Kolo Kondoa Rock Art Site

The Kolo Kondoa rock art site is an interesting excursion for travelers wanting to experience Tanzania's early history. It is believed that the older paintings date back at least two thousand years while some of the newer paintings are just two hundred years old. The paintings are believed to have been created by the ancestors of the present day Sandawe and Hadzabe tribes. Most of the paintings are located in rock overhangs that have protected the paintings from wind, sun and rain. Some of the sites are still used by local communities in rainmaking and healing rituals. The images represent both hunter-gatherer and agro-pastoralist ways of life, depicting the changing lifestyles over the past two thousand years. There are 150 shelters decorated with paintings in the Kondoa District, some of which can be easily accessed from Kolo Kondoa.

For larger versions of these photos, please visit the Kolo Kondoa Flickr set.

The paintings depict both human and animal figures and scenes. The elongated human figures have large heads and elaborate hairstyles. They are depicted in a variety of positions and activities. Animals are depicted with great accuracy and include giraffe, elephant, kudu, impala and zebra. In the B1 site there is a depiction of masked men abducting a woman from two unmasked men. There are also paintings of animals and animal traps at B1. At site B2 there is a depiction of three fallen hunters with what is thought to be a medicine man nearby. B2 also depicts an animal skin and lone female figure.

Kolo Kondoa is 275km southwest of Arusha. We recommend visiting Kolo Kondoa between Tarangire and Lake Manyara or Lake Eyasi during a Northern Tanzania safari. The drive from Tarangire to Kolo Kondoa is approximately three hours one way. There are no tourist class hotels south of Tarangire so we recommend a visit to Kolo Kondoa only for those interested in camping accommodation. As the campsite does not have any facilities, Duma would set up toilet and shower tents in addition to your sleeping tents. We recommend a two to three night stay in Kolo Kondoa. As it is believed that ancestors of the Hadzabe tribe completed some of the paintings, we recommend combining a visit to Kolo Kondoa with a Hadzabe cultural tour in Lake Eyasi.