Akamba Heritage & Garden Centre
Our Garden centre
Akamba offers a beautiful themed Africa garden centre like no other in the UK. Our Garden centre is located in Shirley, Solihull. We stock a wide range of exotic trees, palm trees, exotic plants and shrubs, garden ornaments such as large African style animals.
Akamba also has on site a bar, restaurant, café, reptile house and bird walk. We also have a great gift shop selling African styled gifts. You can also hire our venue for weddings & events. Akamba is also dog friendly all round, lots of water bowls available just in case your four legged friend gets thirsty.
Visit Our Restaurant
We have a great selection of African, Caribbean & English food and drinks available.
Choose from Curried Goat, Jerk Chicken, African Chicken & Rice or good old Fish & Chips. (Please note: this is untill 4:00pm)
Open from 10:00am, we do Full English and Caribbean Breakfast until 11:00am served with Fresh Juice and Kenyan Tea & Coffee, serving main meals, snacks or just drinks until 6:00pm.
Meet Chris Canaan
Chris has a great passion for exotic plants, exotic places and Africa in particular. He has been growing plants since he could walk, on leaving school at the age of sixteen his passion for ice skating took him to an Olympic level at speed skating, where he represented Great Britain in the Olympics, as well as sports he has been a glass blower, fashion designer, artist, sculptor and gym instructor.
Akamba was founded in 2002 after years of growing hardy exotic plants but never being able to buy them locally, Chris decided to source and import them himself, The plants combined with a love for African art created the perfect recipe for an African garden centre.
All the African art is fair trade, Chris and Kel know all the artists and their families on a personal level and work very closely with them to achieve the standards and finish required for the western market.
During the years at Akamba Chris has worked on many TV gardening programmes such as Challenge Tommy Walsh, Garden Invaiders and has featured on BBC Gardeners World.