Oliver Vass [CC BY-SA 3.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)]
Our group will be visiting the Tsodilo Hills, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this September on our cultural & wildlife safari through Botswana. This is a sacred place to the San Bushmen and one of the best sites for viewing ancient Bushmen rock art with over 4500 rock paintings.
Certain paintings like this penguin suggest contact between the Bushmen and other people. Some of the paintings are estimated to be more than 20,000 years old.
The Bushmen believe the hills are a resting place for the spirits of the deceased and that their gods live in the grottos from where they rule the world. The most sacred place is near the top of the Male Hill where legend has it that the first spirit prayed after creating the world.