Located 70 odd km west of Mt Kilimanjaro, in Arusha Park, and – at 4,566m – Tanzania’s second highest mountain, Mount Meru is a beautiful, classically shaped volcano. While it last saw serious activity 100 years ago, it is thought to have lost the bulk of its size in a super-eruption some 8,000 years ago, and its nutrient-rich soils support a wide range of flora and fauna.

Surrounded by plains, the mountains slopes rise , a large region of heather and then moorlands, which, after a few thousand feet, peter out into volcanic desert. These different habitats are home to a variety of animals, including elephant, rhino, giraffe, monkey, baboon, klipspringer, warthog, duiker and leopard. Mount Meru boasts up to 400 species of bird, and the mountain is usually a fixed item on birders’ itineraries.