The Camp

Location: Meru National Park, Kenya
Number of Cottages: 10

Elsa’s Kopje is almost invisible to the eye as you approach it atop Mughwango Hill. It blends into the rocky crags of the kopje, the small hill above George Adamson’s original campsite. Every safari-style cottage is the ultimate ‘room-with-a- view,’ uniquely designed and crafted, incorporating the natural features of the rocky hillside. Each cottage has spacious double or twin beds with beautifully appointed en suite bathrooms. Accommodations set exclusively set apart include a separate private house and the honeymoon suite. An open-air bar, lounge and dining room and infinity pool overlook the Meru plains. Elsa's Kopje is renowned for its outstanding cuisine. With sumptuous fresh salads using produce from its own garden, North Italian recipes combined with more unusual dishes, and homemade bread freshly baked in the camp’s traditional outdoor pizza oven, meals here are heavenly. Guests eat at their own individual candlelit tables, almost always outside under the stars.

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Facilities & Amenities

• En suite bathroom with tub and shower
• Hair dryer in pool changing area
• 220v charging outlets in main area
• Private plunge pool at the private house
• Central pool
• Massage treatments (extra cost)
• Wi-Fi in main area
• Laundry included
• Local drinks included (house alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks)

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Wildlife Viewing & Activities

Meru is one of Kenya’s less-visited national parks, but here you will encounter a greater diversity of animal species and habitats than in almost any other area of East Africa. Currently the only fully operational lodge in Meru, Elsa’s guests have the entire park to themselves. The lodge has special license to walk, fish, and conduct night game drives. Meru National Park protects more than 40 white rhino, 20 black rhino and several babies. The park’s sheer size ensures a potent sense of wilderness, and finding the rhinos is still a game-drive challenge. The habitats around Elsa’s Kopje are surprisingly diverse, varying from dense thickets and wooded grasslands to open plains. Meru’s rich wildlife diversity includes rare species specific to northern Kenya such as Grevy’s zebra, gerenuk, Somali ostrich, reticulated giraffe, lesser kudu, and more than 350 bird species, as well as buffalo, elephant, lion, cheetah and leopard. Cultural visits, meals in the bush and massage are among the optional activities at Elsa’s.

The below chart helps to illustrate major wildlife sightings often experienced in Meru. Other typical sightings may include jackals, foxes, hartebeest, waterbuck, warthog and a number of other mammals, birds and reptiles. Endangered Grevy's zebra can be see here as well as common zebra. Exact sightings will depend on seasonality and wildlife movements.

Climate

Conservation

Elsa’s Kopje is involved in many community development and eco-preservation projects. The lodge buys fresh produce from the farmers on the borders of the park. Where possible, supplies are sourced from local traders. Crafts for the lodge’s gift shop are purchased locally. The lodge supports a local primary school for the Tharaka community just outside the park. Elsa’s Kopje employs and trains staff from the local communities. Glass is given to the East African Women’s League, which runs the “Glass for Glasses” project whereby glass is exchanged for eyeglasses. The lodge consumes a minimum amount of energy, only using energy-saving bulbs and trying to limit generator use to only 6 hours per 24-hour period, supplemented by solar energy. All hot water is solar-heated. Any timber used by the camp is either dead wood or taken from renewable sources, and every care is taken to make sure that the lodge’s only impact on the reserve is a positive one.

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