Tsodilo Hills (or how Africa almost beat us)
Tsodilo Hills was an interesting trip.
As introduction, a few of the pictures in this thread are of other longer term volunteers that are working for TOCaDI. Jason and Sabrina are students who are here through the WUSC Students Without Borders (SWB) program.
We borrowed a truck from TOCaDI and left at around 8:30am. Around the main entrance to the hills (about an hour and half away) we noticed a strange sound coming from the engine.
Turns out we were out of coolant and the remaining liquid had boiled and the strange sound was the steam coming out of the tank (through the cap).
We figured that we were close enough to the Hills to just continue on. We asked a bunch of tour operators and the staff if anyone had spare coolant, but no luck.
Just starting out (wide-eyed and bushy tailed)
Jason and I, thumbs up on starting out!
The Tsodilo Hills
They were amazing. There are 3 main hills called Father (biggest), Mother and Child. We decided to climb Father as we were there early and we would have the time. Unfortunately, there are no cave drawings on that hill (we found out part way up) so I don’t have any decent pictures of the main drawings at the cave (they’re on Mother).
View of the other hills from the top of Father.
View of Mother and Child from the top of Father
This painting is about 3000 years old. It was the only one we were able to see.
3000 year old rock painting
Here are a few pictures from the climb and at the top.
Sabrina, Jason and Case (our guide) at the top of Father
Sign post at the top of Father
Me posing at the top of Father
We ascended and then got back to the truck around 2:30pm. Asked some of the new people there if they had any spare coolant and no luck. So, we filled the coolant tank with water. While not ideal, we figured that it would get us back to Shakawe and we could deal with it there.
No luck. The engine would overheat after about 0.5km and, unless we let it cool down significantly, the truck wouldn’t start. We managed to get back to the main gates in 0.5km increments but at that pace it was going to take a long time to get back.
Thumbs down!
Sabrina and I giving thumbs down.. the truck is not getting us back.
And, it was getting dark out (it gets dark around 6pm). We have no cell reception, no truck, and we were in a very remote region of Africa and it was getting late. Nightfall was about 90 minutes away, so we decided to walk for 45 minutes to see if we could get a signal (and climb a few trees in the process) which would leave us 45 minutes to walk back to the truck if we had to camp out for the night.
Here’s Jason up in a tree trying to get a cell signal.
Jason up in a tree trying to get cell reception
No luck with the signal, we started back.
Thankfully, another truck came by so we flagged them down and hitched a ride back to Shakawe. I was a bit nervous as it was almost dark out (and getting cold) and this is what was in the back of the truck.
Ribs and haunch, yummy!
The picture doesn’t show it, but there was a huge axe right beside the meat. I had to stare at this the entire hour and half ride back into town.
That’s scary and gross! The 3000 year old drawing is amazing. I am in awe!
What kind of animals have been wrecking havoc on the house?
We’re not sure. It’s happening at night and I’m not really willing to step outside to find out.
The house literally backs right on to the Okavango Delta panhandle, so it could be hippos (unlikely, although, they are out there), crocodiles, monkeys, rats/mice or even our two cat friends that keep the snakes away.
Some nights it’s fine, but last night it felt and sounded like sleeping in the middle of a zoo.
Hey Derek!
Marcel and I are enjoying reading about your adventures. Look forward to hearing all the details when you get back.
We went to see Haileigh on the weekend, healthy and adorable! Take care,
Angie
Hi! I lived in Tsodilo for two years doing a research project there. I will be back in Shakawe/Tsodilo this August. The Ngami Times recently published that TOCaDI has significantly downsized. I’m interested in your observations on how the global recession is impacting this NGO.
Anyhow, why didn’t you ask the site museum staff to make a call for you from the office? Nevertheless, I’m glad that you found a lift to Shakawe before dark.
We tried. Unfortunately, everyone here uses cellphones and certain landlines can’t route to the cell network. It looks like the one in the main office is one of those phones.
TOCaDI has significantly downsized. There were over 20 staff members here a few weeks prior to my arrival but they are down to less than 10. My only guess is that, since Botswana relies so heavily on the diamond trade, with the recession in place there is less demand for a luxury item. The country has probably shifted funding priorities to “essential services” which quite often leaves NGO’s in the lurch.
It’s unfortunate though. For the remoteness of the area they really have done some impressive stuff here. I have an upcoming post about that experience and how my initial expectations were way off.
Thanks for the comment!
Hi Derek,
You certainly are having an adventure.
Questions:
Without water what are you drinking?
And I notice their is a large airstrip in Shakawe – so why didn’t they fly you in to it?
Appreciate the details on how you’re doing your work.
Stay “cool”.
There is no running water at the house or in any of the standpipes. It is not recommended to drink that water any way so I’ve been relying on bottled water for the entire time here. It just means no showers, dishes etc. I’m hoping it is fixed by tonight (need a shower!),
I thought the same thing about the airstrip when I first looked at the map. Unfortunately, it is not large enough to handle the Air Botswana aircraft so that’s why we couldn’t fly all the way up here.
Rumour has it that, since the current presidents weekend/summer house is nearby (we saw it on the Boat Trip), they are currently drawing-up plans to expand the airport.
Thanks for the comment! Work has been challenging as there are significantly less resources available here than at Humber (or in North America). I do have more on that in a future post, it is just taking a bit longer to put together (changes frequently).
Derek, I’m curious what is the food like out there?
Not bad really. The non-vegetarians here from Canada seem to enjoy it a lot as it is a very meat-centric diet. There are limited options for vegetarians in remote areas like Shakawe (the largest towns/cities like Maun and Gaberone are not a problem) but that is the same as most countries.
They eat a lot of maize and sorghum which (as far as I’m aware) is not a stable in Canadian diets. These are usually the base with relish or soup (what they call sauces) added on top. There are a few items I really enjoy. I’ll have more in a future post as well as some recipes.