Quote: Mount Meru has some of the best scenery of any mountain anywhere. Watching the sun rise over Kilimanjaro from the summit of Meru is more spectacular than anything you'll see on Kilimanjaro itself. Strangely, Meru is often billed as a warm-up for Kilimanjaro, which I guess it could be, but I actually think its a better overall climb. Sure, you're not climbing the highest mountain in Africa, but you're still scaling a 15'000 foot volcano with a central crater that contains some of the highest cliffs on the continent (its a 4'000 foot leap from the summit to the floor of the interior crater). The climb is also much less popular than Kilimanjaro, which gives more of a wilderness feel to the hike.

The entire climb is within Arusha National Park, so all park fees must be paid before you can start hiking. Also, unlike Kilimanjaro, it is required to hike with an armed ranger at all times. The rationale for this has something to do with charging buffalo, which is good enough for me. Rangers can be hired at the park gate with no advance notification required. There are two huts on the mountain, with the standard climb taking two days to ascend, and two to get back down. The climb can be compacted a bit, our group did the whole thing in 2 days, but it is fairly strenuous.
From journals Tanzanian Safari