Address: Tythe Barn Lane, Dicken’s Heath, Solihull, B90 1PH
Opening Times: During Summer open 9am-6pm Daily. Open until 10pm on certain late nights (usually Thurs, Fri and Sundays but check online first)
Price: FREE Entry. Additional costs for activities if you choose to do them
I had never been to Akamba, until last week when I went twice. Firstly with Jemima where we met Blogger, Baby About Town and her lovely little boy and then the day after with my husband and both my girls.
What a stunning place.
Akamba is a garden centre with so much more here. They have thousands of plants in stock from all over the world. There’s a large selection of bamboos and garden palms. You really could turn your own garden into a little African haven.
There’s a variety of life sized metal animals which have been sculpted in Kenya from recycled metal. Both my girls really loved these, running around trying to find as many as they could. And shouting out what animals they were.
There’s the Akamba Bird Walk here which features birds from all over Africa. It’s £2 entry for 3s and over and they get given a card where they can identify which birds they see and where they are from.
Jemima really enjoyed this and walked around like a true bird watcher. The section isn’t massive, but for £2 it’s definitely worth paying to have a look.
Right next to the bird walk is Akambas Tropical House and this was definitely a winner for Jemima who jumped straight in on Friday and Saturday to stroke snakes, a chameleon, a tortoise and a cockroach. Yes, a cockroach. The tropical house is amazing and for the grand total of £4 you can have a look around the room at the different snakes, lizards, frogs etc and have a holding experience (within the same cost).
There’s handwashing facilities after and a gift shop where you can purchase numerous little gifts at a reasonable price.
Back in the gardens of the centre, towards the back, you will find Akamba Beach. Open at weekends and in the week during school holidays, it is £1 entry for as long as you would like. The girls loved playing in the sand, sitting in the boats pretending to sail and driving the toy car across the sand. With the lovely weather we are currently having, it actually felt like I was abroad as I lay on the deckchair watching the girls play.
If you’re hungry or thirsty you can try out Tribe Bar and Eatery and Makuti Coffee House where I could literally stay all day and eat and drink with all of the yummy things on offer here. Everything from Caribbean food to jacket potatoes, baguettes and wraps. And a large selection of cakes. Can you guess what I had? Yep, that’s right, a cake. Ha! Jemima had one too and ate it all up.
You can eat and drink inside or use one of the many chairs and tables scattered around the grounds outside in the sun. There’s a few tables overlooking a little waterfall which is lovely.
Overall a really fantastic place to visit. You could spend an hour here or a day. It really is a hidden gem.
Hey, if you liked this review or maybe were inspired to try this out because of my post, you can always buy me or the kids a drink or a slice of cake on our next big trip! Just hit the button below, if you want to. 🙂
Buy me a coffee
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