Southern Botswana Tourism Information

Quick Facts: Southern Botswana

• Gaborone
• Lobatse
• Mokolodi Nature Reserve
• Gaborone Game Reserve
• Manyelanong Game Reserve
• The National Museum and Art Gallery
• Kgosi Sechele I Museum
• Manyana Rock Paintings
• Matsieng Footprints
• Livingstone Memorial – Kolobeng
• Lentswe La Baratani
• Oodi Weavers
• Thamaga Pottery
• Gaborone Dam

Introducing Southern Botswana

Botswana's capital city Gaborone is a vibrant and colourful city which is situated in the flat valley between Kgale and Oodi hills on the Notwane River in the south eastern corner of Botswana.  Gaborone has an estimated population of 195,000 inhabitants. As the capital city of Botswana in Southern Africa, Gaborone is the seat of government as well as the country's commercial and administrative heart.

Destined at one time to have been the capital city of Botswana, the town of Lobatse is a pleasant place set in a range of hills such as the Otse mountain.  Otse mountain is the highest point in Botswana which is only a few kilometres away from Lobatse.  Lobatse is characterized by tree-lined avenues and a slightly wetter, cooler climate. The town lies about 65km south of Gaborone.  One can find a border crossing, the Pioneer Gate, to South Africa here.  In the early 1960s Lobatse had the first tarmac road in Botswana.  A short distance was laid especially for the Royal visit of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Mokolodi is a private game reserve in the southern region of Botswana.  It is managed by the Mokolodi Wildlife Foundation which is dedicated to wildlife preservation and environmental education.  The Mokolodi  Game Reserve is situated only 10km south west of Gaborone.  Wildlife which can be observed in the Mokolodi  Game Reserve, Botswana, include white rhino, cheetah, mountain reedbuck, giraffe, zebra, red hartebeest, sable, gemsbok and a team of hand reared elephants. This range of wildlife joined the indigenous game, such as kudu, impala, hyaena, leopard and water buck, which were already living in the area, making the game reserve a rich and varied ecosystem. 

The elephant walk provides visitors with the opportunity to spend a few hours walking through the Mokolodi  Game Reserve with the elephants. One of the added advantages of the elephant walk is that the other game is not threatened by a human presence, so with care one can walk remarkably close to the other game in the park.

Although small with less than 600 hectares, the Gaborone Game Reserve is the third busiest game reserve in Botswana, Southern Africa.

Manyelanong is the name of the hill north of the village Otse which can be found 15km outside Lobatse on the Gaborone road in Botswana.  In the sheer cliffs of the hills, the tiny Manyelanong Game Reserve protects a breeding colony of Cape vultures.  This was known for many years as Otse Vulture Colony.  The Cape vulture is an endangered species and fully protected under the laws of Botswana.  Cape vultures have nested in Manyelanong for many years.

The Gaborone Dam which is set on the Notwane river in Botswana, provides the capital's water and serves as a marginal recreational site.  Surrounded by tall hills and edged with game filled woodlands, the Gaborone Dam is an ambitious project whose development is currently being financed by revenue earned from outdoor music shows held at the site.