In 2012, driven by the will to speak about the places that make me feel most alive and the urge to share what I was learning, I began writing about my experiences with wildlife, and  I never looked back. The stories flowed endlessly. After graduating, I realised that my background in conservation science was not just knowledge, but a tool and storytelling could shift hearts and spark change. 

In the early days, this platform was called Wild Instincts. The journey started by looking for a name that feels more me and unique because I knew this would become something that excites me. Little did I know it would build me, and the name would stick in people’s tongues. A quick perusal through an ancient Swahili-English dictionary led to Nyika Silika. 

Whether I wrote about climate change, endangered species, fragile habitats, or my own quiet musings with nature, there was always one constant thread: a reminder that we are not apart from nature, but a part of it.

By 2018, curiosity pushed me further. I picked up a professional camera, curious to see if my words could find a visual echo. Photography was not new to me; as a child, I always had a Kodak camera to document school and family trips, thanks to my mum urging me to record life’s moments. And when I turned my lens toward nature, something clicked.

Still, I wanted more. What if the stories and images could move? What if they could breathe? That question birthed the filmmaker in me. And since then, the path has only stretched wider. I don’t think I’ll ever stop.

I like to say I’m a scientist by training and a storyteller at heart. My muses are not just wildlife and wild landscapes, but people too. Those who live with nature, whether in cities or villages, in times of plenty or scarcity, in moments of change, both environmental and economic. We who need nature far more than we realise.

We need to remember: nature feeds us, shelters us, gives us air and water, holds us whole. We need to rebuild that bond, to craft a global call to action where humanity and nature thrive together.

That is the essence of Nyika Silika: ever evolving, ever becoming, rooted in the wild, yet reaching for the world. “I am exactly where I am meant to be.”