We visited Tsodillo Hills in April, a very green and lush period. This is a remote and desolated area of Botswana. 
From the Caprivi strip Namibia we took a “detour” through Mohembo border crossing down to Drotsky cabins just south of Shakawe where we spent two nights.
The drive from Drotsky to Tsodilo takes about 1,5 hours, the first part on the road is tarred with potholes, then 36 km on a fairly good gravel road to the park entrance. From the entrance it’s another 5 km to the museum on a bad gravel road.
Tsodilo Hills are roughly four hills, Male, Female, Child and Grandchild and there are 5 different hiking trails. We chose the Rhino trail around the Female mountain. This trail is supposed to be the most rewarding one. You need a guide accessing the site now, and the museum will provide you one. Our guide spoke good english and was knowledgeable about both the hills, the people and the nature, and of course the rock art.

There were several very nice panels along the trail, mostly with paintings of animals in red oker color made by the San people,  but also the Bantu people made some in white. A lot of the paintings were clearly visible, while others were more faded. There where a few panels with geometric patterns and a few with people. One of the few people panels is The Dancing Penises, a simple line sketch of men with erected penis. A panel with two Rhinos is really nice and strong in red oker colors. Along the trail there are also remnants from the San people, in caves and on the plateau.

The hike is about 3,5 km, and one part is very steep and rough, but most of the hike is in sand. You will need some good shoes. We used about about two hours to do the hike. 

The museum was minimalistic, not especially much to see. 

We really enjoyed to visit this remote site. Great nature, quiet and peaceful, and interesting rock arts. It’s a holy place to the San people. We can understand why they called it “Mountain of the Gods”.

Practical
You will need a car to get there. It cost 50 pula pp at the entrance, then you have to pay for the guide. Price varies for each trail, the Rhino trail was 120 pula. We had some issue getting hold of Botswana Pulas. There are no banks, atms or exchange booths neither at the boarder nor in Shakawe. We ended up getting cash from the hotel to pay at Tsodilo. 
Drotsky Cabin is a great place to stay, right by the Okavango river. That part of the river is called the Okavango Panhandle and is in the core zone of Okavango delta WHS. We did two great boat trips on the river, lots of birds and a few other animals, and in addition we got beautiful sunsets! So basically you are able to visit both Botswana sites in one day! We are, however, visiting the swamp part of the delta later on our trip. The “panhandle” was just a teaser for us.

### Randi & Svein