| Traveling:The home of rock paintings | Send to a friend |
| Saturday, 21 January 2012 19:17 |
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(Summary) Kolo, in Kondoa District, Dodoma, houses spectacular rock painting sites, nominated as World Heritage site in 2006 By Elisha Mayallah The beautiful scenery of Kondoa came to my attention once again recently. My associate and I left Arusha in the afternoon and two-hours later we arrived in Babati, where we were meant to spend a night before heading to Kolo, Kondoa the next day. After a night in Babati town, we went on our way to Kolo – the home of rock painting sites. The road from Babati to Kolo passes through an undulating landscape with a united ribbon of villages. I noticed, as we drove on, that this area had received the best rain recently. We arrived at Kolo village around noon giving us a short break to stretch out from the straight drive from Babati. One Mr Maulid Rauna, a senior official at the Kolo site of the Department of Antiquities, met us. A leader of the Cultural Tourism Enterprise Kondoa Irangi, Mr Moshi Changai, spent the rest of the day looking after us and showing us around their small-town. Kolo is a quiet village with hundreds of simple roofed houses almost lined on both sides of the road and leading to Kondoa, 20 km away. Placid village life Other things being equal, Kolo has a placid village life. The place is surrounded by sprawling agricultural villages with locals carrying on their lifestyle as they have for millennia. After we completed the paperwork, we left Kolo village, passing through fields of maize and millet, and meeting local villagers on the way. As we walked hillside through spectacular indigenous rock stones, one could help noticing the distinguishing characteristics of the stones on the way up. It was an enjoyable hike through the bush, rocky places and woody in others. Rock paintings are set within a hilly landscape characterised by miombo woodlands that were once home to herds of wildlife roaming peacefully in the Rift Valley area. The rock paintings in Kolo are found at 2,500 m above seal level, and six km away from the village. “Paintings were drawn as a way to communicate their (villagers’) lifestyle from one generation to the next” said our guide as we toured the rock sites. Maulid, who has been working here for the last 20 years, explained the meaning of the different paintings we saw. The paintings show simplified human figures engaged in daily activities; images that depict animals such as elephant, giraffe, antelopes, big cats and rhinos. There are also images of hunting scenes of animals being caught in traps. The spectacular collection of images vary, with their unique artistic value, display sequence that provides a testimony to the socio-economic base of the area from hunter-gatherer to agro-pastoralist societies, and the belief and ideas associated with them. Maulid told us the people who live in the surrounding neighbourhoods are still using some of the rock shelters for rituals or religious ceremonies. After our adventure on the rock paintings were over and we were hot and tired. Maulid led us back to the village. The department of Antiquities, in the ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, has an office here, responsible for the overall site management and preserving information. There is a showroom where collections of information’s and photos of rock paintings are preserved. Maulid, the conservator, who also doubles as a guide, took us through detailed history of the rock paintings believed to exist from between 800 and 1500 years ago drawn by the Bushmen. All visitors to Kolo rock paintings pass through this office to obtain the necessary documentation and guiding. Usually a guide is booked from the department who works well with the Cultural tourism Enterprise in the area. ENDS More on the Kondoa rock paintings Kondoa rock art sites, nominated as World Heritage site in 2006, are located in Kondoa District, Dodoma Region. The sites spread over 2,336 square km on the eastern escarpment of the East African Rift Valley. The most popular among visitors and researchers are the Kolo sites, because they are closer to the main road, Arusha to Dodoma, and just 20 km from Kondoa town. Locals use some of the sites for religious purposes. Getting there There is daily public transport from Arusha to Babati, nearly 164 km away and Kondoa about 245 km away. It is advisable to hire a car in Arusha or Babati to ease movements in Kolo, Kondoa. Accommodation and food Development of tourist friendly services is still fairly modest with limited hotel facilities in both Babati and Kondoa. Kolo has very limited accommodation facilities too. Visitors are advised to stay in Babati where there is a wide range of budget hotels, guesthouses and restaurants. Contact & Website This part of Tanzania is friendly for both visitors travelling on a shoestring budget and high-end budget. Contact - Kondoa Irangi Cultural tourism Enterprise on or phone + 255 784 948 858 or 255 715 948 858 Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites           |
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