At a glance
One of the fundamental intention of choosing to stay in Elsa’s Kopje Boutique Safari Lodge in Meru National Park could be because while in this Spa game lodge you may spot Kenya’s most impressive birds? In Elsa’s Kopje Boutique Safari Lodge in Meru has over 300 recorded bird species swooping over its roof. All that copiously appendages unashamedly romantic and beautifully styled, Elsa’s Kopje Boutique Safari Lodge is sculpted into Mughwango Hill, above the site of George Adamson’s original camp where he raised and released orphan lions, long before conservation became fashionable. All the guides are Bronze or Silver level Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association certified and know the territory of the Meru lions and leopards. Also are in a habitat so diverse, they know the medicinal properties of the unusual plants, are keen birders, and can show you the home of the tiny naked mole rat! Rhino Sanctuary in the National Park incorporates an 84 SQ KM rhino sanctuary, home to over 70 rhino, both black and white. The size of the sanctuary ensures that finding the rhino is still a game driving challenge! All these is justifiable as a result of the current fleet, are new, and specially fitted, 4WD Toyota Land Cruisers. The vehicles are unrivalled with feature enhancements specifically designed for comfort and photography, open sided with 3 rows of seats, photographic equipment stands, and charging sockets.
Detailed trip itinerary
Day 1: Meru National Park, Elsa's Kopje (Fullboard)
You will be transferred from your Nairobi City hotel to Wilson Airport for flight to the Meru National Park. On your arrival at the airstrip after a 45 minutes flight, 4WD land cruiser will pick you to the Elsa’s Kopje Boutique Safari Lodge for check in formalities.
Lunch will follow then after easing in a lavish rooms an afternoon game drive from 15:30 until in the evening at 18:30 time for dinner and overnight.
- Game Drives
- Day excursion to the Tana river
- Rhino Sanctuary visit
- Guided walks
- River fishing
- Swimming pool
- Bush breakfast & sundowners
- Massages
- Cultural visits
- Honeymoons & Weddings
Unashamedly romantic and beautifully styled, Elsa’s Kopje is sculpted into Mughwango Hill, above the site of George Adamson’s original camp where he raised and released orphan lions, long before conservation became fashionable. Each cottage is crafted around the rocks, with a large bedroom, open sitting room, veranda and spacious bathroom, each with breathtaking views.
Guests can enjoy inimitable seclusion in the vast expanse of Elsa’s Kopje, boasting 870km² , the equivalent of 215,000 acres, of authentic African landscape. The park offers a thriving rhino sanctuary, and is famous for large elephant herds, hippo, lion, and birdlife; Meru National Park is recognised as having more diversity of animal species than any other park in East Africa.
The rugged and remote Meru National Park was rescued from oblivion thanks to Elsa’s Kopje, an environmental award-winning, boutique lodge. Winner of the Good Safari Guide’s ‘Best Safari Property in Africa’ award, Elsa’s Kopje is widely renowned as one of the most elegant lodges in Africa.
Elsa’s Kopje was designed and built by Stefano Cheli, officially opened by Dr. Richard Leakey (Director of Kenya Wildlife Service at the time), and Virginia McKenna of Born Free fame in 1999. One of the most beautiful parks in Kenya, Liz & Stefano included Meru National Park on most of their mobile tented safaris.
Meru is a lot less busy than some of Kenya’s more popular parks, and has an unspoilt feel. All of the Big Five are present. Elephant and buffalo are very common, and there is an enclosed rhino sanctuary containing both black and white rhino. The park is extremely scenic with tall doum palms growing along the park’s many watercourses. Meru is home to the Big Five. Elephants migrate through the park and big herds can sometimes be encountered. Big cats are more difficult to spot, but it isn’t rare to have a sighting all to yourself. Northern Kenya specials include beisa oryx, reticulated giraffe, and the odd-looking gerenuk. The rare Grevy's zebra occurs alongside the more common Burchell's zebra.
