Gaborone
Gaborone is the capital and largest city of Botswana.
It was formerly spelled as Gaberones during the colonial era, a name occasionally used in older English texts and maps. With a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534,842 inhabitants at the 2022 census.
Getting to Gaborone
Customs is very slow, but easy to get through (as appears to be the case for most of Africa). Have an address on hand for where you will be staying and they hardly give you a hassle.
- 01Sir Seretse Khama International Airport
Worth seeing
- 01The Hindu
A large Hindu temple and a major landmark.
- 02Three Dikgosi Monument
- 03Statue of Seretse Khama
Statue of the country's first president.
- 04National Botanical Garden
Operated by the National Museum, here you can see indigenous plants from all six ecological regions in Botswana.
- 05Southern African Development Community
Things to do
- 01Kgale Hill
Do not forget to make the pleasant climb up Kgale Hill, one of Botswana's highest hills (at 1,287 m elevation).
- 02Gaborone Dam
The Gaborone Dam is the only large body of water near Gaborone, the source of water for the city and a recreational area.
- 03Mokolodi
The highlight of many people's time is a cheetah visit where you can actually pet a cheetah.
- 04Gaborone Game Reserve
One of the smaller game reserves, if you have a car you can just drive yourself around.
Where to eat
Gaborone is not an exciting place to eat, and the city suffers more than most from South African culinary hegemony. However if you keep your expectations low there are some interesting nooks and crannies to interest your taste buds. The restaurants below are organised by compass point from the city centre. City Centre White box food (sold all over the government district on weekdays).
Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see file page), Wikimedia Commons.