Black Lion by Sicelo Mbatha

4 out of 5 stars

A copy of this was provided free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review.

My name is Sicelo Cabangani Mbatha. My wilderness name is Bhubeselimnyama – Black Lion.

Probably the most dangerous animal that we have in the area is the adder, provided you can find one when they are out from the spring onwards. We don’t have to be wary of properly dangerous animals like lions or crocodiles. Where Sicelo Mbatha lives though these animals are just a fact of life, something that was brough home to his when his cousin was taken by a crocodile when crossing a river.

It was as if I could sense the unbounded wonder of nature and life and earth. I wept because I did know how else to respond

It didn’t make him want to go to the city, he wanted to stay in the Zulu homeland where he grew up, the draw of the natural world was too great to resist. He grew up as a child of nature, living a life that had been carried on that way for generations and learning it from the elders as they sat around the fire in the evening.

He began his working life, as many his age do, as a cow herder and it was being outside that reinforced his desire to become a game ranger. He passed his qualifications but did not have the money to be able to carry on his studies, so ended up working as a volunteer at the Mduba compound. It was here that he was to learn a lot of the skills, lion tracking, and monitoring rhino, that he would take through his career.

He would then become a trainee guide and best of all this was a paid position so he could properly support his young family. He thrived in this new position and learnt so much about the practical skills required in running a wilderness school. But it didn’t give him everything that he need, so when a position came up at Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife he applied and got it. It would be there where he would learn the next set of skills and become closer to the wilderness of Africa.

I really liked this account from Sicelo Mbatha of his life so far. It hasn’t been the easiest path that he has chosen to walk, but his heart is in the right place and he is happy with the choices that he has made. What comes across in the book is his passion for nature and all aspects of the natural world. At a deep level, he understands just how important it is to have a diverse world that is rich in specie, and that we as humans are just a part of that. Well worth reading to hear a new authentic voice in nature writing.