U P & C O M I N G
B O R N
Free
Elsa’s Kopje at Meru National Park is Kenya’s ultimate
peaceful sanctuary. It hasn’t always been that way.
BY DAYNA ENGBERG
The saga started in the 1960s, when
some intrepid travelers began visiting
an uncharted area of remote, lush plains
straddling the equator. Bisected by over
a dozen rivers and mountain-fed streams, the
Meru Conservation Area was a literal oasis
of tall grasses and wild marshland hidden
within the barren, arid landscapes so typical
for central Kenya. A short jaunt east of Mount
Kenya National Park, the location was a rare
off-grid escape that was also accessible
— at least by east African standards — to
independent explorers. Its impending celebrity
was written in the stars. With unspoiled
landscapes, abundant wildlife and coordinates
reserved for in-the-know explorers, it was an
insider safari secret perfectly positioned to
appeal to the blossoming hippie movement
of the time.
This set the scene for what would become
Meru’s ultimate claim to fame: Born Free,
the Academy Award-winning story of Joy
and George Adamson, the real-life couple
who fostered an orphaned lion cub named
Elsa, raised her and released her back
into the wild. The 1966 screenplay starring
Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers was an
26 | SELECT · 2020