The Tsodilo Hills: Botswana’s rock art, in the far north-west.
Four hills rise out of flat Kalahari sand near the Namibian border. Their cliffs carry more than 4,500 paintings, and people have lived beneath them for many thousands of years.
Male, Female, Child, and a small fourth hill.
The Tsodilo Hills became Botswana’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. UNESCO records more than 4,500 rock paintings in an area of about ten square kilometres, along with evidence of people living here over an extraordinarily long span of time. The hills themselves are known locally as the Male, the Female and the Child, with a fourth, smaller hill nearby.
The paintings are mostly in red ochre, of eland, giraffe, rhino and people, with later white paintings alongside. They are still sacred. For the Ju/’hoansi San and the Hambukushu, who live nearby, the hills are a place where the spirits of the dead reside and where ceremonies continue, and visits are made with that in mind.
The writer Laurens van der Post brought Tsodilo to a wider audience in the 1950s in The Lost World of the Kalahari, and one panel still carries his name. Today a small site museum and community guides lead visitors along marked trails past the main panels. It is one of the least visited places in Botswana, and one of the most affecting.
The Tsodilo Hills: the essentials.
- WhereNorth-western Botswana, west of the Okavango Panhandle near Shakawe
- StatusUNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, Botswana’s first
- Best monthsApril to October, when it is cooler and dry for walking
- Getting thereBy charter flight from Maun, or by road from the Okavango Panhandle
- How you see itGuided walks with community guides on marked trails
- Who it suitsAnyone interested in history and culture; a day or a night from the Panhandle
What a day at the hills involves.
The paintings
Panels of eland, giraffe, rhino and human figures on the cliffs and overhangs, some high up, some at shoulder height beside the path.
The trails
Marked walking routes around the Female Hill, from an hour to most of a morning, with a community guide explaining the panels and their meaning.
A sacred place
Ceremonies still take place here. Guides ask visitors to keep to the paths and never touch the paintings.
The site museum
A small museum at the entrance sets out the archaeology and the communities connected to the hills.
The Okavango Panhandle
The Delta’s narrow northern channel is close by, with tigerfish and bream fishing, papyrus and excellent birding. A natural pairing.
A night at the hills
There is a simple campsite at the base of the hills, and the night sky out here is very dark.
What guests ask us about Tsodilo Hills.
How old are the Tsodilo paintings?
Nobody can date them precisely. Many are thought to be within the last few thousand years, and the archaeological record of people living at the hills goes back very much further. The guides at the site explain the current thinking on the main panels.
Can we visit Tsodilo as a day trip from Maun?
By charter flight, yes: you fly out in the morning, walk the trails with a guide, and fly back in the afternoon. By road it is too far for a day and works better as part of a journey through the Okavango Panhandle.
Do we need a guide at Tsodilo?
Yes. Visits are led by guides from the site, which protects the paintings and means the people connected to the hills benefit from the visit. They also find panels you would walk straight past.
What else is near the Tsodilo Hills?
The Okavango Panhandle, where the river enters Botswana in a single channel before fanning out into the Delta. It is known for fishing, birding and papyrus channels, and it makes a good two- or three-night base.
Written around you, not taken off a shelf.
None of our seven signature journeys goes to Tsodilo Hills, which suits it: we add it to a tailor-made route instead. Tell us how many days you have and we will show you where it fits.
Often combined with Tsodilo Hills.
Keep reading
- Cultural journeys in Botswana — Tsodilo, the San and the people behind the landscape
- The Okavango Delta — the Panhandle is the Delta’s northern doorway
- Tourism and Botswana’s communities — how visits like this should benefit the people who host them
Thinking about Tsodilo Hills?
Tell us when you can travel and what you most want to see, and we will tell you honestly how many nights it deserves and what to pair it with.