October in Kenya is the month of orchids and in Nairobi there is a magical garden bursting with colour and beauty, thanks to a couple of historic Italian residents.
Among the wonders of this land, in addition to its varied and enchanting landscapes, its free-roaming animals and its people, especially in remote and rural areas, there are also flowers, and orchids, although not all native, are one of the most iconographic symbols of their grace and elegance.
Bruno and Elena Giachino, who have been in Kenya for almost fifty years since they moved from the Langhe region in 1974 to run a roofing tile kiln, which is now a 350-employee business renowned throughout East Africa, have cultivated (it really has to be said) one of the many passions that the African equator can nurture, that of flowers.
In the kaleidoscopic garden of their home in New Muthaiga there are over 300 varieties of orchids, including Dendrobium Nobile and Spectabile in shades from white with lilac hues to pink and violet, Vanda cerulea and Vanda with three-coloured petals, and the choreographic Paphiopedilium of all kinds.
Their care and dedication to specimens that are as rare in Kenya as they are beautiful led them to win first prize at the Nairobi Orchid Show two years in a row, before the pandemic break.
It was the British who increased the number of species, adding orchids imported from Asia to the indigenous species of East Africa," explains Giachino, who is also president of the Comites (Committee of Italians Abroad) in Kenya and is a living archive of Italian stories of the last half-century of East Africa, "so much so that recently in the Karura forest itself there were almost no more of the original ones. So the members of the Kenya Orchid Society decided to donate some plants for reforestation, in order to maintain as much of the spectacle as possible in the public spaces of the metropolis".
Each of the species that can be seen wandering around the Jainos' enchanted garden is cared for like a baby. One is enchanted by the cascade of waves of the 'Sweet sugar' yellow orchids.
They need a lot of light, but not strong, direct sunshine," explains Elena, "and they need to be fed with a mixture of leaf fertiliser every 15 days.
For each of them there is a little secret of care and beauty, which reveals itself particularly in this season. We admire the fragrant 'twinkle', the dazzling white 'dendrobrium speciosum', the 'spectabile' dendrobium, the orange-tinged 'ada adorantica', the 'Venus slipper' (Paphiopedilium) as Bruno affectionately calls it, with its yellow tiger or red shades.
We could go on and describe them all, but the best thing is to stop and admire them, and for this we refer you to the photo gallery below.