Full List of Mammals found in Meru National Park
- Aard-wolf
- African Buffalo
- African Civet
- African Dormouse
- African Elephant
- African Hare
- African Wild Cat
- Angola Free-tailed Bat
- Ant Bear
- Banana Bat or African
- Banded Mongoose
- Beisa Oryx
- Black Rhinoceros
- Black-backed or Silver-backed
- Black-faced Vervet
- Blue Duiker
- Blue or Sykes’ Monkey
- Bohor Reedbuck
- Burchel’s or Common Zebra
- Bush Baby
- Bush Duiker
- Bush or Large-spotted Genet
- Bush Pig
- Bush Squirrel
- Bushbuck
- Cane Rat
- Caracal
- Cheetah
- Clawless Otter
- Coke’s Hartebeest or Kongoni
- Common Waterbuck
- Dwarf Mongoose
- East African Hedgehog
- East African Red Squirrel
- Eland
- Epauletted Fruit Bat
- False Vampire Bat
- Flat-headed Free-tailed Bat
- Genet
- Gerenuk
- Giant Rat
- Giant White-toothed shrew
- Grant’s Gazelle
- Greater Galago
- Grevy’s Zebra
- Hippopotamus
- Hollow-faced Bat
- Hunting Dog
- Impala
- Jackal
- Kirk’s Dik-Dik
- Lander’s Horseshoe Bat
- Large Grey Mongoose
- Leopard
- Lesser Ground Pangolin
- Lesser Kudu
- Lesser Leaf-nosed Bat
- Lion
- Marsh Mongoose
- Naked Mole Rat
- Neumann’s or Small-spotted
- Olive Baboon
- Oribi
- Pale-bellied Fruit Bat
- Patas Monkey
- Pipistrelle
- Porcupine
- Ratel or Honey Badger
- Reticulated Giraffe
- Rock Hyrax
- Rousette Fruit Bat
- Serval
- Side-striped Jackal
- Spectacled Elephant Shrew
- Spotted Hyaena
- Spring Hare
- Square-lipped or White Rhino
- Steinbok
- Striped Ground Squirrel
- Striped Hyaena
- Suni
- Tree Hyrax
- Unstriped Ground Squirrel
- Warthog
- White Rhinoceros
- White-bellied Free-tailed Bat
- White-bellied Tomb Bat
- Yellow-bellied Bat
- Yellow-winged Bat
- Zorilla
With more than 300 species recorded, Meru is an excellent birding destination. It has several northern Kenya specials, including the impressive Somali ostrich, Boran cisticola and vulturine guineafowl. The noisy yellow-necked spurfowl is very common and the sought-after Hinde’s babbler can sometimes be spotted as well. The rivers running through the park offer the right habitat for Pel’s fishing-owl, the elusive African finfoot and the localized golden palm weaver as well as more common water birds.
- Abdim’s Stork
- Abyssinian Scimitar-bill
- Afr4ican Finfoot
- African Black Duck
- African Black Kite
- African Cuckoo
- African Darter
- African Fire Finch
- African Fish Eagle
- African Hawk Eagle
- African Hoopoe
- African Jacana
- African Marsh Owl
- African Pied Wagtail
- African Sand Martin
- African Scops Owl
- Angola Swallow
- Ashy Cisticola
- Ashy Flycatcher
- Augur Buzzard
- Banded Martin
- Bare-eyed Thrush
- Barred Owlet
- Barred Warbler
- Bateleur
- Bearded Woodpecker
- Black and White Cuckoo
- Black Crake
- Black Cuckoo
- Black Cuckoo Shrike
- Black-backed Puff-back
- Black-breasted Apalis
- Blackcap Warbler
- Black-capped Social Weaver
- Black-chested Harrier Eagle
- Black-faced Sandgrouse
- Blackhead Plover
- Black-headed Heron
- Black-headed Oriole
- Black-headed Tchagra
- Black-necked Weaver
- Black-shouldered Kite
- Black-throated Wattle-eye
- Blue-cheeked Bee-eater
- Blue-eared Glossy Starling
- Blue-headed Wagtail
- Blue-naped Mousebird
- Broad-billed Roller
- Bronze Mannikin
- Brown Harrier Eagle
- Brown Parrot
- Brown-backed Woodpecker
- Brown-headed Tchagra
- Brown-hooded Kingfisher
- Brown-throated Barbet
- Buffalo Weaver
- Buff-backed Heron or Cattle Egret
- Buff-bellied Warbler
- Buff-crested Bustard
- Bunting
- Bunting
- Button Quail
- Capped Wheatear
- Cardinal Quelea
- Cardinal Woodpecker
- Caspian Plover
- Chestnut Sparrow
- Chestnut Weaver
- Chestnut-backed Sparrow Lark
- Chestnut-bellied Sandgrouse
