Leisure & Lifestyle in Botswana

Linyati, Selinda and Kwando
At the extreme northern reaches of Botswana – the Caprivi just on the other side – lie three of the most splendid, wild and secluded destinations the country has to offer.

Sandwiched between the Chobe National Park to the east and the Okavango south, the extensive Kwando, Selinda and Linyanti concessions offer superb wildlife viewing – and terrain to rival the physical beauty of the Okavango.

And no wonder – both share geographical similarities. Like the Okavango River, the Kwando River flows south from Angola across the Caprivi Strip and into Botswana. Like the Okavango, it slowly fills the Linyanti Swamps. The outflow from the Swamps then fills the Linyanti River, which courses east into the Chobe River.

The swamps that fan out from the rivers carry the same magnificent natural history as the Okavango – picturesque channels, lagoons, papyrus stands and reedbeds. Riparian forest lines the waterways, giving rise to magnificent, towering trees. Dry riverbeds – the Selinda Spillway and the Savuté channel – meet the swamps, their lack of flowing water possibly determined by faulting underground that halts the course of the waters. interestingly, faults in this area are believed to be the southernmost point of Africa’s Great Rift Valley.

The reserves string along the rivers, with the Kwando to the northwest, Selinda (1350 sq kms in area) south and Linyanti (1250 sq kms in area) east. A small area of the Chobe National Park juts up to meet the Linyanti River and swamps; it has a government campsite and facilities for the self-drive camper, while the concessions offer private camps.

This is real African big game country, and during the dry season the permanent waters of both the Kwando and Linyanti Rivers serve as important migration points for wildlife from much of northern Botswana – including large herds of buffalo and elephant, wildebeest and zebra.

Virtually all naturally occurring antelope and predators can be seen in these concessions, depending, of course, on the season, and food and water availability. These include waterbuck, reedbuck, giraffe, impala, kudu, and with any luck the rare and shy sitatunga, and accompanying lion, hyena, leopard, cheetah, jackal, serval and caracal.

But perhaps the greatest attraction of this part of Botswana is the feeling it gives of extreme isolation, and being completely removed from the world as we know it. The camps are small and private, with perhaps only twenty or so guests present at one time.

There’s nothing else out there – except you, the bush and a fascinating contingent of wild animals – just waiting to be discovered, and explored.

Gaborone
Gaborone is a buzzing and tempting city that is bursting out of a nutshell. The inhabitants themselves feed the inexhaustible source of creative energy, a source that is far from saturated. The capital city was named after Kgosi Gaborone, leader of the Batlokwa people, who migrated from their ancestral homelands in the Magaliesberg Mountains and in 1881 settled in the Tlokweng area. Gaborone literally means ‘it does not fit badly’ or ‘it is not unbecoming.”

The tolerant mind-set of Gaborone derives from the gathering of the many different cultures and the thousands strong individual minds. The beautification of the edginess inspires, provokes opportunities and creates an intersection where two extremes meet each other and therefore become indefinable.

While the city boarders mark a town of a friendly and agreeable size, the many districts offer an immense variety of different atmospheres and make you often wonder yourself if you’re still wandering through the same metropolis. All neighbourhoods have two things in common: a warm friendly people and a rich experimental food culture. Gaborone boasts a range of hotels, and a choice of cinemas and casinos. Restaurants are numerous and varied, nightclubs often host live music by local artists. The National Museum is situated near the centre of town and houses important collections of traditional crafts and southern African fine art.

Gaborone is not different from any other city. It’s soiled with Western needs, such as pubs and luxury hotels. But as soon as you leave the city and its main roads, it is as if you walk straight into another world. Offering the best of both possible worlds, the silence takes your breath away for a fraction of time while you enter into rural Africa or wildlife areas within minutes.

Three Chiefs Monument
Crossing the railway tracks over the flyover, and turning into a newly developed Central Business District, the Monument of the Three Chiefs is another impressive historical statue that marks an important turning point in the history of Botswana.

In the late 1800s, Botswana territory was under threat from British industrialist Cecil Rhodes, who wished to take over Bechuanaland for his British South Africa Company. Three senior chiefs of the time – Chief Khama III of the Bangwato, Chief Sebele I of the Bakwena, and Chief Bathoen I of the Bangwaketse – travelled to London in 1885 to petition Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and whilst there, they were presented to Queen Victoria.

