On the great East African plain it is the human who feels himself the intruder. Here, and perhaps only here, the world is that of the animals. It is they who belong, as humans do not. In the more sensitive traveler this evokes a feeling of being privileged to observe ancient forms, settings and behavior that have survived intact from pre-history.

"Matthiessen has the language to express this feeling of awe...Matthiessen also goes into the relationships between humans past and present in East Africa's great fauna with many a flash of insight into the instincts each has bred in the other...This is the Africa book par excellence." (Saturday Review)