She must have noticed Cassie’s puzzled expression and anticipated her next question. “So, what am I doing here? Lately, I’ve been checking out the ruins in South Africa west of Maputo. Gold mines, calendar stones and cities that might date back two hundred thousand years.”
“That’s seriously prehistoric,” Cassie commented.
Bobbye nodded. “It would be the find of the century if the age is correct, but we don’t know much at this stage. It’s too early to form any conclusions about what that site might mean for the Arkana. I’m just sniffing around to see what’s there.”
“And since she was in the neighborhood, I asked her to help out an old friend,” the paladin added.
“Anything for Erik. I owe him.” The scout grinned. “As luck would have it, I’m pretty familiar with the rock art in Botswana. The Tsodilo Hills have some wonderful specimens.”
“Tsodilo Hills?” Cassie repeated.
“That’s where we’re headed today.”
“Did you rent us a car?” Erik asked.
“Better.” Bobbye gave a playful smile. “I got us a chopper.”
“We’re going for a helicopter ride?” Cassie forgot her fatigue at the prospect of an aerial view of the delta.
“It’s the quickest way to get there. It would take us over six hours by car, and the roads close to the hills aren’t in the best shape. By air, we can make it in two hours.” Their guide consulted her watch. “We’d better get started now if we want to examine the site and get back before nightfall.” She pointed to a jeep parked near the lobby entrance. “Climb in everybody.”
***
After a brief return to their rooms to pick up backpacks and change into hiking boots, the three visitors and their guide were on their way to the airstrip. The ride took less than ten minutes. A helicopter and its Aussie pilot named Len were already waiting for them when they pulled up. Bobbye explained that many of the bush pilots in Botswana were expatriates looking for adventure. Len gave them a short lesson in helicopter safety before allowing them all to climb in. Once they strapped on their seat belts and adjusted their headsets, so they could hear one another over the sound of the engine, they were airborne.
The helicopter followed a northwesterly course that cut right through the heart of the Okavango Delta. As it dipped low over the water, the reeds fanned out in all directions. Once they climbed higher, Cassie could see a variegated landscape of streams, small lakes, and marshes. Blue water shimmered through masses of green grass and scrub. The marshes were dotted here and there with clusters of trees that had found enough dry ground to grow to a mature height. The pythia noticed one particularly tall tree growing alone on a mound of earth and something large moving beneath it. She couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Is that...” she trailed off. Tapping Bobbye excitedly on the shoulder, she asked, “Is that an elephant?”
Bobbye chuckled at her enthusiasm. “The delta attracts all sorts of critters. Elephants, antelope, crocodiles, lions, rhinos, even flamingos.”
Cassie watched in fascination as the elephant reached up its trunk and stripped an entire branch. Stuffing the leaves into its mouth, it chewed in a leisurely fashion, untroubled by the sound of the aircraft gliding overhead.
“They love acacia trees,” Bobbye added. “It’s one of their favorite foods.” She pointed out the window some distance in front of the chopper. “Look over there.”
Cassie saw two animals, one big and the other small, leaping nimbly through the swamp. She assumed they were antelope.
“Red lechwe,” the scout said by way of explanation.
They passed the remainder of their journey taking turns pointing out the different creatures that called the delta their home.
Cassie was so preoccupied with each new wildlife sighting that she barely noticed as the terrain changed from marsh to open grassland. Then something looming directly in front of their aircraft caught her full attention. Sheer gray rocks jutted up out of the perfectly level landscape.
“We’re here,” Bobbye announced. “The Tsodilo Hills. There are four of them all in a line. The local people call them Male, Female, Child, and Grandchild respectively.”
Cassie eyed the tallest of the mounds. “I’m guessing that’s the one called ‘Male Hill’?”
“Right,” the scout confirmed. “It’s actually the tallest point in Botswana. About thirteen hundred feet high.”
“After some of the mountains we’ve been climbing lately, that’s not very impressive,” Erik observed.
“For a country which is basically flat, it’s impressive enough,” Bobbye retorted. “Even though Male Hill is the tallest, Female Hill is three times as big. That’s our destination today.”
The helicopter set down a few hundred yards in front of the rocks. They all climbed out and headed for the gate that guarded the entrance to the hills.
“Now that it’s considered a World Heritage Site, this whole area has been fenced off to protect the rock art.” Bobbye walked a few paces ahead, giving bits of info about the park as they moved along. “The site is patrolled by rangers, and there are some campgrounds inside the perimeter. The hills are still considered sacred to the San. They call them ‘the mountain of the gods’ or sometimes simply ‘the rocks that whisper.’”
“The San?” Cassie repeated.
“The tribes who live in the area used to be known as Bushmen, but ‘San’ is the more proper name. They’re gatherer-hunters who have been living in this region for as much as a hundred thousand years.”
“I seem to recall reading about the San,” Griffin murmured. “They supposedly possess the most ancient mitochondrial DNA on the planet which means that the mother of all modern humans was an ancestress of the San.”
“And San origin myths place the site of creation right in the middle of the Tsodilo Hills,” Bobbye added. “So, you can think of this spot as the pre-overlord equivalent of the Garden of Eden.”
They had crossed into the parklands and were now making their ascent up Female Hill. The route they followed wasn’t so much a trail as a series
