Offbeat Meru Camp

Offbeat Meru is a place to get your feet back on the ground - this is a camp on traditional lines, with smart but not elaborate tents on the ground. No decks here. This makes a nice change - camps and lodges in Kenya are so elaborately put together these days that sometimes you can lose that safari feeling.

There are simple pleasures to be had on safari and Offbeat restores them - the splashing and creaking as the bucket is raised for your end of day bush shower, stepping out of your tent onto the rich earth of Africa, watching birds as you brush your teeth in the early morning light, the glow of a basic kerosene lantern.

The camp is sited in Bisanadi National Reserve which borders Meru National Park. Normally it is a hot, dry place (Meru is the driest park in Kenya) and in these drought ridden times that means very dry most of the time - though at the time we had visited they had had huge amount of rain and the place had turned into a wild tropical jungle. In more typical times however, dry means that the game is attracted to the network of rivers that run through the Meru ecosystem like lifelines, including the one that runs past camp.

Being outside the park proper bestows a certain freedom too. In fact, it feels very free here - and the guides can determine their own schedule - including night drives, and walking if they wish. Offbeat are also doing a good thing by being here, giving support to a marginal region of the park, and through the fees they'll be paying to the local county council on your behalf, giving the local community some income , and providing incentives to them to preserve the environment. Despite the traditional feel the tents at Offbeat Meru are large and spreading, and furnished in a contemporary style with clean lines and lots of white, so it has a cool feel. Surprisingly too, amidst the relative simplicity, it has a swimming pool - a wonderful treat after a big day out in the heat and dust.

The camp is staffed by a young and friendly crew - half of whom are from one local tribe, the Boran and the rest an interesting mixture, covering seven tribes in all - Luya, Kikuyu. Tharaka, Kipsigis, Turkana, Maasai. Hospitality here is on traditional English lines however with dinner parties round a large table every night, and lashings of tea and cake.