EXOTIC TREES
HAVE A FIELD DAY IN KITISURU
By Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 20 August 2018)
When Rhodia
Mann moved to Kitisuru twenty years ago, her house was said to be at the far
end of Nairobi.
“There was
even a wall at the end of our road that marked the edge of the city,” says the
world-travelled jewelry maker, writer former safari guide and Fellow of the
Royal Geographical Society.
Kitisuru has
changed a lot since then. She’s got neighbors now who live in mansions
surrounded by high walls and electrified fences. The one thing that hasn’t
changed are the trees that first attracted Rhodia to move to that area in the
first place.
‘The most
magnificent one is the giant Bombax,” she says. “I believe it’s the oldest one
in Kenya. I’m told it’s well over a hundred years old,” she adds. Noting that
the tree is not indigenous, Rhodia believes her Bombax probably came from India
a long time ago.
“Most of the
trees in my garden are exotic,” she admits, laughing that her trees are rather
like herself. Not that she sees herself in that light, but as she’s traveled to
so many far corners of the earth in her lifetime, she’s frequently been
described with that adjective.
Certainly
her Bauhinia tree is exotic, not indigenous. Also known as the Hong Kong Orchid
tree, Rhodia’s Bauhinia grows right outside her dining room window. Its bright
pink flowers have made it a favorite all over the world. But for Rhodia, one
reason she loves it is because, like the bombax, it grows of its own accord.
“The
Bauhinia IS the one tree that I planted. Otherwise, I don’t pretend to be a
gardener,” says the Kenya-born ethnographer who, over the years, has spent
months at a time away from Nairobi. She’s either been traveling up north to
stay among the Samburu (where she’s been adopted and renamed Noongishu) or flying
to places where she’s collected beads of all sizes, shapes, materials and
ceremonial significance.
She’s
written about Samburu in books like ‘Safari to the Stars: Secrets from Samburuland’,
‘Talk to the Stars”, “A Woman of Two Worlds” and “Ice Cream in Sololo” which is
actually about her time researching the Borana people. And she’s also written
about beads in her book ”Ushanga: The Story of Beads in Africa”.
Rhodia has
also made films about the Samburu, one of which will be shown September 1st
at the International School of Kenya where she recently established a Museum of
Samburu Culture in a corner of the school’s library. The documentary film
entitled ‘Butterfly People: the Samburu of Northern Kenya’ was scripted,
produced and directed by Rhodia with assistance from Mohammed Amin’s film
students.
Rhodia with the old man her father Dr Igor Mann found long ago on a city street in Nairobi
Rhodia with the old man her father Dr Igor Mann found long ago on a city street in Nairobi
But in spite
of having spent so much of her life up north (where she first went with her
father when she was just nine), Rhodia is grateful for the bright blue
agapanthus plants that grow all over her front yard and even at her front gate.
“During the
rainy season, everything in the yard turns blue. It’s beautiful!” she exclaims.
But so are
the flowering Monstera Deliciosa plants that grows in a giant cluster on
Rhodia’s front lawn. Nearly twice as tall as the diminutive mistress of the
house, the monstera is originally from Central America. But again, nobody knows
how it arrived in Kitisuru, only that it is one more beautifying feature of
Rhodia’s front yard.
But if
someone hasn’t been impressed as yet with all the plants and trees that grow
gracefully in Rhodia’s yard, one finally needs to take a left turn as you walk
off the veranda towards the Bombax. In the distance, at the far end of her land
is a monster Mango tree, the biggest one that I have ever seen. It doesn’t
quite rival the bombax in size. Nonetheless, it’s a monument to nature. It’s
also exotic, originally coming from India and Myanmar (formerly Burma).
Rhodia with her monster Mango Tree in Kitisuru
So while Rhodia’s also got mats of Kikuyu grass in her yard, it’s the trees that give her end of Kitisuru the natural elegance that’s most memorable.
So while Rhodia’s also got mats of Kikuyu grass in her yard, it’s the trees that give her end of Kitisuru the natural elegance that’s most memorable.
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