Meru National Park, a huge and beautiful expanse of wilderness (1813sqkm), is one of Kenya's great forgotten reserves. It sprang from relative obscurity in the 1960's as a result of its association with the conservationists Joy and George Adamson whose pioneering success in releasing captive-raised lions into the wild was immortalised in Joy's best-selling book 'Born Free'. However, the Park fell from grace in the 1980's as a result of severe problems with poaching but thankfully security is good again now and Meru's animal populations are either stable or growing.