Tsodio Hills

Tables, chairs and lunch came along with us.

As I mentioned before, Catherine and Zabeta spent he day before I arrived in Johannesburg with Carl and Glenn discussing flight planning and sites along our route.  One of the things that they raved about was the Bushman paintings at Tsodilo Hills. It had been years since they'd been there, but they said that there was an airstrip that was only a couple of kilometres from the park and that the park itself was well worth seeing.  Not to be missed in fact.  So, when we were in Maun we did some investigating on the airstrip.  Our New Zealand friend Aman (remember the saint who gave us the map?), said that she'd been there, it was worth the trip but that she'd never landed at the airstrip and that she might not recommend it.  Since the park was only 50 kilometers from our lodge we decided to see if the lodge could arrange for a land-based tour.  And, of course they could.  (For a fairly reasonable additional fee.)  After some discussion we decided that we'd go see what these Bush paintings were all about.  Bright and early on May 23rd, we headed west toward the hills.

Because the lodge is located on an island, we first had a 10 minute boat ride, followed by a truck ride, first through the sand of the delta, then on a tar road, then on a gravel road, and finally through the last 5 kilometers into the park.  In all it took us a little over an hour and a half to make the (30 mile) trip.  (Very little happens quickly in Africa.)  We could have flown there in about 15 minutes, but as it turns out the airstrip was indeed in pretty bad repair.  The land option was really the best choice.

On the gravel road

Tsodilo Hills is made up of four hills: The highest, the "Male", the "Female," which is a little ways apart from the "Male" (apparently there was a divorce along the way - no joke, our guide said this) and the "Child," who stayed with the "Female" after the split.

The "Male"

Going up!

These hills house something like 4,500 rock paintings, dating back some 20,000 years, almost all of which were crafted by the San Bushman  people.  The paintings, being in the desert, are remarkably well preserved.  According to Wikipedia, this is one of the most historically-significant sites in the world.  And for that reason, it made the UNESCO World Heritage List.
There are so many paintings at the site, experts have speculated that not all of them have been discovered yet.  That said, many of the paintings are literally right next to the trail so all that you need to see them is some endurance (the path is steep), a good pair of walking shoes, and a lot of water (it's hot there).

At the recommendation of our guide, James,we chose the Rhino Trail, for it's variety of paintings and interesting views,which is on the flanks of the "Female" hill.





Sure enough less than 1/2 mile up the trail, the first of many paintings appeared.  What I found most remarkable about the paintings is not their quality (which is amazing given that they've been around for 20,000 years) or their artistic style (also impressive) but WHERE they are located.  Many of them are located very high on the rocks and without an obvious way to reach them.  The access would not be OSHA approved.

James

Here is the first painting that we encountered:

Can't see it?  Look carefully at about 8:00.  Here is a closeup:

We meandered up, around and over the Female Hill for about 2 hours, seeing an amazing variety of paintings.  Apparently, aside from the obvious artistic reasons, the paintings served as a way to communicate amongst the Bushman about what type of wildlife was in the vicinity.  I questioned whether Bushmen would ever see  he penguin depicted on one rock, until Tian told us that Cape Town has penguins.  Cape Town is a long way from central Botswana....apparently the San got around.  Here is a sampling of the various paintings.

Rhino, and Buffalo

Again, check out how difficult these places are to reach

Penguin and Whale

Elephant

This is a really famous collection of paintings, that is featured on Botswana currency.  More impressive is WHERE they put these!  Read on.

These paintings are about 200 feet up.  I'm glad that I didn't have to paint the Kudu or Giraffe here!

Apparently, there was more to the Bushman Billboard approach to communication than just indicating which animals inhabited the area.  They also wanted to report on events that they held at the site.  Sort of like Facebook, but without the need for Wifi.  Essentially the party section:

It's a little bit abstract, but imagine stick figure men dancing around, and you'll probably put two and two together....


We rounded out the hike by looking at the rock formations themselves, which are quite beautiful.  One is actually shaped like the African continent:

During the hike, James and Adam taught us how to eat the marula fruit, which is the basis for a liqueur very similar in flavor to Baileys called Amarula.  The fruit itself is intoxicating, so it's pretty common to see animals get drunk after eating it.  (No joke. Here is proof.)

We didn't get drunk from it, but it is good, if a little bit difficult to eat.  It would take some time to consume enough of them to feel tipsy as you first have to soften them up then you split them open and finally you drink the juice.

After the hike, we had a lovely lunch at the park entrance and then made the long trip back to the lodge.  Along the way we encountered several livestock who didn't want to make way for us off of their road.  We also gave a ride to some folks on their way to town for a funeral.

OK...they were there first, but it is a road...

Typical ranch house

When we arrived back at the boat Adam promised us that he'd show us his favorite hippopotamus watering hole.  We'd heard the hippo chuffing about the night before but hadn't yet seen one.  He said that we were assured to see one in his little hiding spot.  We did.  In fact there were nine of them in the pool.  We were able to get within about 300 meters of them, which was plenty close enough.

I used a really long telephoto lens on this shot and then cropped it.  We were a safe distance away.

We then made our way back to the lodge, seeing more bird life (and no crocodiles).  The next morning we were scheduled to head for the Chobe.  Located at the northern edge of the Okavango Delta, it's known for its elephant population.  For the moment though, we enjoyed where we were, amongst the people, the birds and papyrus of the delta.  It was a really good day.

Fish Eagle pair looking for dinner.