Black Lion

Book excerpt: My name is Sicelo Cabangani Mbatha. My wilderness name is Black Lion. I am the black lion who helps people discover the wild animal within. I am the black lion who roars for peace and harmony on Great Mother Earth. I am the black lion, alive in the wilderness. Wilderness guide Sicelo Mbatha shares the wisdom he has gained from a lifetime's intimate association with Africa's wildest nature. The story begins with a traumatic childhood experience that should have turned Sicelo against the surrounding wilderness. Instead, he was irresistibly drawn to it. As a volunteer at Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park, close encounters with buffalo, lion, elephant and other animals taught him to see with his heart and set him on a lifelong journey of spiritual awakening. Drawing from his Zulu culture and his own yearning to better understand humanity's relationship with itself and with nature, Sicelo has forged a new path, disrupting the conventional approach to nature with an immersive, respectful and transformative way of being in the wilderness. Both memoir and philosophical reflection, Black Lion – co-written with author and environmentalist Bridget Pitt – is a reminder of how much we need the wilderness for our emotional and spiritual survival. 'A remarkable story ... poetic and beautifully written. It goes to the heart of the meaning of ecological literacy.' – DR IAN McCALLUM, SPECIALIST WILDERNESS GUIDE