Laikipia Plateau, Kenya
I will never forget floating over the Masai Mara in a hot air balloon observing the wildebeest herds below, it was my 'Out of Africa' fantasy come true.
The Laikipia plateau in central Kenya is an area of open ranches, shadowed by snow-capped Mount Kenya, home to ethnically diverse communities including the Mukogodo Maasai and Samburu.
These indigenous tribes people have joined together in partnership with the settlers and ranchers to create a conservation and wildlife haven that spans two million acres (800,000 hectares) of wild savannah.
Fed by the Ewaso Nyiro and Ewaso Narok rivers, Laikipia's abundant plains have long nurtured exceptional diversity, with traditional resources still very much the mainstay of the community: from wheat and livestock ranching to wildlife conservation and now tourism.
The district is home to more endangered mammals than anywhere else in East Africa, protecting half of Kenya's black rhino in the Solio, Lewa, Ol Jogi, Ol Pejeta and Ol Ari Nyiro Sanctuaries.
Laikipia also has huge herds of elephant and is the only place to view the endangered Jackson's Hartebeest. Wild dog, leopard, lion, cheetah and other predators hunt the plentiful plains game; impala, gazelle, reticulated giraffe, Grevy's zebra, Somali ostrich, Beisa oryx (endemic to the north of Kenya) and gerenuk.
Laikipia Plateau Camps & Lodges