And it was when I flew over the whole area, about 16 years ago, and realized that outside the park, this forest, which in 1960 had stretched almost unbroken along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika, which is where the tiny, 30-square-mile Gombe National Park lies, that a question came to my mind.
Circa 16 anni fa, mentre sorvolavo in aereo quella zona, e guardavo il parco, questa foresta, che nel 1960 si estendeva quasi ininterrotta lungo la sponda orientale del lago Tanganika -- dove oggi si trovano i 50 chilometri quadrati del piccolo Parco Nazionale di Gombe -- mi chiesi: