The most untrammelled of Kenya’s major safari reserves, Meru is a superb Big Five destination almost recovered from the poaching that nearly destroyed it in the 1980s

Extending over 870-square-kilometres of lush well-watered savannah east of Mount Kenya, Meru National Park is transitional to the moist central highlands and arid northern plains of Kenya. Wildlife, though plentiful, can be quite elusive, and the park is most notable perhaps for its untrammelled wilderness feel. Nevertheless, it is a good place to see localised large mammals associated with the arid north, including the handsome reticulated giraffe, striking Beisa oryx, shy lesser kudu and stretch-necked gerenuk antelope. The Big Five are all present too: with large herds of buffalo being a feature of the marshes, while more than 50 black and white rhinos have been introduced into a large fenced area since 2005.

Several of the camps here offer night drives, which can be very good for close-up sightings of genet and bushbaby. A series of 13 perennial streams rim through the park, emptying into the Tana River, which is Kenya’s largest waterway and forms the park’s southern boundary. Lined with riverine forest and tall doum palms, these waterways support several hippo pools along with abundant birds on the open plains.

Traditional safari favourites such as lilac-breasted roller are supplemented by several northern species at the most southerly extent of their range, including the striking vulturine guineafowl and Somali ostrich. Meru ranked among Kenya’s busiest safari destinations in the early 1980s, attracting up to 40,000 visitors annually, partly due to its association with the conservationists Joy and George Adamson.

But after becoming a major battleground in the poaching wars of the late 1980s, it all but closed down following the fatal shooting of George Adamson outside its borders in 1989. Today, the wildlife is largely recovered from the late 1980s nadir and Meru among Africa’s best-kept wildlife secrets.