Goo-Moremi: A place of unspoilt gorges and amazing folklore

For instance, it is said that in the morning of July 13, 1980 between 2am and 5am the villagers of Goo-Moremi heard a loud rumbling as a huge rock tumbled from the gorge above. The rock falling, the story goes, was a sign or message that someone of great importance had passed on. That morning, sad news came through that the first president of Botswana and paramount chief of Bangwato Sir Seretse Khama had died. Apparently the village elders already knew about the death of a leader through their ancestors.

Goo-Moremi (not to be confused with Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta) is located on the northern end of the Tswapong Hills next to Botswana's most scenic gorge called Mononnye-Moremi Gorge -- about 40km from Palapye. It is said to be the ancestral home of the Bapedi/Batswapong. Together with a group of adventurous friends, now known as "Maraka", we arrived at Goo-Moremi Gorge Lodge at twilight after scaling the Tswapong Hills on a painstaking hike from the Old Palapye ruins.