We visited the Kondoa rock art site from Arusha with a rented car. The archaeological museum where guides to visit the site(s) can be found is actually in Kolo, a little village 25 kilometres on the main road before you reach Kondoa. The whole stretch Arusha – Kolo is in very good condition and took us about 3.5 hours.

As we were told that the Thawi sites have the most varied paintings, we opted for these sites (more specifically sites D4A, D4B, D14 and D15). The downside is that these are probably one of the most remote sites which can be visited and a 4x4 is required – no way the area can be reached with a standard car. Taking this into account, the 20 kilometre drive (one way) took about one hour. 

As mentioned above, you can first pick up a guide at the Kolo archaeological museum and he/she accompagnies you in your car to the sites. Not only is this useful for background information about the paintings, but also absolutely necessary to find the sites since the (Thawi) sites are not indicated in any way. Once arrived in the area, also a 15 minute downhill walk is required to reach the paintings. 

The drawings in red paint show mostly animals (giraffes, rhinos, a bird’s head, ...), but also human figures. The absolute highlight is a very detailed painting of a rhino which still is in amazing condition. Since these sites are so remote and located under a rock overhang, there are little traces of damage or vandalism.

We also intended to visit the Kolo sites (B1-B3) but had to pass taking into account the long time it took us to reach the Thawi sites and the fact that the sun was going down. We spent the night at the basic but beautifully located Amarulla campsite and while driving there we passed signs to the B1-B3 sites. We don’t know how much further it was to actually reach them but looking at the map, it seems that they – like the Pahi sites – are much more accessible than the Thawi sites. So unless you really are a rock art ‘connaisseur’ and/or like to do a couple of hours offroad driving, it might be better to opt for the Kolo sites (potentially adding the Pahi sites).

Ps: a couple of years ago, we also visited the White Lady rock paintings in Namibia’s Brandberg National Monument Area (part of the Namibia Tentative list) and would recommend these paintings in case one had to choose since instead of the uniform red paint the White Lady paintings are quite colorful (but this might have to do with the fact that the Kondoa paintings are older and color techniques were less advanced?)