Ranger Sihle guides out of Lobengula Lodge. His warm & friendly nature is a great addition to his fun personality. He loves tracking animals in the bush and thoroughly enjoys meeting new people and showing them what Shamwari has to offer.
Name: Sihle Mlotswa
Title: Game Ranger
Started at Shamwari: November 2014
Hometown: Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal
Previous roles: I worked as a student coordinator at Shamwari Conservation before becoming a ranger.
Qualification:
FGASA Field Guide
Level 3 Tracker
Hobbies:
One of my favourite things to do is to travel and meet new people as it allows me to learn about new cultures. I enjoy tracking, spending time with family, I’m a big bookworm and love a good book, and my job is also my hobby.
Passion:
I am passionate about the bush and I love interacting with guests from all over the world. I love being in nature and my job allows me to take part in activities that I have a passion for, which include tracking, birding, and walking.
Favourite part of the job:
I really enjoy getting to know my guests and taking them out into the bush. The best part of my job is explaining the dynamics of nature and how everything works together. Ultimately, I want to give them the best experience at Shamwari that they will remember for years to come.
“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” – Nelson Mandela
Favourite animal:
Elephants.
I love elephants because I think they are just incredible animals. They are very intelligent and family orientated. The bond between members fascinates me as they are very social and I love their level of communication is very complex and beyond that of human beings.
Favourite animal in a sighting:
Elephants, once again.
In a sighting, elephants are always up to something which involves playing, play fighting and socialising. It’s also very interesting to watch how conscious they are of one another and how they stick together in a herd.
Most exciting encounter while on a game drive:
One summers day, my guests and I decided to leave a bit later than usual for our afternoon game drive. It was exceptionally hot! Our plan was to go out and track the Northern Pride of lions which had not been seen for about a week. It was unlikely that we were going to find lions as with it being such a hot day, lions tend to be out of sight. We headed out on the drive and within 5 minutes we saw a herd of elephants in the distance displaying unusual behaviour.
My guests and I headed towards them to find out why. When we got to the elephants, they were by a waterhole and were drinking water and some were in the water. There were also two hippos in the water and to our surprise, so were the Northern Pride of lions! They were all competing for a drinking spot and were on edge.
It was a once in a lifetime sighting with three of the biggest and most dangerous creatures in the bush in close proximity fighting for a spot at the watering hole. Eventually, the elephants decided that they didn’t want to share the watering hole with the other two and they then started chasing the hippos and lions away by trumpeting. The lions and hippos scurried off into the bush and left the elephants to enjoy the watering hole. This was the highlight of sightings that we had experience even though it only lasted a few minutes. It is also one of my best sightings in the bush to date.
Dear Sihle
I just wanted to say you, that the stay at Lobengula was for the whole family the best time of our holidays.
I would like to send you two pictures of our top safaris😊. Please send me your -mail-address, thank you very much.
Best regards
Christine and family
Dear Christine, thank you for your wonderful comment! Please send us your email address and we will pass it onto Sihle 🙂