KalahariLog

A nice article at LiveScience talks about one of the strangest places in Botswana, Tsodilo Hills. We haven't been there yet but it's definitely on our must-see-before-we-leave list. In the middle of the Kalahari desert there are four hills which anthropologists believed have been occupied by people for the last 30,000 years. It is UNESCO World Heritage Site #1021, added to the list in 2001. This place is similar to Uluru (or Ayers Rock) in Australia, in that is considered very special by the people whose ancestors lived in the area. One of the first explorers of Tsodilo Hills was Laurens van Der Post who reported that all his equipment broke down as he and his team had offended the spirits who lived there.

There are over 4,500 rock paintings on the rock faces and in the many caves in what UNESCO calls the "Louvre of the Desert". The latest archaeological team from Sweden has found a new rock carving and more rock paintings which they date to 70,000 years ago! All the experts believe that the ancestors of the San (or Bushmen) are the original inhabitants of this region. Nearly all the guides and trackers on our latest trip up north were San and they referred to themselves as "first peoples" which was much better than San, Bushmen, or Basarwa.

One of the reasons why haven't made it to Tsodilo Hills is that the place is very remote, there are no paved roads leading to it and the temperatures there have been in the 40's for the last couple of months. We may have to wait until the fall season (April-May) before we go, provided that we can convince some friends with a 4WD to lend us their truck or come with us.