Our curio shop is a proud retailer of handmade artefacts by African artists. It is important for us to support local and other African artists by stocking their pieces to sell to our guests. This is one way of uplifting the community around us. We have been fortunate to have pieces coming from different parts of Africa, including Kenya, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

These pieces take an enormous amount of time, skill and passion to produce. With minimal resources these artists often resort to recycling, as seen below with these amazing colourful bowls, made from telephone wire.

Other fascinating pieces are the soapstone (a type of metamorphic rock) bowls and artefacts. These bowls are painted in vibrant African colours with illustrations of scenes from the bush. These particular soapstone artefacts/ bowls come from Kenya.

The most popular creations are those made from African beads –very important symbols in African culture, past and present. Our curio shop stock a variety of exquisite beaded pieces, all handmade and created by members of the surrounding community in order to earn a living.

We also support a great initiative called Kaross, founded as a way of providing sustainable opportunities for mainly rural women to make a living. The 100% handcrafted Kaross products are of extraordinary beauty, combined with durable quality and exquisite attention to detail. These pillow cases were hand embroidered by VaTsonga people of southern Africa.

Next time you visit and make a purchase at the HESC curio shop remember that you are possibly contributing to the betterment of a rural community somewhere in Africa.