I was on leave late last year in November, when I received a phone text from Mmegi sports editor, Mqondisi Dube, which only read “You are going to Gabon bro”. Then I simply replied, “What do you mean, I am going to Gabon?” As I was patiently waiting for clarity from Dube, I received a call f...
On a month long quest through Africa’s heartlands I discovered beautiful white sandy beaches along the shores of Africa’s three great lakes – Tanganyika, Victoria and Malawi. I have lazed around and let time drift away on these clean fresh water beaches with occasional disturbance from a ripe ...
Fish is, and has always been, a staple diet for the tribes that inhabit the Okavango area. In fact all around the world, fish always forms part of the diet of people who live along or near a river, swamp, delta, or sea.
Gabz City, Ma’Geba, Moshate, Tropo, GC, are some of the fond names of Botswana’s Capital City, Gaborone by its residents. But Gaborone City as we know it is changing. Fast.
In the mid-90s, tragic news filtered through our north-western border. The bearers of the bad news were people from Okavango who had relatives in Namibia.
The diet of people in Okavango is made up largely of indigenous delicacies, some of which are sourced from the delta and the veldt. Though most of the people are subsistence farmers and thus have always depended on farming for their livelihood, the delta has never let them down, whatever the season,...
Okavango is home to the Blue water lily (Nymphaea nouchali), an aquatic plant that is a favourite with the tribes that inhabit the area. If God created a plant for Adam and Eve and all generations to come, to enjoy, protect, and be proud of, this is it. The roots, tubers, stem, and fruits are all ed...
Some call it the Garden of Eden, while others call it a Pearl in the Desert, but to the locals who inhabit this world renowned area, Okavango is just...Okavango, a place where, though a good number of the people live in abject poverty, Mother Nature does sometimes provide for them in abundance.
The Okavango Delta is very beautiful. In fact this sounds like an understatement. Just like all the most beautiful things, it is not cheap to visit the delta. The Okavango Delta is very expensive – Fact. In my quest to find the economic way to visit the delta I discovered the place called ‘Overs...
Imagine a remote place, with a well stocked bookshop, but roads with no tar, no streets lights, there is no bank, no fuel station, and mobile phones are discouraged - before your imagination drifts to the olden days when apple and black berries were just fruits, this place is Nieu-Bethesda and this ...
It is spring time again and time to drop those dull coloured winter woollies for some bright coloured clothes, and go out. Spring is a time for rejuvenation; trees grow new leaves and beautiful, brightly coloured flowers, which somehow (they say) also affect the general mood of human beings.
Over 20,000 jazz lovers from across the world gathered at the Newtown precinct for some jazz bliss. It was jazz extravaganza featuring a strong line-up of over 30 artists from eight countries performing on seven stages in three days.
For all the lovers of arts and culture – Newtown is like a Mecca. It is at Newtown where the South African story is told though art. Arriving at Newtown one notices the arts influence right from the street names.
Botswana’s Ambassador to the United States, Tebelelo Seretse, recently told black investors in the US that Botswana has the “prettiest women”. Seretse was making a presentation to an audience of 270 businesspeople at the 19th Annual Conference of the National Black Chamber of Commerce in Miami...
July is a tough month to visit the Sani Pass along the Drakensburg escarpments but ironically it is a peak season for the only pub located in these highlands – Sani Top Chalet.
Old Palapye, situated a few kilometres from village of Malaka, is perhaps the one of the country's hidden treasures because of the picturesque beauty of its natural landscape.
As if competing for our attention, a large herd of elephants that must have just come across from Namibia waded into the river and onto Sedudu Island, writes RYDER GABATHUSE. They gave company to the lonesome Botswana flag that had been billowing at full mast.
Statements like “I’m tired of elephant meat” are seldom. Well many people have never seen an elephant let alone its meat. But in Mababe village on the south gate of the Chobe National Park there is nothing extraordinary about eating an elephant meat. In fact the residents say they are “tired...
There is a new home brewed sorghum beer. According to Thomas Mpedi, general manager of Botswana Breweries, “Phafana is a home brew descriptive of Batswana, but mostly anchored in their roots and heritage developed the same way it has been developed overtime preserving its taste, colour but signifi...
My first visit to India was in 2009. I attended a conference in the city of Hyderabad. To be honest, I heard the name for the first time when I received the invitation.
At once the repository and depository of ancient African manuscripts on mathematics, science, astrology, dialectical discourse and so following, Timbuktu was the venue where African editors recently witnessed the honouring of Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for her salutary achievement of s...
Victoria Falls is undoubtedly the adventure capital of Southern Africa, so don't just go there and watch the waterfalls. Prepare to experience them. The following are activities to do around the Falls area and they come at a price (monetarily and psychologically).
While Khama III, Sebele I and Bathoen I were battling the white settlers who tried to annex their land, black people were sold as commodities in the east African Island of Zanzibar. Black people were captured, packed in dhows and transported from the regions of Malawi, Tanzania and Kenya to be put u...
For a journey to be enjoyed and savoured the mode of transport is of paramount importance. The rule is the slower the pace, the greater the pleasure. A joint railway venture between Zambia and Tanzania called Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) offers the best way to experience the wonderful ...
We could have been sitting pretty with the Falls as we are with the Delta. It's only 70km from Kasane. THALEFANG CHARLES describes his admiration for Victoria and how he came back green with envy.
Over 155 years after Scottish explorer, David Livingstone, became famous for his Central African expeditions, two young Batswana travellers, Thalefang Charles and Pako Lesejane, retraced the arduous expedition of this missionary who wandered through the motherland long before the "Scramble for Afric...
As a rainy December 16th turned from night to day, we set out on our great trek north, Gaborone to Nairobi, Kenya, by road - a journey of approximately 4,500 kilometres.
In 2010 with just a shoestring travel budget, I have swam in the affluent Camps bay beach after an epic jazz show, watched a cultural dance of over 60 000 half naked virgins, watched world football stars in Soweto, travelled through the vast swathe of the Kgalagadi desert, danced with Basarwa, parti...
Traversing the country to the deep recesses of Kgalagadi desert by means of the Trans-Kgalagadi Road THALEFANG CHARLES marvels at the vision and courage of Botswana's leadership who are transforming the 'barren' land
