Manyana Rock Paintings
The Manyana Rock Paintings are the most visited rock art site near Gaborone and the only substantial one in southern Botswana, spread across five separate cliff faces at the base of the Kolobeng hills. Images include giraffe, antelope, rhino, human figures and geometric designs, dated between roughly 1100 and 1700 AD and most likely made by Khoe herders. It is the only rock art site in Botswana to have been properly excavated.
What Is at Manyana
The paintings occupy five separate areas of rock along an outcrop running about 750 metres at the foot of the hills.
The clearest and most photographed panel shows four yellow giraffes, positioned between 2.4 and 3 metres above the ground, which are the highest and best preserved of all the Manyana images.
Elsewhere across the panels are a red gemsbok, a rhinoceros facing left, a zebra standing upright, a giraffe with three kudu, and groups of human figures including three men carrying prey on their backs and a scene of two men and a woman with a kudu.
Geometric work appears alongside the animals, including a black rectangular enclosure filled with rows of dots, and a shape resembling the letter p that is thought to represent venomous snakes. One image depicts a black medicinal herb.
The animals are shown in profile with only two legs visible, while most human figures face forward, which is a stylistic convention rather than an accident.
Many of the paintings have faded considerably, and the site was once far more richly decorated than it now appears.
The four yellow giraffes on the highest panel are the clearest images at Manyana and the ones worth finding first. Below them, much of the site has faded to the point where a guide is the difference between seeing the art and seeing a cliff.
Who Made Them and When
The attribution at Manyana is less settled than at Tsodilo, and the honest position is that specialists differ.
Botswana Tourism and several other sources date the images between roughly 1100 and 1700 AD and attribute them in all likelihood to Khoe herders, meaning click-speaking pastoralist communities rather than the hunter-gatherer San.
Other accounts attribute them to the San, or leave the question open between Khoikhoi and San.
What excavation adds is a longer timeframe. Manyana is the only rock art site in Botswana to have been excavated, and the dig showed ochre in use from the earliest occupation levels, dating to the Late Stone Age around AD 100 to 800. That does not date the paintings themselves, but it establishes that people were here using pigment far earlier than the images are thought to be.
Stylistically the geometric designs differ from those at Tsodilo while sharing similarities with painted designs in the Carnarvon District of South Africa’s Northern Cape, which points the connections southward rather than north.
Manyana Compared With Botswana’s Other Rock Art
Setting Manyana in context helps manage expectations before a visit.
Tsodilo in the far northwest is the country’s major site, with over 4,500 paintings recorded across roughly ten square kilometres and UNESCO World Heritage status. Manyana is a fraction of that scale.
The Gubatsa Hills at Savuti inside Chobe National Park hold another well-known group, with geometric designs and finger-painted animals including eland, elephant, antelope and giraffe.
Lepokole Hills in the east hold paintings recording the San retreat into those hills from encroaching settlement.
Rock art is rare in the southeast of Botswana, which is what makes Manyana notable for all its modest size. It is the only site of any size in this part of the country and the only one anywhere in Botswana to have been excavated.
For a visitor based in Gaborone, it is also by far the most reachable.
Livingstone’s Tree and the Village
The rock art is not the only reason to come to Manyana, and the village holds a second story.
At the southern end of the village stands Livingstone’s Tree, an old and massive fig now resting on branches that touch the ground, fenced for protection. David Livingstone is said to have preached beneath it.
Livingstone’s connection to this area runs deeper. His third and final mission station was at Kolobeng, roughly 20 kilometres west of Gaborone past Gabane, where he built a house and church and worked with his wife Mary to convert the Bakwena. Their daughter Elizabeth, who died at six weeks old, is buried there. Only the foundations of the house remain, and Kolobeng is a national monument reached through its custodian.
Nearby at Molepolole is Livingstone’s Cave, where he entered against warnings from a Kwena traditional doctor that doing so would kill him. He emerged alive, and the episode is credited with prompting Chief Sechele’s conversion.
Local tour operators run half-day village visits from Gaborone combining the paintings, the tree and a local home.
The Battle of Dimawe
Manyana carries a further layer of history that most visitors never hear about.
A coalition of Tswana groups led by Sechele I fought Boer forces at the Battle of Dimawe in the middle of the nineteenth century, an early defence of this territory against outside expansion.
During the fighting there was an attempt to move women and children to safety in this area. Sechele’s third wife, Mmasechele, escaped and hid in a cave near the village.