Gaining support from the British public, they petitioned the Queen for protection; and this was granted. The Bechuanaland Protectorate was established in the same year, thus circumventing the territory’s potentially disastrous incorporation into the British South Africa Company, and forever altering the history of the country. The monument was sculpted and cast by North Korean artisans, using a photograph of the three chiefs. It was unveiled on the occasion of the country’s 39th anniversary of independence in 2005.

Central Business District (CBD)
Now home to the tallest building in Gaborone, i-Towers, the growing skyline at the city’s Central Business District is a beacon of progress, and ever evolving display of how the country’s significant development in the business market. The world renowned Masa hotel square offers a mix of business and leisure. Impressive architecture and the settlement of international companies transform the CBD into a hub for travellers, young professionals and the city’s trendsetters.

However the centre of the city remains intact. Gaborone’s first mall – often referred to as The Main Mall – is a pedestrian-only business and commercial centre that boasts some of the town’s oldest shops and office buildings, as well as one of its first hotels, The President Hotel. Although some buildings have been refurbished, most of the architecture remains the same. At its top end, across the Nelson Mandela Road, sits the Government Enclave and the National Assembly; and at the opposite end are the Gaborone City Town Council offices. Shoppers will enjoy browsing the many outdoor stalls of African arts, crafts and curios that line the main walkway. On Saturday and Sunday afternoons the city centre is a lot less chaotic and is ideal for a peaceful stroll across the mall.

National Stadium
Having recently been renovated, the now world class national stadium hosts various sporting and non-sporting events. Offering a 40 000 seating capacity, a first for Botswana. The stadium is also home to the Botswana National Sports Commission (BNSYC) gymnasium, a space which offers a number of fitness amenities designated for group fitness and cycling classes. BNSYC has a number of free classes offered to the public, including yoga.

University of Botswana
Across the road from the national stadium is Botswana’s first institution of higher education. The University of Botswana, established in 1982 has been closely involved in the national development process of Botswana. Today the university, referred to with much admiration by locals as “Mma-Dikolo” (Mother of Universities), boasts nine faculties and a school for graduates. Notable alumni include judge, human rights activists and writer Unity Dow, states men and politician Duma Boko, whom also lectured there for ten years and not forgetting Zimbabwean lawyer, internationally recognized for her defence of journalists and press freedom, Beatrice Mtetwa.

Thapong Visual Arts Centre
Situated in the former magistrate’s house (1902), the Thapong Visual Arts Centre is home to Botswana’s young, gifted – and sometimes avant-garde – artists. In addition to the exhibitions it regularly stages, this very active centre also periodically offers art courses for children.

Also found in the same location, is The No. 1 Ladies Coffee House, named after Alexander McCall Smith’s Novel series ‘The Number one Ladies detective agency’. A quaint, art filled restaurant with lots of charm and innovative treats. The ingredients are super fresh with unexpected culinary combinations and its ambience makes sense with Thapong as its backdrop.

Gaborone Game Reserve
Possibly one of the few national reserves to be situated inside a city, this relatively small (5 square kms) but well stocked park is home to a number of Botswana’s indigenous species, including zebra, eland, gemsbok, red hartebeest, blue wildebeest, impala, kudu, steenbok, vervet monkeys, warthog and rock dassies, as well as numerous resident and migrant bird species, best viewed from the small dam in the park. Terrain includes tree savanna, riparian woodland, marsh and rocky outcrops. The park is popular for weekend outings and picnics, with two well-appointed picnic sites. There are also animal and bird observation hides and a visitors’ centre; and pre-booked educational tours can be arranged for both school children and visitors.

Kgale Hill
Gaborone’s most visible hill – and one of the city’s major landmarks – overlooks both the Gaborone Dam as well as its largest mall, Game City, providing a beautiful panorama of the city, and in the late afternoon, dramatic African sunsets. Kgale (meaning ‘the place that dried up’) is popular for climbers and picnickers, and has clearly defined routes up and down. Some wildlife still lives in the hills, and the most visible are the ubiquitous baboon troupes. The climb takes approximately one hour.

