Gaborone
Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, has the usual
facilities of any modern capital city, small though it may be by world standards. There
are international hotels, casinos and a
collection of shops, restaurants, services and supplies that one might expect, a National
Museum with outstanding exhibits and, 16kms from the centre, the international Sir Seretse
Khama airport.
One of the more striking of the city's tall buildings is Orapa house at the intersection
of Mandela Drive and Khama Crescent. It is in this building, on floors specially designed
to make maximum use of daylight without ever letting sunlight in, that Botswana's diamond
wealth is sorted, packaged and sent out to the markets of the world.
A large dam on the Ngotwane river provides for sailing watersports (motor boats are not
permitted) and a little further downstream, on the same river but still within the
confines of the city is the Gaborone Game Reserve.
The older part of Gaborone, the old "Village", is steeped in colonial history.
Remains of the old fort, established when Pioneer Columns were advancing into what became
Rhodesia,
are
still to be seen. In the village, too, will be found the remains of the old Government
Rest House. For a short time is was used as a hotel where Cecil Rhodes occasionally camped
and where the infamous Jameson Raid is said to have been planners.
A visit to Molepolole, 50kms west of Gaborone, will show a town of the Bakwena, another of
the principle Tswana tribes. The mixed architecture gives interesting insights into the
changing nature of Botswana society where the old and traditional ways are seen slowly to
he giving way to more modern practices. Much of the nature of this change is recorded and
compared in the small Sechele Museum to be found there.
For those interested in pottery in particular a visit to Thamaga some forty kilometres to
the south west of Gaborone is essential. Here lives on a rural craft project developed
with Norwegian aid and now continuing under its own steam. Thamaga bowls, platters and
goblets are especially well known and their hazy blue glaze has almost become a trademark
and often sought after by collectors.
To the north–east of Gaborone, roughly 40kms away is the attractive village of
Mochudi and, in the same area, the rock engravings at Matsieng.The older part of the
village; surrounds the kgotla (the tribal meeting place) and there are still some
traditional houses and courtyards to be seen there. On the hill above the kgotla is
Mochudi's Phuthadikoho Museum. This houses a fascinating collection of old photographs and
artifacts relating to the Bakgatlu. There is also a small Livingstone collection.
A little further north of the turnoff to Mochudi will be found the rock engravings at
Matsieng. These engravings, mostly of human feet and animal tracks, are made in the rock
bed of an ancient river. This site is important to the Tswana who believe it to be the
place where Matsieng, central figure of a creation myth and an important early ancestor,
rose out of the ground, followed by cattle and wild animals.
Immediately to the south of Gaborone, on the main road to Lobatse are two important places
for game enthusiasts. The first is Mokolodi Nature Reserve and the second is the Lion
Park, where the lions are kept in very large wire mesh enclosures. The setting in which
they are seen is perfectly natural and offers great opportunities to enthusiastic wildlife
photographers.
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