- Chestnut-fronted Shrike
- Chestnut-headed Sparrow Lark
- Chin-spot Flycatcher
- Cinnamon-breasted Rock
- Collared Sunbir
- Common Sandpiper
- Crested Francolin
- Crombec
- Crowned Crane
- Crowned Hornbill
- Crowned Plover
- Cut-throat
- D’Arnaur’s Barbet
- Didric Cuckoo
- Donaldson-Smith’s Nightjar
- Drongo
- Dusky Flycatcher
- Dusky Nightjar
- Egyptian Goose
- Egyptian Vulture
- Emerald-spotted Wood D
- Europan Nightjar
- European Bee-eater
- European Black Kite
- European Common Wheatear
- European Cuckoo
- European Golden Oriole
- European Hoopoe
- European Kestrel
- European Kestrel
- European Marsh Harrier
- European Marsh Warbler
- European Nightingale
- European Rock Thrush
- European Roller
- European Sand Martin
- European Sedge Warbler
- European Spotted Flycatcher
- European Swallow
- European Willow Warbler
- Fan-tailed Raven
- Fawn-coloured Lark
- Fiscal Shrike
- Fischer’s Sparrow Lark
- Fischer’s Starling
- Fischer’s Straw-tailed Whydah
- Flappet Lark
- Gabar Goshawk
- Garden Warbler
- Giant Kingfisher Rare
- Golden Weaver
- Golden-breasted Starling
- Grasshopper Buzzard
- Great Reed Warbler
- Great Spotted Cuckoo
- Great White Egret
- Greater Honeyguide
- Green Pigeon
- Green Sandpiper
- Green Wood Hoopoe
- Green-backed Heron
- Green-winged Pytilia
- Grey Flycatcher
- Grey Hornbill
- Grey Tit
- Grey Wren Warbler
- Grey-backed Camaroptera
- Grey-capped Warbler
- Grey-headed Bush Shrike
- Grey-headed Kingfisher
- Grey-headed Silverbill
- Grey-headed Social Weaver
- Grosbeak Weaver
- Hadada Ibis
- Hamerkop
- Harlequin Quail
- Harrier Hawk
- Helmeted Guinea-fowl
- Heuglin’s Courser
- Hildebrandt’s Starling
- Hooded Vulture
- Indigo-bird
- Issabelline Wheatear
- Jameson’s Fire Finch
- Kaffir Rail
- Kenya Crested Guinea-fowl
- Kenya Violet-backed Sunbird
- Kittlitz’s Plover
- Klaas’ Cuckoo
- Kori Bustard
- Lanner
- Laughing Dove
- Layard’s Black-headed Weaver
- Lesser Grey Shrike
- Lesser Honeyguide
- Lesser Kestrel
- Lesser Kestrel
- Lichtenstein’s Sandgrouse
- Lilac-breasted Roller
- Little Bee-eater
- Little Grebe
- Little Ringed Plover
- Little Sparrow Hawk
- Little Swift
- Lizard Buzzard
- Long-crested Eagle
- Long-tailed Cormorant
- Long-tailed Fiscal
- Long-tailed Nightjar
- Madagascar Bee-eater
- Malachite Kingfisher
- Marabou Stork
- Mariqua Sunbird
- Martial Eagle
- Masked Weaver
- Montagu’s Harrier
- Morning Warbler
- Mottled Swift
- Mourning Dove
- Mouse-coloured Penduline Tit
- Namaqua Dove
- Narina’s Trogon
- Northern Brownbul
- Northern Brubru
- Northern Pied Babbler
- Northern White-tailed Lark
- Nubian Nightjar
- Nubian or Lappet-faced Vulture
- Nubian Woodpecker
- Nyanza Swift
- Olive-tree Warbler
- Orange-bellied Parrot
- ove Pel’s Fishing Owl
- Painted Snipe
- Pale Chanting Goshawk
- Pallid Harrier
- Palm Swift
- Palm-nut Vulture
- Paradise Flycatcher
- Paradise Whydah
- Parrot-billed Sparrow
- Pearl-spotted Owlet
- Pied Crow
- Pied Kingfisher
- Pied Wheatear
- Pink-breasted Lark
- Pin-tailed Whydah
- Plain Nightjar
- Puff-back Shrike
- Purple Grenadier
- Pygmy Falcon
- Pygmy Kingfisher
- Pygmy puff-back Flycatcher
- Red and Yellow Barbet
- Red Bishop
- Red-backed Scrub Robin
- Red-backed Shrike
- Red-billed Fire Finch
- Red-billed Hornbill
- Red-billed Oxpecker
- Red-billed Quelea
- Red-capped Lark
- Red-capped Robin Chat
- Red-cheeked Cordon-bleu
- Red-chested Cuckoo
- Red-eyed Dove
- Red-faced Apalis
- Red-fronted Barbet
- Red-fronted Tinkerbird
- Red-headed Weaver
- Red-necked Falcon
- Red-rumped Swallow
- Red-tailed Shrike
- Redwing Bush Lark
- Richard’s Pipit
- Ring-necked Dove
- Rosy-patched Shrike
- Ruff
