Finding a little corner of Africa in the city

At the week-end, whilst on a family visit to Birmingham, we visited the best garden centre ever!

Visiting Akamba is like stepping out of the city and finding yourself in the heart of Africa - surrounded by animal sculptures, exotic plants, wooden huts for enjoying a break from your "safari" and the gentle sound of African music in the air.  There's a large and cosy restaurant and also a gift shop selling all sorts of hand-crafted items.  We loved the extra touch of providing blankets for wrapping up in when sitting in the cold. The place also doubles as a music venue in the evenings.

We visited on a cold, late winter/early spring day but can imagine in the summer sunshine it would be a brilliant place to be (and there's even a "beach")