MERU

Meru National Park is one of the best known national parks in Kenya. It is home to a rich variety of wildlife, some of which are rare or endangered. Among them are African bush elephants, lions, leopards, cheetahs, eastern black rhinoceros and southern white rhinoceros, Grevy's zebra, hippos, and hartebeest.

Meru National Park is famous for being the place where conservationists George and Joy Adamson raised Elsa the Lioness, who inspired the book and movie Born Free. Elsa the Lioness was one of the three cubs that were orphaned when George Adamson had to kill their mother in self-defense in 1956. While her two sisters were sent to a zoo in the Netherlands, Elsa was adopted by George and Joy Adamson, who decided to train her to survive on her own and release her into the wild. Elsa was successfully returned to the wild in 1958, and later brought her three cubs to show to the Adamsons.

One of the main attractions of the park is Elsa's Kopje (named after the lioness), a rocky hill that overlooks the park, where visitors can stay at a luxury lodge that offers panoramic views and wildlife sightings.

Tourists can also visit the Rhino Sanctuary, a fenced area within the Park that protects 80 rhinos, both black and white, from poaching. Established in the 1990s, the sanctuary is one of the best places in Kenya to see wild rhinos in their natural habitat.