- Where
- Kalahari, north-west Botswana
near the Namibian border - Coordinates
- 18.7500° S
21.7400° E - Paintings
- Over 4,500 in about 10 km²
(UNESCO) - The hills
- Male, Female, Child, North
(British Museum) - World Heritage
- Inscribed 2001
- Visits
- Guided only; register
at the site museum (UNESCO) - Advisory
- Botswana Level 2
The road ran for hours through flat thornbush and pale sand, and then hills of silvery rock rose out of it like something surfacing for air. Under an overhang: a red giraffe, a white rhinoceros, other animals I could not name, and patterns between them. Our guide lowered his voice in some places, and I lowered mine. My pencil stayed in my pocket.
The short answer
Tsodilo is a small area of massive quartzite hills in the Kalahari of north-west Botswana, near the Namibian border, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001. UNESCO describes over 4,500 paintings preserved in about ten square kilometres, one of the highest concentrations of rock art in the world, and an archaeological record of human activity over at least 100,000 years. The British Museum’s African Rock Art project names the four main hills as Male, Female, Child and North Hill, with paintings on all four, and gives a slightly different count, about 400 sites and more than 4,000 paintings. The site is managed by Botswana’s Department of National Museum and Monuments with the Tsodilo Management Authority, and the Hambukushu and San communities who live beside the hills revere it, in UNESCO’s words, as a place of worship and a home for ancestral spirits.
Why it's worth knowing
Giraffe, eland and rhino are by far the most common animals painted at Tsodilo, the British Museum’s project records, followed by elephant, gemsbok and cattle; among the most famous images are the rhino polychromes and the Eland panel, high on a cliff. UNESCO notes that the paintings have not been accurately dated but appear to span from the Stone Age to the nineteenth century. Wikipedia records two traditions on the rock. The red paintings, found all over the hills, are attributed to the San. The white paintings, many of them in the White Paintings Rock Shelter on Male Hill, are associated with Bantu-speaking peoples; a handful show people on horseback and so, Wikipedia notes, can be no older than the mid-1800s, when horses reached the area.
The hills reached the wider world through a book. The British Museum’s project credits Laurens van der Post’s The Lost World of the Kalahari (1958) with bringing Tsodilo to international attention, and records how his attempt to film the paintings fell apart: a steenbok was shot, the cameras jammed, swarms of bees descended on the camp, and he left the hills in despair.
The field notes
The python and the argument
Rhino Cave, at the north end of Female Hill, is named for a white rhinoceros painted on its north wall, crossed by a red giraffe and surrounded by red geometric designs; on the opposite wall, according to the British Museum’s project, are 346 cupules and grooves ground into the rock. In 2006 the archaeologist Sheila Coulson of the University of Oslo announced that a rock in the cave resembling a python’s head, with artefacts more than 70,000 years old, was evidence of the earliest known human ritual, as ScienceDaily reported at the time. Archaeologists who had excavated the cave in 1995 and 1996 disputed it, Wikipedia records: they argued that the grooves were not all of one age, that the dating did not support 70,000 years, and that the interpretation projected modern beliefs onto the past. The claim is best treated as one archaeologist’s reading, contested by others who worked in the same cave.
Less contested is how long people have used the hills. Wikipedia records that the Depression Rock Shelter on Female Hill was first occupied at least 30,000 years ago, that its mongongo nut shells are the oldest found in any archaeological context, and that two sites, Divuyu and Nqoma, hold Early Iron Age jewellery and tools of iron and copper and signs of smelting.
Visiting with a guide
Self-guided visits are not allowed. UNESCO’s periodic reporting on the site says every visitor must register at the site museum office and be introduced to the site and its regulations, and credits the compulsory guided tours with keeping vandalism and graffiti rare. Botswana Tourism lists the walking trails, the Rhino, Lion and Cliff trails among them, and says guides from the nearby San and Hambukushu villages can be arranged easily. There is a site museum, a main campsite with ablutions and three smaller unserviced campsites. Wikipedia notes a natural spring near Female Hill that is used both for water and as a ritual site, where people come to cleanse, heal and protect.
The 'Two Rhino' painting at Tsodilo, September 2012.
Photograph: Oliver Vass · Two Rhino · CC BY-SA 3.0
A giraffe painted in red ochre at Tsodilo, September 2012.
Photograph: Oliver Vass · Giraffe Rock Art Painting Tsodilo · CC BY-SA 3.0
Painted animals on a boulder face at Tsodilo, April 2007.
