Tsodilo Hills
Tsodilo Hills
3.8
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An important rock art site in the western Kalahari.
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3.8
88 reviews
Excellent
31
Very good
28
Average
17
Poor
5
Terrible
7
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2extreme4U
Karlsruhe58,694 contributions
Oct 2024 • Family
From our accommodation near Shakawe, we drove first about 20 kilometers via the A35 to Ncamasere, then via a sandy and partly corrugated-iron road to the entrance to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Tsodilo Hills. At the checkout you can choose between different guided hikes, we chose the Rhino Trail. This cost 50 BWP for adults, 10 BWP for children plus 120 BWP for the guide. After paying, you drive a short distance to the parking lot of the small museum. Guides will then wait there for the booked tour. On the day of our visit, unfortunately, only one guide was present, as according to his statement, the others were at a funeral. We therefore had to wait quite a long time, as he had yet to make a tour with other tourists. When this was done, he took another lunch break, so we had to wait 1-2 hours in the car until our tour started. This remained well below our expectations, as we did not walk too much, but drove a large part by car. I don't know if that's normal, but other reports have mentioned hikes. The guide explained the rock drawings there at numerous stations, which was quite interesting and worth seeing. However, in Patagonia we did a similar tour at the Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands), which was much better organized. Therefore, there is still a lot of potential and room for improvement...
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Written 8 December 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
NHaacke
Johannesburg, South Africa361 contributions
Jan 2023 • Friends
We took a little detour on our trip to Maun. The mountains of the Gods.
The locals have respect and this is a sacred place for them. We had a great guide that gave us a good overview of the history. He also took us on a hike and showed us bushmen paintings.
The locals have respect and this is a sacred place for them. We had a great guide that gave us a good overview of the history. He also took us on a hike and showed us bushmen paintings.
Written 7 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Candrick M
Gaborone, Botswana1 contribution
Nov 2021
hill climbing and sightings of rock painting.This is a UNESCO world heritage site . i marvelously enjoyed the foot trails as well as the short drive from the tarred road. The access road from the gate was a bit of a challenge because of the wet season but it was nothing that my 4x4 couldnt handle.
Written 24 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
happytravellady
Macclesfield, UK897 contributions
Jul 2019
This is a stunning area and a UNESCO world heritage site. There is plenty of parking and trails to follow which are interesting in their own right but lead to the ancient cave paintings. It's worth having a guide to point out the drawings and identify what they are. All very accessible. There is a little museum but don't expect much of that.
Written 4 January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ollie1971CapeTown
Cape Town Central, South Africa14 contributions
Jul 2012 • Friends
Easy access for 2 wheel drive (with some clearance) - in the dry months anyway. A great opportunity to camp near the hills (free of charge!) When you arrive open the gate to the reserve yourself and follow signs to "museum" (about10 min drive). That is where the main campsite is.
A guided walk is P100 - It seemed to be compulsory to take a guide.
If passing near Shakawe - well worth the diversion.
A guided walk is P100 - It seemed to be compulsory to take a guide.
If passing near Shakawe - well worth the diversion.
Written 17 July 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Josken
Cavan, Ireland80 contributions
We travelled to the Tsodilo Hills from Maun with Afrika Calls Cultural Safaris, [--] While we all know that Botswana is the safari destination, a trip to the hills provides an totally different experience and a chance to get to know the poeple of Botswana rather than the wildlife. At the hills you can easily access fantasic ancient rock art and also gain some height which is a rare thing in Bostwana. There is a visitors centre which gives real insight into the area. Although the facilities at the Hills are basic, we travelled with Afrika Calls and the mobile safari experience they provided us with was fantastic. Our Guide transport and food were all brilliant. Our guide organised a local guide to show us the rock art and access to the San village, both of which added to the experience. If this type of add on to your safari appeals we would recommend this Unesco Site and Afrika Calls, the company that got us there. You could go alone but you would really need 4WD and you would need to bring all your supplies - although there are clean loos and showers.
Written 12 November 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Adam186470
Belfast, United Kingdom29 contributions
Jul 2013 • Couples
The hills themselves are mystical, polychrome, and thoroughly fascinating. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend a visit. A word of warning though: I would really recommend that the trip only be attempted in a 4x4. The central approach to the hills, on a sandy, gravelly track, is about 32kms long. My hire car, a two wheel drive, averaged between 40kph and 60kph. It is not an easy drive and some of the sand is pretty deep. The car made it ok though. Turning off this road down to the green entrace gate, the sand got even thicker; the car made it through this- though I had a VERY hairy moment on the way out when I was very close to grounding the car. Whilst purchasing a ticket, 3 locals asked for a lift to the museum for some reason- not really sure why. Feeling like being helpful, I agreed. BIG MISTAKE. The 5km track to the museum where you meet your guide to the hills is barely passable by a lightly loaded 2 wheel drive. With my wife and I, our luggage and 3 locals, it was a complete nightmare- the bottom of the car took a terrible battering and I almost got stuck on numerous occasions. Driving out with just myself and my wife wasn't so bad though there are no signposts to the exit and a couple of misleading trails, including the airstrip! In short: great attraction, but 4x4 highly recommended.
