The Rock Art of Manyana: 700 Years of History on a Cliff Face

Not every Botswana landmark requires a flight north to the Delta. Just outside Gaborone, near the village of Manyana, is one of the most accessible and most visited rock art sites in the country — a direct physical record of people who lived in this landscape between 1,100 and 1,700 AD.

What's on the rock face

The paintings are spread across five separate sections of the same cliff face, depicting giraffe, antelope, human figures, and geometric patterns. Most evidence points to the Khoe — click-speaking herder communities — as the artists, working in a tradition of rock art that stretches across much of Southern Africa.

Why it matters

Sites like Manyana are a reminder that Botswana's human history runs far deeper than its 1966 independence. The paintings are now a protected National Monument, fenced to preserve them, with access only available through the site's custodian — a small but deliberate safeguard for something that's survived nearly a millennium exposed to the elements.

Visiting

Manyana works well as a half-day trip from Gaborone, easily paired with other cultural stops in the area. It's a quieter, slower kind of Botswana experience than a game drive — worth building into a capital-region itinerary rather than treating Gaborone as a pure stopover.