From Birmingham to "Kenya" in a blue Ford Fiesta...

We arrived in 'Kenya' via Birmingham city centre, through the back streets of Solihull, with Bruno Mars entertaining us by 'catching grenades' for his true love. The view from our window (if I'm honest), was nothing spectacular, no beautiful sunset, no soft fluffy clouds, no clear blue skies. It was drizzling a bit, slightly muggy, and we saw the odd car and couple of football fields. But none the less we arrived at our destination, parked near the 'grazing zebra', alighted (avoiding the puddles) and entered 'Kenya'.

I was glad really to have missed the hassle of the airport and pre-travel preparation, (you know how it is), leaving everything to the last minute and then rushing around filling up suitcases with presents to take to dearly missed Aunties,Uncles and cousins. No this was a much smoother and shorter journey, I only carried my handbag (so no awkward checking in moment when you're told; your luggage is over the weight limit and you will need to remove some items - and you do your best not to look back, because you know the other passengers in the queue are busy giving you dirty looks). The first sound that reached our ears was some Luo music (Luo is an ethnic group in Kenya that I belong to), excitedly I shouted to my fellow travellers 'they're playing Luo music!' one replied 'Oh right, what are they saying?', I had to admit I didn't know, (Kenyan born and UK raised, my Luo is slightly limited to phrases such as 'you've been naughty' and 'don't you dare do that again'! - often shouted to me when as child I was caught drawing on the living room walls).

We took pictures outside next to the 'jeep' and the 'elephant', and proceeded inside to the reception where we were met with a picture of William and Kate and baby George (I guess Royal baby fever reached 'Kenya' too). We could smell the wonderful aroma of barbecued meat (nyama choma to you Swahili speakers), and exotic plants and trees surrounded our every corner. We looked for somewhere to sit and sample some of that lovely smelling meat, we were hungry (unfortunately our transportation wasn't quite Virgin airways so no 'in-car' meals - except for a swig here and there of a bottle of water and the odd mint handed out by the driver). We wandered round looking for a table, simultaneously admiring the scenery; lovely wood carvings, and beautifully crafted metal sculptures, we passed a bar that was playing Kikuyu music (Kikuyu is also an ethnic group in Kenya), we saw a shop selling 'Kenyan' tourist gifts, we felt at home. We found somewhere to sit, we ordered some food, we waited, the food arrived, we ate, we commented on the fact that the food didn't quite have the 'Kenyan' taste we were hoping for (but hit the spot nonetheless). We went into the shop, we looked at the gifts, we commented that we liked the fact that it had a wide range of 'Kenyan' artifacts (we bought nothing), we decided it was time to leave.

We left 'Kenya' the same way we came, through the back streets of Solihull, via Birmingham city centre (the odd car was still there and the football fields hadn't moved either). We enjoyed our short stay in 'Kenya', but sadly there was no entourage of family to say goodbye to us as we boarded our blue Ford Fiesta. I would go back to this 'Kenya', not quite the same as the beautiful Kenya in East Africa that requires a long-haul flight, pre-travel preparations and awkward moments when checking in, but as a little taste of Kenya (well except for the food) it did it's job rather well.

'Kenya' is in fact Akamba a garden centre, restaurant and entertainment venue in Solihull (just outside Birmingham, United Kingdom), a place worth visiting.