prestigious hotels located in this region. With the hotel standing on stilts, you dine as animals walk under your floor! 

Language: Taitas speak dawida language. Sounds flowery and song like. Yap. We have different dialects as well, namely; kitaveta, kisaghala, kimbololo, kiwerugha among others. Kitaveta and Kisaghala are the only ones that sound entirely different from the rest. With the others the difference comes in tonal variations as opposed to entirely new vocabularies.

Traditional food: Kimanga. A mix of irish potatoes, dried plantains and beans mashed together. Others use sweet potatoes as well. 

Clothes: traditional women wore a cloth to cover the top and mahando as a skirt. The men wore a cloth tied diagonally on their chest. In recent times, due to intermarriage and close proximity with the Swahilis and mijikendas, Taitas also dress in lessos. 

Music: traditional music was a form of spirit dance called mwazindika where both men and women would dance toa drum beat whilst gyrating to celebrate or to exorcise spirits. Today, the dance is mostly for entertainment purposes. Famous musicians from Taita include Fadhili Williams with the song, 'Malaika' and Freshly Mwamburi with the song, 'Stella'. 

Ooh and Taitas, both men and women are among the most beautiful people in Kenya. 🥰

Lessos

Traditional Food: Kimanga. And Taitas LOVE TEA! Too much actually such that we even joke that a Taita artist would even draw a thermos flask!

Traditional clothing

Traditional dance; Mwazindika dance. Super energetic and fun. And the beat? Dope! ❤️ Listen to this; https://youtu.be/O4U_VI3vBF

Towns; Voi, Wundanyi, TavetaToo much beauty, look at the sprawling hills and the green landscape. Nature's paradise. 

Majestic Taita Hills