Black Lion is a pleasure to read. The author, a gifted wilderness guide, shares his wonder and his love of the wild world. He brings all his love to the reader, a love, that is without sentimentality, for he shows us the harsh realities of life and death, inextricably entwined. Mbatha introduces us to his culture and the land that he walks; the people and some of the folk medicines of the area.
There is wisdom to be found in these pages. The author has put his philosophy of sharing and reciprocity into his tour company, uMkhiwane Sacred Pathways, which has a core goal to help the residents and the ecology of his part of South Africa.