Elsa’s Kopje Lodge is a luxurious oasis in the wilds of Meru National Park, Kenya. Elsa’s Kopje hotel is a hidden jewel in the untamed wilderness of Africa and is Kenya’s best kept secret. The Elsa’s Kopje lodge blends into the hillside of Mughwango Hill, and the word ‘Kopje’ means ‘small hill’. Meru is vast with arid, open plains dotted with Doum Palms and Baobab trees and lush vegetation. Here you will see a more diverse range of species than in any other Park or Reserve in Kenya. From the hotel you will be taken out on morning and afternoon game drives in a 4 wheel drive safari vehicle with an experienced tour guide who is based at the luxury camp and knows the Meru National Park well. A swimming pool is a welcome facility for guests during the heat of the day.

The Elsa’s Kopje Camp is named after Elsa the lioness, made famous by George and Joy Adamson’s biographical film “Born Free”. Elsa’s Kopje Lodge is almost invisible to the eye as you approach the hotel on Mughwango Hill. Access to Elsa's hotel is by road or charter air flight. Air Kenya operates a schedule service to/ex Meru 3 times a week on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday, ideal for getting to Elsa's Kopje and connects on to Samburu and the Maasai Mara. Elsa’s Kopje Camp is owned and operated by Cheli & Peacock group of hotels and is a sister camp to Tortilis Camp and Laikipia Camps.

Elsa's Kopje guests virtually have Meru National Park to themselves, the park is the driest in the country and the landscape is incredible, with the parks thirteen rivers running off the mountains cutting green pathways through the dry brown valleys.If ever there was a place in which you could immerse yourself in the essence of wild Africa, it has to be Meru National Park. It sits right on the Equator, remote, beautiful and only an hour's flight from Nairobi.

Meru National Park is an untamed expanse, for many years the best kept secret amongst travellers passionate about beauty, peace and true wilderness. On a guided walk, you become aware of underground dwellers, amazing insect life with sophisticated rites and rituals. You follow the fresh tracks of animals, and then suddenly you're standing very still, watching a Lesser Kudu watching you, or Giraffe testing the air only yards away from you and your guide. Meru National park is famous for its birdlife. Riverine and forest species as well as the arid country species.  Regular sightings include: Elephant, White Rhino, Oryx, Gerenuk, Grevys Zebra, Reticulated Giraffe, Greater and Lesser Kudu and their predators: Lion, Leopard, Cheetah and Hyena. For many years Kenya's best kept secret, the untamed wilderness of Meru National Park is best explored from its hidden jewel - Elsa's Kopje.

All day long the kopje echoes to the sad, piping cries of grey hornbills; and at night, if you are lucky, you may hear the distant moan of a wandering lioness, as if the ghost of Elsa still haunts the land into which she was released by George and Joy Adamson to live the legend of Born Free. George Adamson, the lion man of Kenya, was born in India in 1906 and tried his hand at ivory hunting and gold prospecting before finding his true calling as a game warden in 1938. Then came the two events that would make him world famous. In 1944 he married Joy Bally, an Austrian divorcee with a talent for writing; and in 1956 he shot a lioness for the crime of cattle killing. Only then did he discover that the lioness had three cubs. The smallest was a female and the Adamson’s took pity on her.

They named her Elsa, and the rest is history. Joy Adamson's book, Born Free, in which she describes how Elsa was raised and returned to the wild in Meru National Park, became an instant bestseller and in 1964 a blockbuster film whose theme song, even today, most people can whistle. But even before the film was released, the Adamsons had virtually separated. Joy's quick temper and sexual adventures had won her the nickname "the man-eater of Meru", and George had bowed out, proclaiming that he would rather live with his lions. He went off into the bush, taking three of the tame lions used in the film, and set up camp at the foot of Elsa's Kopje. He would later release his man-made pride into the park. When Joy moved on to Shaba game reserve, where she worked with leopards until her murder in 1980, George sought solace in the thorny scrub of Kora, whose 500 square miles adjoining Meru he rented from the local council. There, with Tony Fitzjohn, his young English protégé, he continued his work of returning lions to the wild until in 1989, at the age of 83, he was gunned down by Somali bandits. Today, one of Kenya's most stunning luxury safari lodges crowns Elsa's Kopje Lodge.

Guests can sit where George once sat with his lions and his pipe and his whisky sundowner. "It took me five years to find this site," says Stefano Cheli, the Safari lodge's Italian-born owner. "I looked all over Kenya but this was the best."

Elsa’s Kopje Camp Hotel Accommodation
The accommodations are what makes Elsa's Kopje hotel so special. The 9 stone and thatch guest cottages are crafted around the natural features of the hill. Paved paths, lit by lamps at night, lead from each cottage to the comfortable open bar, lounge and dining room. There is a sense of space, style and pure relaxation. The ultimate pool with a view looks out across the plains, perfect for chilling out after a game drive or guided walk in the bush. Every cottage is uniquely designed.

The generous double or twin beds are romantically swathed in netting. The bathrooms are sumptuous: showers or baths made out of stone, modern flush toilets, bidets and double basins. One double cottage is set slightly apart from the others, ideal for families with children or a group. It has a double bedroom and a twin bedroom (bathrooms en-suite).

Elsa’s Kopje Private House was completed in June 2005. Built by the original designer of Elsa’s Kopje. Elsa’s Private House is set apart from the rest of the lodge, providing complete exclusivity and privacy. The house consists of one double bedroom with en-suite bathroom with a large bath-tub. There is a spacious twin room, with en-suite bathroom. The living area spills into your very own private swimming pool. The pool falls neatly into the horizon beyond the Meru plains. Elsa’s Private House provides guests with their very own piece of Kopje paradise. One of Kenya’s best pools with a view! The honeymoon suite is a 3-tiered cottage with a double bedroom, a sitting room and private deck united by a sweeping staircase. Soft drinks, beer and house wines are included in the room rate. Laundry service is included.

Elsa’s Kopje Camp Facilities
The atmosphere induces a feeling of peace thanks to a highly trained, unobtrusive team of staff and a skilled host who manages the lodge. Each cottage is attended by a butler who also waits on the guests at mealtimes. The food is traditional Northern Italian cuisine blended with a selection of local and international dishes, fresh baked bread, crisp salads and locally grown vegetables.

Activities include game drives in open-sided safari Land Rovers, driven by knowledgeable driver-guides, all members of the Kenya Professional Safari Guides Association. Guided walks are led by a Professional Safari Guide and accompanied by a Ranger.

Other attractions include bush breakfasts and sundowners and visits to the Tharaka tribal village on the Southern Boundary of the Park.

Elsa’s Kopje Camp Rate includes
Local airstrip transfers
2 Extended game drives per day
Full board accommodation
Limited Laundry
Bush breakfast / Lunch / Dinner
Fishing
 Night Game Drives
Soft drinks, beer, house wines and non-luxury spirits
Swimming pool
Fishing

Rate excludes
Park Fees
Champagne, luxury spirits and select wines
KWS activity charge
Exclusive use of vehicle
Spa
This most aesthetically satisfying of bush camps is aimed at those seeking a holistic bush experience and the opportunity to explore this untrammelled corner of Africa in the company of a knowledgeable guide. In terms of wildlife viewing, it is an excellent place to see several rarities, including the black rhino. Food, accommodation and guiding are all to a higher standard than its only real competitor, Leopard Rock Lodge, but it is correspondingly expensive and suitable only to the best-heeled visitors. Stays of four days or longer attract substantial discounts.