Mwela Rock Paintings

The granite hills east of Kasama carry one of the denser concentrations of rock art in Central Africa, with hundreds of painted panels spread across outcrops over a wide area: red schematic designs, circles, grids and animal figures attributed to hunter-gatherer painters, and later white paintings associated with farming communities and initiation. Some are thousands of years old. A guide is needed because the panels are scattered across the bush with no marking.

What you actually see

• The red schematic art - circles, grids and figures attributed to hunter-gatherer painters.
• The white paintings - later work linked to farming communities and initiation.
• The scale - hundreds of panels spread across granite outcrops over a wide area.
• The outcrops - the granite hills the art is painted on, walked between.

When to go

May to October is dry and the walking is easiest. Grass in the wet season makes the outcrops harder to move between. Morning light is better on most panels.

Honest expectations

A guide is essential; the panels are unmarked and spread out. The walking is over rough granite in heat. Some panels are faint and weathered.

Nearby

Chishimba Falls is west, and Kasama is the base for both.