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Meru National Park
Meru National Park is, of course, the lonely wilderness which became world famous as the place Elsa, the lioness, was returned to the wild; the story of which was told in Joy Adamson's book Born Free. The park is about 80 kilometers east of Meru town and reached via a reasonable road passing through luxuriant, partly forested, farmland on the Nyambene Hills.
Of all the Kenya parks, Meru National Park presents the widest variety of landscapes and habitats. Forest, swamp and savannah are pierced by 15 perennial rivers all rising on Mount Kenya and all destined to reach the Tana River, which, just south of the equator, forms the park's lower boundary. In this marvelous sanctuary a great variety of wildlife exists, some in huge quantities. All the Big Five are here and the Meru National park is one of the best in which to locate cheetah and leopard.
Meru National Park's proximity to Mount Kenya and the Nyambene Hills (which reach to 2515 meters) ensures reasonable rainfall in the western half of the park but in the eastern portion it is generally dry and can be extremely hot. A visit to the Tana River will take the whole of a day and involve a descent from 675 meters at Meru Mulika Lodge to about 300 meters at the river. Despite the heat, this journey is a truly wonderful wilderness experience. Meru National is a park, which deserves to be more visited but its solitude and bio-diversity make it a certain destination for the discerning and environmentally conscious visitor.
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