Life List 1: Tsodilo Hills, Botswana

As a traveller, there are those places you know will stay with you forever. You may get back to them if you're lucky, or you may not, but you'll be forever grateful that you made the effort. One such place for me was Tsodilo Hills in Botswana, a mythical place in the far-eastern corner of that splendid country.

The Male Hill

Tsodilo Hills is a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the prolific rock art to be found there, the work of the Bushmen (or San) for whom this place has long held spiritual significance. There are apparently more than 2750 paintings at 200 separate sites on these hills and traces of human habitation go back some 100 000 years.

Although Laurens Van der Post has fallen into disrepute posthumously for a whole bunch of reasons, he certainly could evoke the spirit of place. In his book The Lost World of the Kalahari he describes in some detail his visit to these hills and a series of misfortunes that befell his party because they disrespected the ancestors (by shooting a warthog and steenbok on their approach). By way of an apology, Van der Post buried a letter asking for forgiveness below a sheer rock face now known as the Van der Post Panel, before heading back to Maun.

On the first night camped beneath the hills, Van der Post took himself for a short walk but soon got spooked. "The silent rock faces made me feel acutely uncomfortable," he wrote. "In that red afterglow of an immense Kalahari sunset they (the hills) had a strange, living personality as if their life had been only temporarily suspended in the sleep of motion that we call 'matter', and they might wake up, at any moment step down, and walk the desert on some cataclysmic occasion of their own."

There are, in fact, four hills laid out in a row - the Male, Female, Child and Unborn. The highest is the Male Hill.

I can confirm that these hills certainly feel alive but nothing like in the Sound of Music. They are deeply animistic and, perhaps, if you caught them on a bad day, would have more than a hint of malevolence about them. We visited on a benign Easter Sunday.

What they also are is quite beautiful and apparently have some plants and animals unique to what are essentially Inselbergs in an otherwise flat landscape. Our walking guide told us that he'd seen wild dogs here and we spotted dried up elephant dung, although we were several day's walk (by an elephant) from any permanent water. It had probably passed through during the wet season.

Disrespect of a different kind. Not sure what the hills had in store for these graffiti artists who carved their names into the bark of this baobab.

On our visit, we picked the Rhino Walk (a circular walk around the Female Hill) because we were a bit pressed for time, having decided to make only a day trip from Guma Lagoon Fishing Camp where we were staying. There are longer walks, but then you'd need to camp nearby in the community camp for a few days to tackle these.

We sampled some ripe marula fruit. 

This painting depicts Africa's most poached animal, not the rhino but the humble pangolin.

There are spiritual benefits to washing your face at the Gobeka waterpoint, we were told, but I can't remember exactly what they are.

This outcrop is towards the end of the Rhino Trail which takes you down a steep gorge.

Everywhere you look, the rock art animals 'creep' out of the rocks. Archaeologists speculate that this depicts an 'entrance' into the spirit world and that the art was created during shamanic ceremonies for religious reasons.

The day we visited was Easter Sunday 2014 and we stopped for brunch before heading back to the panhandle. This water melon bought from the side of the road proved to be more water and pips than melon. 

The Male Hill Trail is a more serious outing. Something I'll have to return for.

Brooding, atmospheric, ominous.

The outdoor gallery at Tsodilo. The Female Hill has several famous paintings, among them the Van der Post Panel, some rhinos (hence the name of the trail) and another mysterious depiction of what some people read to be a whale.

You have to sign in before you're allowed to enter the area around the hills.

Getting there

There's a reasonable 50km gravel road to the hills, off the main (tar) road that runs up the panhandle from Maun to Shakawe. Because of their World Heritage Site status, you have to sign in at the entrance and pay the relevant fees before you can proceed to the visitor's centre. You may only walk with a guide who will show you the most famous art. In the old days, you could camp just beneath the hills (as did author Laurens van der Post) but now visitors are restricted to a community campsite, some distance away. Perhaps, given the reputation of these hills, that's a good thing!

Road-tripping in Scandinavia 3: Lofoten Islands

Islands have long been a source of fascination to me, and so when it came to choosing a destination for a two-week holiday from Sweden we settled on the idea of visiting the Lofoten islands, an archipelago in northern Norway, about 200km north of the Arctic circle. Although far north, these islands enjoy a relatively mild climate due to the Gulf Stream along with some quite awe-inspiring topography. 

View from above the village of Vikten in the middle of Lofoten.

What I knew about these islands was precious little, but as a keen birder they appealed to me. I was hoping to see puffins and had read about a rare breed of dog called the lundehund (once used to hunt puffins). I saw neither, but this omission was more than compensated for by the staggering beauty of these islands, which makes them popular with landscape artists. 

While there, aside from bracing walks and enjoying the scenery, we visited the Viking museum which was a good indoor activity for a rainy day and The Lofoten House Gallery, featuring a collection of classic northern Norwegian landscape art, in the scenic little town of Henningsvaer.

Our first glimpse of the archipelago was at the end of the three-hour ferry crossing from Bodø to Moskenes. It was a murky day, and to be honest, the sun (albeit the midnight sun) was rather elusive during our week on the islands. 

First glimpse of the islands from the ferry.

Lofoten is popular with outdoor enthusiasts who come here to hike, bike and kayak. This adventure centre is in Reine close to the southern tip of the islands. We didn't really have the gear for serious outdoor activities however. If you are planning to go messing about outdoors, come prepared even if you think it's summer!

World War 2 is still very much present in the minds of Norwegians who suffered terribly under the Nazis. This is an outdoor sculpture by a Japanese artist (see details below) which pays homage to the war. It's close to some bunkers on the islands. Apparently many of the Lofoten residents were evacuated to Scotland during the war.

The artist responsible for the landscape installation above. 

We visited this glassblower in a village called Vikten which was a pleasant interlude. There's also a lovely circular walk here that starts at the end of the village and returns you to the carpark. I saw the short-tailed eagle here (also known as a sea eagle). A bonus!

Sheep crossing close to Vikten.

This was our awesome base for a few days at Sakrisøy near Reine in the south. Beyond in the fjord we actually saw a small family of orcas (or killer whales) and later spotted some kayaks heading out to get closer to them. 

On the western side of the islands there are sandy beaches and some pleasant walks that don't require serious outdoor gear. This was close to a place called Fredvang.

Also at Fredvang.

View from Å (which means stream) at the southern tip of the islands.

Everywhere we saw these racks of cod drying in the breeze, the export Lofoten is most famous for. They have to wait for a dry spell before they can take them down, but we tapped a couple of these, and they were hard to the touch and so really like fish 'biltong' (in South African terms).

A place called Hovsund close to our second home base near Gimsøysand. Here it rained for two solid days but we witnessed this lovely play of light and shade during our evening stroll on our first day there. In theory, this was our best chance of seeing the midnight sun but that didn't happen.

Anyone wishing to be a road engineer should visit Norway. What we would celebrate in South Africa as a major achievement is quite commonplace. This reminded me a bit of Chapman's Peak in Cape Town.

Early June but spring had only just arrived.

This chap was fishing from the pier while we were waiting to catch the Hurtigruten from Svolvaer back to Trondheim. Turned out he was also from Africa, but from Algeria at the other end of the continent.

PLAN YOUR TRIP

A hired car does make it easier to get around and to explore, especially if you base yourself in one spot. The weather is very changeable so be sure to bring good outdoor clothing with you if you're planning to spend any time outdoors. You could start at Svolvaer and work your way south, or vice-versa, as we did. From a scenic point of view, the southern end around Reine was by far the most dramatic.