The ancient rock art of Laasgeel

The ancient rock art of Laasgeel

It is estimated that the ancient rock art of Laasgeel is among the oldest and best preserved of its kind anywhere in Africa, with an estimated age of at least 5,000 years. The name Laasgeel refers to a spot where high water reflects the water, where a granitic outcrop rises from the confluence of two wadis. There are a dozen painted structures scattered around the shelters. Due to their sheltered location and the dry Somali climate, the paintings have been preserved in situ and remain striking for the vivid colors and rich complexity they exhibit. Due to their presence in the region, a pastoral lifestyle was also well established thousands of years before reaching Western Europe.

This is one of the most compelling tourist attractions in Somaliland, a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site easily accessible from Hargeisa and Berbera. A BBC programme called Places That Don’t Exist featured Simon Reeve’s visit to the site in 2005. The outside world did not know about this fantastic rock art until three years earlier. A team of French archaeologists led by locals documented the site for the first time in December 2002 under the direction of Professor Xavier Gutherz.

Visit  Laasgeel

In order to visit Lasasgeel from Hargeisa, a trip to Laasgeel takes approximately one hour; Lasasgeel is approximately 55 kilometers northeast of Hargeisa. A village called Dhubato can be found about 50 km outside Hargeisa, just after the main police roadblock outside the city. You will have to follow this road for about 50km until you reach it. When you get to this point, you need to turn left onto an unmarked rough track, which is best tackled in a four-wheel drive vehicle, but can be tackled by a sedan in dry weather if you’re in good shape. There is a police roadblock 4.5km later, after which we reach the end of the road. Drive from there to the site museum, which is located directly beneath the main rock shelters and is a five-minute walk from the main shelters. 

A trip to Laasgeel from Hargeisa is frequently accompanied by a trip to nearby Naaso Hablood. It can also be visited en route to Berbera. You have private transportation if you have it. Our website offers day trips, which tend to be quite expensive for one person or two, but more affordable for groups. There is a breakdown of US$100-120 for the vehicle (inclusive of the mandatory SPU guard fee), plus $25 per person for entry. 

Alternatively, you can take a bus from Hargeisa to Berbera as far as Dhubato, then walk 6 km to Las Geel and back, then take another bus. It is highly unlikely that you will be allowed to pass the police roadblock at Dhubato on foot. If that changes, you should aim for the earliest possible start, since there is no drinking water at Las Geel or on the track from Dhubato, and it can be very hot in the midday sun. There are no accommodations nearby Las Geel.

Laasgeel sightseeing and activities

The predominant colours in Laasgeel sightseeing and activities are red, black, white and yellow ochre, as well as monochromatic and polychromatic representations of animals and humans. There are at least 350 individual paintings on the almost 100m2 surface of the most important shelter, which is located on the southeast face of Las Geel. On the same outcrop, there are several other elaborately decorated shelters within about ten minutes’ walk of the car park, where there are restrooms, a small museum, and few other facilities. 

As with rock art on the Horn of Africa, humpless cattle are the most numerous figures at Las Geel, outnumbered only by humans. They are always painted in profile, with only two legs visible, a prominent udder, plastrons around the neck, and lyre-shaped horns that appear as if they were seen from above, as is typical of rock art on the Horn of Africa. The more colorful and elaborately decorated bovine figures are usually larger, but some panels also include smaller monochrome cows.

Additionally, anthropomorphic figures are very common, which are usually monochrome and sometimes carry weapons and are accompanied by hunting dogs. Generally, anthropomorphic figures are somewhat stylized and have small heads often adorned with crowns and headdresses, wide thoraxes draped in loose vertical stripes, and spindly lower limbs (like stick-men drawn by children). Giraffes, antelope, goats, and goats are included among the animals represented besides dogs and cows.