Photograph: Joachim Huber · Tsodilo Hills, Botswana (2813208271) · CC BY-SA 2.0
- However close you stand, do not touch the rock. The painters’ hands were the last ones it needed.
- Walk early and slowly with a full bottle, and halt wherever the guide halts. The pauses are part of the walk.
- Bring the list, and let it learn something. Mine went in wanting to see everything and came out wanting to understand one panel properly, which is a much longer item.
- Stay until the late light reaches the rock, and be sitting still when it does.
- The hills are holy to their neighbours. Ask before photographing anyone, and keep quiet near the spring.
The white rhino of Rhino Cave. On the north wall of a shelter at the north end of Female Hill, a rhinoceros painted in white pigment, with a giraffe in red painted across it and red geometric patterns all around. Archaeologists who dug in the cave date the red giraffe to no earlier than about AD 400 and the white rhino to later still; rock-art specialists, they say, regard the red and the white as the work of different groups.
Tally, in the marginA white rhinoceros with a red giraffe walking straight through it, and in all that time nobody has thought to tidy either of them away. I had admired them separately for some minutes before I noticed they were sharing.
Getting there
How to get there. Tsodilo lies in the far north-west, about 40 km from Shakawe on the Okavango panhandle, reached by a graded dirt road, according to Wikipedia, which also notes an airstrip near the campsite. Shakawe lies at the northern end of the Okavango panhandle, a long drive from anywhere; ask the site museum about the state of the access road before you set out.
When to go. Botswana Tourism describes the winter, May to August, as the dry season, when there is virtually no rain, and summer, November to March, as very hot, with the rains peaking in January and February. The cooler dry months are the comfortable time to walk the trails.
What to arrange ahead. A guide, through the site museum, where every visitor registers on arrival; camping at the site campsite if you stay; fuel and water for a remote road. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list Ngamiland and the Okavango among Botswana’s malaria districts and recommend preventive medicine for them.
Safety. The State Department has Botswana at Level 2, exercise increased caution, because of crime, and names no areas to avoid. It also notes that much of Botswana is remote and difficult to reach, even in an emergency.
Mark this place
Common questions
Where are the Tsodilo Hills?
The Tsodilo Hills are in the Kalahari of north-west Botswana, near the Namibian border, about 40 km from Shakawe on the Okavango panhandle. They are a group of four quartzite hills, named Male, Female, Child and North Hill, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001.
How many rock paintings are at Tsodilo?
UNESCO counts over 4,500 rock paintings at Tsodilo, in an area of about ten square kilometres of the Kalahari in Botswana, one of the highest concentrations of rock art in the world. The British Museum’s African Rock Art project gives about 400 sites and more than 4,000 paintings.
Who made the paintings at Tsodilo?
The red paintings found across the Tsodilo Hills are attributed to the San, and the white paintings, many in the White Paintings Rock Shelter on Male Hill, are associated with Bantu-speaking peoples. UNESCO says the paintings have not been accurately dated but appear to span from the Stone Age to the nineteenth century.
Why is Tsodilo sacred?
UNESCO describes Tsodilo’s hills and water holes as a sacred cultural landscape revered by the Hambukushu and San communities, who regard the hills as a place of worship and a home for ancestral spirits. A natural spring near Female Hill is used both for water and for ritual.
Can you visit Tsodilo without a guide?
No. UNESCO’s periodic reporting on Tsodilo in Botswana says self-guided visits are not allowed: every visitor registers at the site museum office and is introduced to the site and its rules. Botswana Tourism says guides from the nearby San and Hambukushu villages can be arranged easily.
What is Rhino Cave at Tsodilo?
Rhino Cave is a shelter at the north end of Female Hill at Tsodilo, named for a white rhinoceros painted on its north wall and crossed by a red giraffe. In 2006 Sheila Coulson of the University of Oslo claimed a python-shaped rock there as evidence of 70,000-year-old ritual; archaeologists who had excavated the cave in 1995 and 1996 disputed the claim.
When is the best time to visit Tsodilo?
The dry winter months of May to August are the most comfortable for walking at Tsodilo in north-west Botswana. Botswana Tourism describes summer, November to March, as very hot, with rain peaking in January and February; the CDC lists the area among Botswana’s malaria districts.
Is Botswana safe to visit?
The U.S. State Department has Botswana at Level 2, exercise increased caution (advisory dated 17 June 2026), because of crime, and names no areas to avoid. It notes that much of Botswana is remote and difficult to reach in an emergency and recommends travel insurance that covers evacuation.