No record survives of how long she sheltered there, only that she survived until the conflict ended.
The hill above the village is described locally as having been used in that first defence of the territory, and the cave that hid her is part of the standard village tour.
Sechele I is a major figure in Botswana’s history, and the museum bearing his name at Molepolole covers the period.
The paintings. Five cliff panels over roughly 750 metres holding giraffe, gemsbok, rhino, zebra, kudu, human figures and geometric designs, dated between about 1100 and 1700 AD.
Livingstone’s Tree. A massive old fig at the southern end of the village, now fenced and resting on its own branches, where the explorer is said to have preached.
The Dimawe story. The hill used in an early defence of the territory against Boer forces, and the cave where Sechele I’s wife Mmasechele hid until the fighting ended.
Visiting Manyana Rock Paintings
Access needs arranging, which catches people out.
The site is gazetted as a national monument and is fenced. Entry is only possible through the custodian, so turning up expecting to walk in will not work. Arrange access in advance or go with an operator who has.
Manyana village lies southwest of Gaborone, reachable on tarred road, close to the Kweneng and Southern District boundary at the base of the Kolobeng hills.
Half-day guided tours run from Gaborone, typically lasting around three to three and a half hours and combining the paintings with Livingstone’s Tree and a visit to a local home.
Wear proper footwear for uneven ground at the cliff base, and bring water and sun protection, since the site is exposed.
Do not touch the paintings. They have already faded considerably and skin oils accelerate the damage.
Light matters more here than at most sites. Faded ochre reads best in the softer light of early morning or late afternoon, and in the flat glare of midday several of the panels become genuinely hard to make out at all. Photographers who have been before tend to arrive early. Anyone who cannot choose their timing should at least ask the custodian to point out where each image sits, because finding them unaided in poor light is a frustrating hour.
Manyana works best as part of a half day out of Gaborone rather than a destination in itself. Combine it with Livingstone’s Tree in the same village and either Kolobeng mission or the Kgosi Sechele I Museum at Molepolole, and the afternoon holds together as a proper piece of history.
Frequently Asked Questions About Manyana Rock Paintings
Where are the Manyana Rock Paintings?
At the base of the Kolobeng hills near Manyana village, southwest of Gaborone and close to the boundary between the Kweneng and Southern Districts. The paintings are spread across five separate cliff areas along an outcrop running roughly 750 metres. The village is reachable on tarred road from Gaborone, and half-day guided tours from the capital typically run three to three and a half hours.
How old are the Manyana paintings?
Dated between roughly 1100 and 1700 AD by most sources. Excavation at the site, the only rock art excavation carried out in Botswana, found ochre in use from the earliest occupation levels dating to the Late Stone Age around AD 100 to 800, which shows people were using pigment here far earlier than the visible paintings are thought to be. Dating rock art precisely is genuinely difficult.
Who made the Manyana Rock Paintings?
Most likely Khoe herders, meaning click-speaking pastoralist communities, according to Botswana Tourism and several other sources. Other accounts attribute the work to the San or leave the question open between Khoikhoi and San. Stylistically the geometric designs differ from those at Tsodilo while resembling painted designs in the Carnarvon District of South Africa’s Northern Cape, which points the cultural connections southward.
Can you visit Manyana Rock Paintings freely?
No. The site is gazetted as a national monument and is fenced, with entry possible only through the custodian, so arriving unannounced expecting to walk in will not work. Arrange access in advance or travel with an operator who has. Half-day tours from Gaborone handle this and combine the paintings with Livingstone’s Tree in the same village and a visit to a local home.
What is Livingstone’s Tree at Manyana?
A massive old fig tree at the southern end of Manyana village, now fenced and resting on branches that reach the ground, beneath which David Livingstone is said to have preached. His connection to the area runs deeper: his third and final mission station was at Kolobeng roughly 20 kilometres west of Gaborone, where the foundations of his house survive and his infant daughter Elizabeth is buried.
Are the Manyana paintings worth visiting?
For anyone based in Gaborone with a spare half day, yes, particularly combined with Livingstone’s Tree and the Dimawe story attached to the village. Set expectations against Tsodilo, which holds over 4,500 paintings and UNESCO World Heritage status, and Manyana is modest and considerably faded. What makes it notable is that rock art is rare in southeastern Botswana and this is the only substantial site here.
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