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Motetane Gorge
The walls of the Tswapong Hills are riven with deep canyons, and the east–west Motetane Gorge is the prettiest of them. The turn-off to the gorge is well signposted en route to the church and trails lead out from the small parking area. The trails in this area are littered with sac
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Paradise Pools
One of the loveliest corners of Moremi, the area known as Paradise Pools is as lovely as the name suggests. In the dry season, trails lead past forests of dead trees and among the perimeter of reed-filled swamps, while impala and other antelope species drink nervously at the recedi
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Caracal Biodiversity Centre
Signposted as Biodiversity Centre, about halfway between the main highway and the Chobe Safari Lodge, this research and education centre rescues small wildlife species, then rehabilitates some into the wild and keeps the rest. It has some birds, a mongoose or two, and a particularl
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Xakanaxa Lediba
With one of Africa’s largest heronries, Xakanaxa Lediba (Xakanaxa Lagoon) is renowned as a birdwatchers’ paradise. In addition to herons, potential sightings here include storks, egrets and ibises. The area also supports an array of wildlife and large numbers of fish. There are my
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Dombo Hippo Pools
The drive between North Gate (including Khwai) and Xakanaxa Lediba follows one of Botswana’s more scenic tracks, although the exact route changes with the years depending on flood levels. Worthwhile stops en route include Dombo Hippo Pool (about 14km southwest of North Gate), where
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National Museum & Art Gallery
If you come with expectations reasonably lowered, you may enjoy this small, neglected museum. It’s a good way to kill an hour if you’re into taxidermy; exhibits of stuffed animals sit between those on precolonial and colonial history – it’s curious how there is next to no mention o
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Mboma Island
The grassy savannah of this 100-sq-km island, a long extension of the Moremi Tongue, contrasts sharply with the surrounding landscapes and provides some excellent dry-season wildlife watching – cheetah, lion and buffalo sightings are reasonably common. The 32km sandy Mboma Loop sta
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Third Bridge
Literally the third log bridge after entering the reserve at South Gate (although both First Bridge and Second Bridge were, at the time of writing, easy to bypass in the dry season along parallel tracks), this rustic and rather ramshackle bridge spans a reed-filled, tannin-coloured
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Khama III Memorial Museum
The Khama III Memorial Museum outlines the history of the Khama family, one of the most important dynasties in Southern Africa. The museum includes the personal effects of Chief Khama III and his descendants as well as various artefacts illustrating Serowe’s history. There are also
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Leopard Rock
The rocky monoliths that rise up from the Savuti sand provide more than welcome aesthetic relief amid the flat-as-flat plains of northern Botswana. The outcrops’ caves, rocky clefts and sometimes dense undergrowth also represent ideal habitat for leopards. The southernmost of these
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Savuti Marshes
For decades since the early 1980s, this vast open area in southern Savuti consisted less of marshes than sweeping open plains, save for occasional inundations during the rainy season. But the area’s name again makes sense with the return of water to the Savuti Channel. Once-dry tra
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Nhabe Museum
This small and simple museum is housed in a historic building built by the British military in 1939 and used during WWII as a surveillance post keeping tabs on the German presence in Namibia. The museum offers a few displays about the history of the Ngamiland district (the subdistr
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Krokavango Crocodile Farm
It’s difficult to know what to make of this place, which lies not far south of Drotsky’s Cabins (the turn-off from the main Sehithwa–Shakawe road is at GPS S 18°26.363, E 21°53.114’). Partly a refuge for rescued crocodiles from the Okavango Panhandle (usually those that have acquir
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Gobabis Hill
Another of the rocky monoliths, Gobabis Hill is home to several sets of 4000-year-old rock paintings of San origin. The best are the depictions of livestock halfway up to the summit on the south side of the rock; park at S18º35.632’, E024º04.770’, from where it’s an easy 150m climb
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Royal Cemetery
Before leaving town, hike up to the top of Thathaganyana Hill where you’ll find the Royal Cemetery, which contains the grave of Sir Seretse Khama, the founding father of modern Botswana, and Khama III; the latter is marked by a bronze duiker (a small antelope), which is the Bangwat
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Chiefs Island
The largest island in the Okavango Delta, Chief’s Island (70km long and 15km wide) is so named because it was once the sole hunting preserve of the local chief. Raised above the water level by tectonic activity in ancient times, it’s here that so much of the delta’s wildlife retre
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Gaborone Game Reserve
This reserve was established in 1988 by the Kalahari Conservation Society to give the Gaborone public an opportunity to view Botswana’s wildlife in a natural and accessible location. Although the reserve is only 5 sq km, it’s the third-busiest in the country and boasts wildebeest,
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Old Palapye (Phalatswe)
About 20km southeast of Palapye amid low-lying scrub, thinly scattered stone walls mark the site of the former Bangwato capital. After the Christian Bangwato chief Khama III and his people arrived from Shoshong in 1889, Phalatswe was transformed from a stretch of desert to a settle
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Moremi Gorge
The approach to Moremi Gorge gives little hint of what lies ahead. Beyond the entrance gate, a track leads past campsites (per adult/child P70/35) with their cold-water ablutions blocks, to a parking area. From here, a trail leads into this vertiginous canyon. Apart from the sheer
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Three Dikgosi Monument
It’s an interesting kind of history when your nationalist heroes are three guys who argued your country should continue to be a protectorate of Africa’s biggest imperialist power, but welcome to Botswana. (It should be noted that, by helping to keep Botswana under the administratio
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