“The great plains of East Africa are a microcosm of the way the world was before man came. The Masai and other warlike, cattle herding tribes kept farmers out of this wildlife paradise for thousands of years. The colonial powers discovered this Garden of Eden in the 19th century and protected it in the form of parks and games reserves.
“Ngorongoro Crater is a microcosm within the microcosm of the great African plains. The high crater rim of this extinct volcano is cold and wet and densely forested, providing a barrier to most interchange of wildlife. The species that live there have been there since prehistoric times in a kind of fishbowl environment that is perfectly balanced. There are the lions and the cheetahs and hyenas that prey on the antelope and zebra. Within a few square miles, you can see most of the wildlife that can be seen in all of East Africa.
“I have shown this rhinoceros moving up the slope with a view of the crater in the background. If you look closely, you can see dozens of wildebeests on the crater floor.”