Gaborone
The capital is located in the Southeast. Worth seeing is the excellent National Museum (Tues-Fri: 08.00-18.00 clock, Sat-Sun: 09.00-17.00 clock) with its historical and ethnological collections. Apart from the interesting and ever changing exhibitions there are also various symposia and conferences organized. In the museum you will also receive an extremely useful and versatile booklet on Gaborone. The rooms in the University of Botswana Library is exclusively reserved for publications across the country. There are several fine craft shops and markets in which leather goods, pottery and basketry, hand-woven fabrics are offered.
Trips
The Gaborone Dam on the Notwane River near the capital city offers good water sports facilities. Also worth a visit to the Gaborone Game Park outside the city where you can see rhinos and antelopes. Anyone interested in local arts and business can take day trips to Odi, Thamaga and Pilane. A visit to the weaving Lentswe-La-Udi, north of Gaborone, is especially recommended. Handicrafts cost only a fraction of city prices and the proceeds go to the artisans benefit directly. Mochudi, also north of Gaborone, is the regional capital of Bakgatla tribe. In Phuthadikabo Museum visitors can learn about the history of Bakgatla.
Francistown, which is currently the gold rush in the 19th Century industrial city founded at the confluence of Tati and Inchwe is the starting point for visitors to the Okavango, Moremi and Chobe reserve and is served by Air Botswana from Gaborone. Worth seeing is the Supa-Ngwao Museum.
Francistown
Francistown, which is currently the gold rush in the 19th Century industrial city founded at the confluence of Tati and Inchwe is the starting point for visitors to the Okavango, Moremi and Chobe reserve and is served by Air Botswana from Gaborone. Worth seeing is the Supa-Ngwao Museum.
National Parks
The original nature to make Botswana one of the most attractive travel destinations in Africa. The land consists of approximately 80% of semi-desert with many remote areas with rich wildlife. To visit many national parks for a fee is required. (For reservations: Parks and Reserves Reservation Office, PO Box 131, Gaborone (tel: 580 774, Fax: 580 775; E-mail: dwnp@gov.bw; Internet: www.gov.bw / tourism).
The nicest area is the 15,000 sq km Okavango basin in the northwest, which is from June to September can be reached easily from Maun. The city is the starting point for safaris into the nature reserve and the Okavango Delta, where there is next to the many and varied flora 36 mammals, 80 fish and 200 bird species. The delta was created by a change in the Earth’s surface, which supplanted the river system from the original valley and the largest inland delta formed in the world. The basin consists of a vast network of narrow waterways which pass into lagoons. The papyrus reeds on the water is so dense that only the northern region with the Mokoro (dugout canoe) is passable. One can observe crocodiles, hippos, elephants, zebras, giraffes, and hundreds of exotic birds into the wild. Many safari camps are located in the swamps: including Iceland Maun Safari Lodge, Crocodile Camp, Jedibe, Xigera and Okavango River Lodge. Safaris in Iceland there is a swimming pool and regular screenings.
One of the most beautiful and fascinating wildlife sanctuaries in southern Africa is the 1812 sq km Moremi Game Reserve in the extreme northeast of the Okavango River basin. There are comfortable accommodations such as Mombo Camp, Kwara, and Duba Plains Chitabe. The roads are bad but passable. There is also a risk of malaria. The big game safaris (buffalo, elephants, giraffes, zebras, leopards and lions) are known in the Moremi Reserve, Iceland Chiefs can be reached by plane or Mokoro; Xaxaba it is in a tent camp.
Those who leave Maun by canoe or boat and a guide can visit the lagoons Xakanaxa, and Gcobega Gcodikwe or drive through the extensive network of waterways to about 300 km north-west Shakawe near the Angolan border.
The Gcwihaba caves with their stunning stalactites are located 240 km from Tsau. The name means hyenas hole in the Quingsprache the Bushmen.
The Tsodilo Hills are located north of the Okavango basin in the vicinity of belonging to Namibia Caprivi Strip. There are over 1700 rock paintings, mainly animal scenes. It is believed that they originated from ancestors of the Basarwa and Bantu peoples who call this hill today man, woman and child. Similarities with rock paintings in Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Lesotho and South Africa are striking. The hills can be reached by plane or car, but there is no camping and no fresh water. You have water, food and gasoline to take.
The fauna of the approximately 11 700 sq. km Chobe National Park is extremely diverse. One of the main attractions are the over 70,000 elephants and white rhinos, which open in the afternoon on the beaten paths to drink at the Chobe River. By the riverside you can see herds of buffalo, hippo, kudu and impala graceful. With the exception of certain parts during the rainy season (November – April) are closed, the 10 km distant from Kasane park is open year-round. Between May and September, a visit is particularly rewarding because you can watch thousands of animals every day. The luxurious Cresta Mowana Safari Lodge on the Chobe River is an ideal base for exploring the Chobe game reserve on river cruises, Land Rover safaris or trips by traditional Mokoro (dugout canoe). In addition, rafting trips on the Zambezi River are offered where you traveled in one day four different countries (Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe). An asphalt road leads to the 69 km from Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe), which can be viewed in a helicopter sightseeing flight is best. The Savuti / Linyanti area that borders the west of the Okavango basin and the east by the Chobe National Park is famous for its lions and spotted hyenas and buffalo, zebra and elephant herds. Among the partially luxurious camps in this area include Kings Pool, Savuti, Duma Tau, Linyanti and Selinda Camp, and Camp Zibadjiana.
The approximately 5500 square kilometers comprehensive Makagadikgadi / Nxai Pan National Park is located 32 km north of the main road from Francistown to Maun. On the flat grass pasture land during the rainy season many herds, especially giraffes. The region is especially known for the Makgadikgadi salt pan, a prehistoric lake, resulting only in the rainy season and is populated at the time with countless pink flamingos. Giant zebra and wildebeest come here to drink. When the water drops in the Makgadikgadi, drag the animals to the river Boteti, where they remain until the next rainy season, and then keep going north to Nxai Basin. Camping facilities are available, but you should bring water, food and gasoline.
South of Maun and the Okavango River Basin is the vast Kalahari Desert, which attracts blooms after rains in March and April, hundreds of flocks of birds. The Khutse Game Reserve (240 km northwest of Gaborone) consists of a large savanna. The campsites are fairly simple, you must bring water, gasoline and meals.
The Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the second largest reserve in the world (51 800 sq km). In this region live the San or Bushmen, the indigenous people of Botswana, who hunt with bow and arrow today.
The Gemsbok National Park (26,000 square kilometers) lies in the extreme southwest near the border with South Africa and contributes to the merger with the South African Kalahari Gemsbok Park (9600 sq. km) the name Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. High sand dunes and deep fossil river beds here determine the landscape. Gaborone is a paved road leads to Tsabong, from here you can reach the park only with all-wheel drive. Herds of chamois and springbok as well as numerous other species of antelope, cheetahs and lions can be observed at close range. The best time for game viewing are the winter months from May to September. Between December and March it is very hot and it must be expected with heavy rain and severe thunderstorms. The otherwise dry rivers can suddenly carry water, roads become impassable and parts of the park must be closed to traffic. Camps in the Park Mata Mata and Nossob and Twee Rivieren in the north to the south. The Mabuasehube Game Reserve has now become part of the Gemsbok National Park. This region is also known for its salt pans, which shimmer in many colors. Antelope, foxes and more than 170 different bird species are at home here. The best time to visit is from July to September.
