Dikgathong Dam has huge tourism potential

MONKAGEDI GAOTLHOBOGWE
Staff Writer | Friday November 13, 2009 00:00

The area has also been identified as ideal for water sport, fishing, adventure, all of which may present an opportunity for a unique experience.

An expert hired to do consultancy regarding the tourism potential of the dam, currently under construction, Dr Alfred Tsheboeng, told a gathering in Gaborone yesterday that with its central location between the two towns of Selebi-Phikwe and Francistown, and hardly two hours' drive to the Shashe-Limpopo Tourism Hub, Dikgatlhong Dam area, proffers itself for a near effortless modification into a tourism product and destination.

The consultant says the potential lies in the dam's accessibility, its wildlife which include elephants, antelopes, baobabs, ancient masonry sites, setting for water sport, fishing, adventure and ecology may present an opportunity for a unique experience. And all of this within an hour's drive from either Francistown or Selebi-Phikwe and easily accessible by road to neighbouring South Africa and Zimbabwe.

'Using experience and material from Dikgatlhong dam, this survey presents the dam area as an excellent tourist destination for the reasoning that it offers a diversity of products ranging from mainstream to heritage tourism' said the consultant from E.I.A Projects. 

Dikgatlhong dam is located at the confluence of the Shashe and Tati rivers and straddles two districts; the Central and the Northeast.  The dam wall is located on the Shashe River downstream of its confluence with the Tati River and approximately 4 km upstream of its confluence with the Ramokgwebane River. The reservoir is approximately 14km long and 5km wide at the longest and widest points respectively.

The reservoir area lies in a northwest southeast direction in line with the directional trend of the Shashe and Tati rivers. At full supply the dam is expected to hold 400 million cubic metres of water and is expected to yield 62 million cubic metres of water annually. This holding capacity and its spatial extent makes Dikgatlhong dam the largest dam in the country, approximating four times the size of Gaborone Dam. The topography of the study area is dominated by the Shashe and Tati rivers, their shallow valleys and inflowing streams, plains and occasional hills. It is located in a country of riverine woodland, the consultants say.

The Dikgatlhong Dam Antiquity
In the vicinity of Dikgathong lives the San people of Robelela who, according to the consultants, still practise their old culture seen by many around the world as tourists attraction.  Dr Tsheboeng says although the Robelela San people or Bushmen live alongside other tribes such as Bangwato and Batalaote, they keep and practice some of their old ways of life. 'Although the San may have lost a greater part of their culture as a result of their interaction with other communities they remain extremely knowledgeable in wild and /or plant and animal resources. Indigenous knowledge as it relates to medicinal and food plants remain critical to their way of life,' the consultant says in his presentation.

The area is also rich with archaeological sites , which have yielded artifacts dating back to 1000  years ago. 'Signatures of these antiquities is evident in the form of material culture that is strewn across all sections of the dam basin and beyond. Several of these sites were found through Archaeological Impact Assessments conducted in and around the dam area,' Dr Tsheboeng's  report says.  The consultants have also advised that  the Dikgatlhong Dam area,  as a tourism product, could collaborate with other tourist attractions in the proximity, such as Mashatu Game Reserve to create diversity of products.  Dr Tsheboeng says creativity and innovation remain critical to creating visitor impressions and memories about the area. ' The one way to do this is effective collaborative approaches that ensure sustained diversity in what is offered. For the Dikgatlhong dam area, located on the margins of the existing and developed tourism destination - Mashatu Game Reserve - collaboration with this nature reserve becomes natural. Added to this can be a heritage trail in between the Dam area and Mashatu, for example, an interpretive site near the dam,' he says.

Dr Tsheboeng mentions that other sites of interest along the heritage trail should include  Majande Mothudi, Lepokole and Gobadwe, all of which offer impressive cultural and natural heritage. All these are located in settings with enthralling natural aesthetics. 'In the Dam area the product will include the wildlife, culinary tourism - the pursuit of unique and memorable eating and drinking experiences has become an important aspect of tourism. The need for appreciating and infusing local cuisines may add to the difference that attracts tourists. It may also assist in extolling Botswana traditional cuisine to the world and preserving traditional food preparation methods.  He also singles out culture as one of the tourism products for the area.

'A way of life produces a variety of products intended for survival.' Indigenous knowledge relating to performing arts, food, plants collected from the wild, medicinal plants, story telling, may constitute tourism product, Dr Tsheboeng says.  'Heritage sites are also important potential products, it is important to understanding visitors' imaginings of varieties and layers of essentialism in order to transform these into sellable products', the consultant says in his report.

Amongst others the consultants have suggested the creation of  open-air museums
as symbolic sites. They noted that museums' role transcend conservation and preservation, they must provide a platform for interaction of the cultural essentialisms.

Culture-environment interactions, an interaction as ancient as human antiquity, must be extolled for visitor edification and joy, they say in the presentation. The consultants also suggested that there could be reconstructions of relics, which would trigger small local enterprises that focus on making of ceramics in replicates of those obtained from antiquity.