Meru National Park achieved worldwide fame with its association to Joy Adamson’s Born Free. The film chronicled the rehabilitation of Elsa the lioness as she was re-introduced to the Kenyan wilderness. Despite the fact that it’s one of Kenya’s major national parks, this destination is still overlooked by the majority of tourists.
Due to high rainfall the area has tall grass and dense swamps making it more difficult to spot game, unlike other African parks. The park does, however, have a wide range of wildlife including elephant, hippopotamus, lion, leopard, cheetah, reticulated giraffe, and zebra. The birdlife is also impressive and there are roughly 280 recorded species.
The park faced difficult times through the late nineteen-seventies and eighties, with poaching and poor security impacting on its tourism. Since then things have turned around and the park is becoming increasingly safe for its wild inhabitants.