Wilderness guide Sicelo Mbatha shares lessons learnt from a lifetime’s intimate association with Africa’s wildest nature.

Black Lion begins in rural South Africa where a deeply traumatic childhood experience – he witnessed his cousin being dragged away by a crocodile – should have turned Sicelo against the surrounding wilderness. Instead, he was irresistibly drawn to it. As a volunteer at Imfolozi Nature Reserve, close encounters with buffalo, lion, elephant and other animals taught him to ‘see’ with his heart and thus began a spiritual awakening.

Drawing from his Zulu culture and his own yearning to better understand human’s relationship to 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 environmentalist Bridget Pitt - is his brilliant and profound account of life as a wilderness spiritual guide.

As humanity hurtles into the anthropogenic 21st century, Black Lion is an urgent reminder of just how much we need wilderness for our emotional and spiritual survival.

A Zulu foundling and a white missionary’s child raised as brothers in a world intent on making them enemies. A sweeping tale of identity, kinship, and atonement in 1870s South Africa, from Commonwealth Book Prize shortlisted author Bridget Pitt.

Moses, a Zulu baby discovered on a riverbank, and Daniel, the son of white missionaries, are raised as brothers on the Umzinyathi mission in 19th century Zululand, South Africa. As an infant, Daniel narrowly escapes an attack by a rhino and develops an intense corporeal connection to animals which challenges the religious dogma on which he is raised. Despite efforts by his adoptive mother to raise the boys as equals, Moses feels like an outsider to both white and Zulu society, and seeks certainty in astronomy and science. Only through each other do the brothers find a sense of belonging.

At Umzinyathi, Moses and Daniel are cushioned from the harsh realities of the expanding colony in neighboring Natal—where ancient spiritualism is being demonized, vast natural beauty faces rampant destruction, and the wealth of the colonizer depends on the engineered impoverishment of the indigenous. But when they leave the mission to work on a relative’s sugar estate and accompany him on a hunting safari, the boys are thrown into a world that sees their bond as a threat to the colonial order, and must confront an impossible choice: adapting to what society expects of them or staying true to each other.

With elements of magic realism, Eye Brother Horn is the heart-wrenching story of how two children born of vastly different worlds strive to forge a true brotherhood with each other and with other species, and to find ways to heal the deep wounds inflicted by the colonial expansion project.

Sam Campbell is barely surviving, focusing all her energy on raising her sister Melissa’s son, Khaya. Melissa died in a car accident near their family farm, Cedar Hills, in the Baviaanskloof area. Sam hasn’t forgiven Khaya’s father, Dylan, for leaving her to cope with Khaya to follow up his vague claims about searching for Melissa’s murderer.

But now the future of Cedar Hills and the farms in the area are in question after a successful land claim by the family of Sam’s one time childhood friend, and a bid by the Department of Environment to buy the land for a biosphere reserve. Whether she wants to or not, Sam will have to face her past.

At the same time James McIntyre is writing his confession about his role in Melissa’s death. They met when, as an American biochemical researcher carrying out a study of powdered milk formula for babies for a company called NuGrowth, he visits the clinic where Melissa is working. When James sees Melissa, he knows that he must win her heart at all costs – and to do this, he must do all he can to conceal from her the true nature of his research.

'Black Lion is a powerful, propulsive and unflinchingly honest account of one man's remarkable spiritual journey. It is life-affirming and deepening, and a vital contribution to the discourse around conservation. A must-read.' JINI REDDY, author of Wanderland 'A brave account of a natural disaster, and of achieving reconciliation with the predatoriness of life.' RICHARD MABEY, on Mbatha's Essay Letting Go Wilderness guide Sicelo Mbatha shares lessons learnt from a lifetime's intimate association with Africa's wildest nature. Black Lion begins in rural South Africa where a deeply traumatic childhood experience - a cousin being dragged away by a crocodile - should have turned him against the surrounding wilderness. Instead, he was irresistibly drawn to it. As a volunteer at Imfolozi Nature Reserve, close encounters with animals taught him to 'see' with his heart and thus began a spiritual awakening. Drawing from his Zulu culture and a yearning to better understand human's relationship to nature, Sicelo has forged a new path to nature with an immersive, respectful and transformative way of being in the wilderness. As humanity hurtles into the anthropogenic 21st century, Black Lion is an urgent reminder of how much we need wilderness for our emotional and spiritual survival.