Meru National Park is one of Kenya's less-visited but more rewarding parks, set about 80 kilometres east of Meru town in a lower, hotter, drier landscape than the highlands. The Tana River and its tributaries run through it, supporting an ecology quite different from the more famous savanna parks — riverine forest, doum palm groves, papyrus swamp, and wide open plains laced with red volcanic soil.
The Big Five are all present, and a fenced rhino sanctuary at the heart of the park holds both black and white rhino. Elephant herds along the rivers are particularly easy to see, along with reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, and the long-necked gerenuk that browse standing on their hind legs. The park's relative obscurity means you can sometimes spend a full game drive without meeting another vehicle — an unusual luxury in Kenya.
This is the park where Joy and George Adamson raised Elsa the lioness, the subject of Born Free. Elsa's grave lies within the park, marked with a simple plaque, and the story still draws visitors who grew up on the book and the film. Meru went through a rough patch in the 1980s when poaching wiped out most of its elephants and rhinos; intensive Kenya Wildlife Service management has since brought the numbers back and restored the park's reputation.
From Meru it is a long day each way on dusty roads, so the park rewards an overnight stay if you can manage it. Several modest lodges and campsites operate within the boundaries and along the borders, and the main gate can arrange guides for game drives and visits to the rhino sanctuary.