- Rufous Chatterer
- Rufous Sparrow
- Rufous-crowned Roller
- Ruppell’s Long-tailed Starling
- Ruppell’s Vulture
- Sacred Ibis
- Saddlebill Stork
- Scaly Babbler
- Scaly-throated Honeyguide
- Scimitar-bill
- Secretary Bird
- Senegal Plover
- Shikra
- Singing Bush Lark
- Slate-coloured Boubou
- Somali Bee-eater
- Somali Golden-breasted
- Somali Ostrich
- South African Black Flycatcher
- Speckled Mousebird
- Speckled Pigeon
- Speckle-fronted Weaver
- Spectacled Weaver
- Spotted Morning Warbler
- Spotted Stone Curlew
- Spotted-flanked Barbet
- Spring passage migrant
- Steel-blue Whydah
- Steppe Buzzard
- Steppe Eagle
- Stone chat
- Stork
- Straight-crested Helmet Shrike
- Striped Kingfisher
- Striped Swallow
- Sulphur-breasted Bush Shrike
- Superb Starling
- Taita Fiscal
- Tawny Eagle
- Temminck’s Courser
- Three-banded Plover
- Three-streaked Tchagra
- Thrush Nightingale or Sprosser
- Tiny Cisticola
- Tropical Boubou
- Two-banded Courser
- Verreaux’s Eagle Owl
- Violet Wood Hoopoe
- Violet-backed Starling
- Vitteline Masked Weaver
- Von der Decken’s Hornbill
- Vulturine Guinea-fowl
- Wahlberg’s Eagle
- Wahlberg’s Honeyguide
- Water Dikkop
- Wattled Starling
- Waxbill
- White Stork
- White-backed Vulture
- White-bellied Bustard
- White-bellied Go-away-bird
- White-browed Coucal
- White-browed Robin Chat
- White-browed Sparrow Weaver
- White-crowned Shrike
- White-faced Scops Owl
- White-headed Buffalo Weaver
- White-headed Vulture
- White-naped Raven
- White-rumped Swift
- White-throated Bee-eater
- White-winged Widow-bird
- Winding Cisticola
- Wire-tailed Swallow
- Wood Ibis or Yellow-billed
- Wood Sandpiper
- Yellow Bishop
- Yellow-bellied Eremomela
- Yellow-billed Hornill
- Yellow-fronted Canary
- Yellow-necked Spurfowl
- Yellow-rumped Seed-eater
- Yellow-spotted Petronia
- Yellow-throated Longclaw
- Yellow-vented Bulbul
Days 2: Meru National Park, Elsa's Kopje (Fullboard)
Early morning tea or coffee followed by early morning game drive at 06:30 returning later for breakfast at 08:00 then a rest until time for lunch in the lodge.
In the afternoon another game drive from 15:30 until in the evening time for dinner and overnight at the lodge at 18:30.
Day 3: Fly Nairobi
Early morning tea or coffee followed by early morning game drive at 06:30 returning later for breakfast then mid-morning transfer to the airstrip for flight to Nairobi City arriving at about 12:00 then be transferred to your Nairobi City hotel or be dropped at the airport.
Tour Inclusions
Return flight to Meru National Park from Nairobi City Wilson Airport
Full Board Accommodation, all meals and drinks (excluding champagne, private cellar wines and spirits), shared and scheduled game drives, guided walking safari, sundowners, laundry, service charge and VAT.
All reserve fees
Game drives as per the itinerary in a 4WD land cruiser both side open
All transfers
All our transport has insurance
Tour Exclusions
Drinks
Tips for the service
Yellow fever vaccination
Visa
Things of personal use

Easter & Christmas Surcharges
A surcharge would be charged per person per night on Good Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Easter Monday and on 24th 25th, 26th, 31st December and 1st January. The Surcharge would be confirmed at the time of booking for clarity purposes.
For optimal enjoyment of your safari, we urge you to carry the following:
All weather firm shoe pair, short and dress to use during the day, trouser for use in the evenings with long sleeved shirt, sweater or jacket, hat, swimming costume, sunglass, camera, binocular, sun protection cream and insect repellent spray or cream.