Written 26 July 2013
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Heather P
Durban, South Africa23 contributions
Sept 2015 • Friends
After 33km of travelling on a 'dirt' road, we saw the Tsodilo Hills signs pointing to the right to a short dead end. There was a gate clearly stating, Tsodilo Hills, but the gate was chained and padlocked with no one in sight. It was 12.45 on a Saturday, and seeing no other signs or notices to the contrary, we just went back the 33km to the main road. Apparently, this is the Ăłld' gate. The new gate is further on -and round the corner to the right, but when asking for directions, before we set off, no one mentioned the old and new gate! Bit of a waste of time, fuel and was not very pleasant driving on the poor road surface. Disappointed and felt a bit thick, that we hadn't thought to explore a bit further on. I think that the road's condition had put us in a fairly out of sorts mood! To add to our mood was the fact that although we had found diesel at a garage in Shakawe, the amount it took to fill the car seemed excessive compared to the car's fuel usage, by 11 litres! Seriously! Of course they would only take cash. The rest of our holiday was so fantastic. This is just a small moan, but I don't want anyone else to make the same mistake we did.
Written 27 September 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
davidOnrusRiver
onrus river ,south africa10 contributions
If travelling on own beware of poor exit signage.We took the wrong road out and ended up stuck in deep sand even with our Honda CRV. By pure luck we heard a party of rangers and they managed to manoeuvre us out.
Written 25 November 2009
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
JLuke62
Seravezza, Italy4 contributions
Oct 2015 • Couples
We went in the Campsite (very expensive!). The man at reception said us we were alone. At night we heard a car coming....we did not feel safe, so suddenly we decided to go away in the night! The car coming was full of young boys. Who were them? It was a very bad experience, pay attention!!!!!
Written 16 October 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Yes Hi
I want to visit so I have a few questions
1. Can I fly there from Maun or Moremi to cut down on the driving?
2. If I drive how long will it take from Maun?
3. I'm coming from Zambia. Would it be a better option to drive the Kaprivi strip and then go to Maun, Moremi? (I plan to finish in Johannesburg so which ever way there will be some backtracking I think)
4. Can I camp overnight at the hills and arrange a guide there?
There are 4 of us in 1 car and we plan to be there around the 19 October
Written 1 October 2019
Hello, we did not drive from Maun. We decided that was too much backtracking. But, we had a four month trip so did have options. We went ahead and went south to Transfrontier, over to Namibia and back through Kaprivi. We overnighted in Shakawe. It was only about an hour from there to the hills. I think you would do less backtracking if you came through Kaprivi and then headed to Maun. (On a side note, the drought is truly awful. We flew over and stayed two nights in the inner Okavango and there was no water. Maun had no river and the villagers were struggling with a lack of water.)
We were this at Tsodilo this past July. We did the long tour so were glad we had arrived before 9:00 because it was warm and sunny. We had an excellent guide and I highly recommend the entire Rhino Trail, so long as you are ok with a 100 meter climb up and down. There are 16 sites if you do this one and a great view from the top. I also recommend stopping in the museum. It is well done and signed in English and explains a lot of the history.
You can camp, but there are no services such as water and electricity.
Hope this helps. If you have any other questions, let me know.
Written 1 October 2019
Hi! Is this a self driven tour? Do you have to pay, and if so, how much do you have to pay to tour Tsodilo Hills.
Written 8 April 2019
vorrei sapere dove dormire alle tsodillo hills e come prenotare la guida
Written 14 April 2018
Noi abbiamo dormito al Camp Drotsky’s Cabins di Shakawe, a ca. 65 km. Si raggiungono facilmente su buona strada. La guida può essere ingaggiata una volta raggiunti all'ingresso delle Tsodilo Hills. Parlano un buon inglese e sono ben preparate.
Written 14 April 2018
What is the current condition of the road to Tsodio Hills?
Many thanks
Heather
Written 6 March 2018
We were there in October and had no issues with the road. I am afraid I cannot comment on the present situation.
Written 6 March 2018
I would like to have contact with the campingsite in Tsodilo hills for booking, e-mail adress?
Regards Berit Gulyas
Written 9 September 2017
How authentic is it? There were a few sceptical comments. Has the camp site improved? Do you need to book to visit?
Written 23 August 2015
Mmm...good question, I too have my doubts, however the paintings are there. What does make me wonder is that someone also painted pics of penguins and whales.... We were there in high season, and there were no campers, so I would not bother with booking. Would not even know how to contact them. For us tsodillo hills was a day outing from Shakawe...we stayed at Drotsky's which was exceptional
Written 24 August 2015
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