Gaborone Dam
The Gaborone Dam, the water source for Gaborone, is in a sense the foundation of Gaborone itself. In a dry region water is of crucial importance, and the fact that a large dam could be successfully created here was a necessary precondition for the growth of the city. It is located by the edge of the city, set among hills and dense bush, is the city’s main water source, Gaborone Dam. A popular local resort, it is available for non-motorised water-sport , but a Water Utilities Corporation permit is needed. Bass, bream and barbell tempt the avid fishermen in summer, and the Gaborone Yacht Club has its own swimming pool – not a bad idea since the dam not only has the occasional crocodile that escapes translocation, but bilharzia as well.

Mokolodi Nature Reserve
For nature and wildlife lovers, Mokolodi is the closest excursion from Gaborone that offers a wide variety of activities for the entire family. Situated approximately 10 kilometres south of Game City, on the main Lobatse Road, the five-square kilometre reserve is comprised of riverine terrain interspersed with rocky hills, with the very picturesque Lake Gwithian and adjoining picnic site.

Mokolodi offers game drives, guided walks, horse-back safari, rhino tracking, giraffe tracking, walks with trained elephants, and cheetah visits. It holds regularly scheduled lectures, as well as annual events, such as Easter and Christmas day excursions for children, and the Mokolodi Photography Competition.

Wildlife resident in the reserve include kudu, warthog, duiker, giraffe, steenbok, zebra, blue wildebeest, gemsbok, ostrich, impala, springbok, waterbuck, baboons, vervet monkeys, mountain reedbuck, eland, bushbuck and leopard. A highly successful white rhino reintroduction and breeding programme now puts the white rhino population in the reserve at eight.

Mokolodi also houses a reptile park, and a wildlife sanctuary for disabled or orphaned animals that for one reason or another cannot be returned to the wild, and an animal clinic that treats sick or injured animals.

Facilities include camping sites, chalets, picnic sites, an education centre, museum and library, the World’s View Conference and Function Centre, The Alexander McCall Smith Traditional Rest Camp, as well as a lovely stone and thatch restaurant that gives a beautiful view of the surrounding bush.

Environmental education for Botswana children is a major mandate of the nature reserve; and each year thousands of schoolchildren come for courses, sleeping in the dormitories, or on camp outs.

Khutse Game Reserve
Because of its proximity, and relative accessibility, to the nation’s capital, Khutse game Reserve is a favourite retreat for Gaborone visitors or residents. The 240 kms drive takes the traveller through a number of interesting Kalahari villages, including the ‘gateway to the Kalahari,’ Molepolole.

Adjoining the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to the north, and with no fences separating the two, the terrain of the 2 500 sq kms reserve combines most types of Kalahari habitat – rolling grasslands, river beds, fossil dunes and grassed and bare pans.

The reserve is part of an ancient river system that once flowed northeast to fill the prehistoric Lake Makgadikgadi. Khutse’s Pans and dry river valleys are remnants of this river system.

Officially declared a protected area in 1971, Khutse (meaning ‘place where you can kneel down and drink’) was the second game reserve in Botswana to be established on tribal land (Moremi game Reserve in the Okavango was the first).

There is a series of rather picturesque pans (signposted) where wildlife often congregate, particularly during and following good rains; and indeed game drives are focused around the pans. These include the Motailane, Moreswa and Molose pans. Sometimes water is pumped at artificial waterholes at Moreswa and Molose, making for good game viewing year round.

Animals commonly sighted include springbok (often in abundance), gemsbok (often common), giraffe, wildebeest, hartebeest, kudu, black-backed jackal, steenbok, duiker, and the accompanying predators lion, leopard, cheetah, smaller cats, and the endangered brown hyena.

There are several delightful loops worth driving through the reserve. The shorter drive is the northern loop around Sekhushwe and Mohurusile pans, approximately 24 kms from the reserve headquarters. The longer drive is to Moreswa Pan, about 64 kms from the headquarters, or a 120 kms loop.

The San and Bakgalagadi peoples – the Kgalagadi’s original inhabitants – live in small villages on the periphery of the reserve. Their traditional arts and crafts can usually be purchased here; and walks with the San can be arranged at the Khutse Kalahari Lodge, about 10 kms before the reserve entrance.