Gaborone
This sprawling and unattractive capital (pop. 200,000) is not one of our favorite African cities – we recommend moving on quickly. Gaborone’s best attraction is the national museum, which displays a wonderful collection of local handicrafts and traditional objects. The museum also has a number of stuffed animals. Just east of town, the small Gaborone Game Park provides a meager sampling of Botswana wildlife (a variety of antelope and a white rhino). If you have to spend the night in Gaborone, the best hotels are the Best Western President Hotel (overlooking the Mall market), the Grand Palm Hotel Casino Resort and the Gaborone Sun, which has good restaurants, a bar, a nightclub and a casino.
If you have some extra time, you could take a day trip to David Livingstone’s house. Although this site is not on most tour agendas, it can be reached from Gaborone in an ordinary vehicle without four-wheel drive. Botswana was the only place in Africa where the missionary/explorer lived for any length of time. The stone foundations of Livingstone’s home and small school lie just west of the Kolobeng River (a dry streambed for most of the year) on the north side of the gravel road between Thamaga and Kanye. The foundations are surrounded by a decrepit barbed-wire fence marked with a small museum placard. While there is not actually much to see in this dry, dusty spot, the quietness of the surrounding scrub has not changed much since the 1840s: You can stand where Livingstone once did, and look out on a small part of Africa that is almost identical to what he and his family experienced. You might also gain an insight into why he left the isolated life at this mission to become an adventurer.
Related Travel Information
Ghanzi
This agricultural center in west central Botswana is a good place to buy handicrafts made by the San people, especially dyed cloth, bead and eggshell jewelry, puppets, and bows and arrows. Just north of Ghanzi is the D'Kar Mission, opposite which is a roadside San curio shop and art gallery that is worth a visit if you're in the area. The Kalahari Arms is the only hotel in town. Ghanzi is not far from the Namibian border. 325 mi/525 km northwest of Gaborone.
Lake Ngami
Lake Ngami is a relic of the superlake that once covered much of northern Botswana. South of the Okavango Delta, the lake is now completely dry - except when fed by water from the flooded delta. When David Livingstone first saw this lake in 1849, however, he described it as more than 100 mi/160 km long. When wet, the Ngami is filled by an incredible number of water birds, including flamingos, eagles, storks and pelicans - it is one of the best bird-watching spots in the world. Before making the trip, be sure the lake has water; otherwise, there's
The Khutse Game Reserve
Khutse Game Reserve abuts the southern boundary of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Set in typical pan country of undulating savannah, most of the larger arid-adapted herbivores can be found, together with the common predators, lions, leopards and cheetahs. Duiker and steenbok are as common as the ostrich. Many smaller species abound, like Cape fox, bat-eared fox, ground squirrel, jackal, porcupine, yellow mongoose and suricate. There are more than 60 pans and game is usually seen in or near them, but it is seasonal and difficult to predict. Khutse has interesting birds associated with arid areas,
Francistown
Named after Daniel Francis, a British prospector, this rustic town (pop. 70,000) owes its origins to gold. Perhaps this accounts for the frontier flavor of the somewhat dilapidated main street, with its two old hotels, facing the railway line. Gold was first discovered and mined around Francistown in the 1300s and 1400s by people belonging to the empire centered at what are now known as the Great Zimbabwe ruins (310 mi/500 km to the east). Smaller stone ruins belonging to the Zimbabwe culture dot the granite kopjes (hills) in the countryside surrounding the town.
In spite of its history, there
The Mokolodi Nature Reserve
Officially opened in 1994, the Mokolodi Nature Reserve is 14 kilometres south of Gaborone on the main road to Lobatse. Created by the Mokolodi Wildlife Foundation, a non-profit organisation aiming towards conservation and education, the 6 300 acre reserve is stocked with a various species of game indigenous to south-east Botswana. These include mountain reedbuck and antelope of various kinds, zebra, gemsbok, giraffe, brown hyena and warthog. Mokolodi is home to over a third of Botswana's white rhino population and is engaged in a breeding programme. The second prong of the Foundation's drive is catered to
