Botswana - Botswana and Namibia - page 222

The Tsodilo Hills are now a national monument and under the auspices of the National
Museum in Gaborone. All visitors must report to the headquarters at the Main (Rhino)
Camp, about 2.5km north of the airstrip. Admission to the hills is free.
TSODILO LEGENDS
The Tsodilo Hills are imbued with myth, legend and spiritual significance for the original San inhabitants. Most
significantly, the San believe the Tsodilo Hills are the site of the first Creation, and the Mbukushu claim that the
gods lowered the people and their cattle onto Female Hill.
Four main chunks of rock make up the Tsodilo Hills - Male Hill, Female Hill, Child Hill and a distant hillock
known as North Hill, which remained nameless until recently - and each of them has a story attached. According
to one San legend, for example, Male Hill sent away North Hill (a wife of Male Hill) for being too argumentative.
The hollows within some of the hills are also believed to represent animal footprints.
And visitors from the outside world are not immune to the Hills' magic. The Tsodilo Hills were the 'Slippery
Hills' described by Sir Laurens van der Post in his 1958 classic The Lost World of the Kalahari . Hoping to make
a documentary film of the hills, his cameras inexplicably jammed, his tape recorders ceased functioning and his
group was attacked by swarms of bees on three consecutive mornings. When he learned that two members of his
party had ignored a warning from his San guide by killing a warthog and steenbok while approaching the sacred
hills, van der Post buried a note of apology beneath the panel of paintings that now bears his name.
The best time to visit is during winter (April to October) as daytime temperatures in the
summertime can be excruciatingly hot. From December to February, watch out for bees.
Sights & Activities
The hills can be explored along any of five walking trails. Although there are some sign-
posts, most trails require a guide (expect to pay around P50 to P60 for a two- to three-hour
hike, or P100 per day), which can be arranged at the Main (Rhino) Camp. Early morning
is the best time to walk the hills, followed by late afternoon.
There is a small, dusty museum Offline map (admission free; daylight hours) with a
small handful of ethnographic exhibits and wall-sized quotes about the rock art at Main
(Rhino) Camp.
In addition to the following trails and paintings, one of the most fascinating paintings is
the zebra painting ( Offline map ) on a small outcrop north of Female Hill. This stylised
equine figure is now used as the logo of Botswana National Museum and Monuments.