Botswana Travel Forum

I'm going to have a couple of days in Gabarone without a car. Any advice on where to stay, where to eat, and what to do? Saving money is good, but this is a big lifetime splurge, so I would pay a little more for simething that's worth it. Especially food.

I read a disturbing statement on the US State Department traveler's advisory page saying there's a lot of crime in Gabarone. Is this true? Is it as bad as, say, New York City? They said that US embassy employees aren't allowed to hike on Kgale Hill.

Thanks

Hi Linda,
I lived in Botswana for 6 years back in the 1980s. At the time it was always considered a real haven of peace being surrounded by South Africa - still under white rule - and Zimbabwe re-covering from bloodshed after Independence in 1980.
Here's the UK's Foreign & Commonwealth Office advice on Botswana and it can be a little worrying reading it :
http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/sub-saharan-africa/botswana
but I think with so many bits of advice like this if you are sensible and alert to avoiding putting yourself into dangerous situations you'll be fine.

I hope you have a great trip - I'm very envious. We haven't managed to get back to Botswana since we left in 1989.

If you don't want to go too far there's Mochudi village nearby which had an interesting Museum and I recall you can get a terrific view over the village from the site where it's located. It's near enough to get a taxi from Gaborone.
Another place a little further and to the south is Lobatse where you can visit the weavers of Tiro ya Diatla. - Great for presents, if a little pricey.

I think there is a Game park near Gaborone - though it had only just opened when we left.

Oh and don't forget to read the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency before you go. It's very true to life or at least it seemed that way to me. Mochudi is where Mma Ramotswe was born.

Have a great trip,
Mike

There is no crime in Gabarone worth worrying about.

As Anton says, no real crime issues that common sense won't prevent. Gaborone is essentially one of the smallest Capital cities in the world with nice walking areas and a hug loop-road system that is stupidly congetsed with acrs. Your not driving will make your experience a great one. There is a 4 star hotel right in the centre shopping area which is on my Gaborone page. You can walk around and see all the sights in half a day walking around. Its that small. The centre mall area has restauarants, but mostly fast food. Try a Slyder at least.

Enjoy your visit.

All the best,

DAO

Is it still called the President Hotel? I stayed there on my first night in Gaborone way back in 1983.
Mike

It is!

Now called the Cresta President, its been renovated completely:

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/30b4a/1d7ca9/3/

(2nd tip).

That's great.
But I bet other things have changed as well. The traffic sounds much worse. When I left in 1989 they were just installing the first set of traffic lights.
One of my most amusing stories from Botswana was traffic related. We'd hired a 'bus' to take the school kids from Moshupa to Gaborone for the Science Fair. It turned up late and missing several windows but we all piled on keen to get going. I thought the driver seemed a little inexperienced and when he reversed into someone's bumper and headlights I knew that this guy really didn't know about driving and certainly not in Gaborone. The car driver was furious and insisted that the driver accompany him to the Police station which was literally just across the road. So I had to go as well as a witness to the accident. We were getting impatient by this stage. We were now late for the science fair and we had still not off loaded the kids at the University. The Police let the 'bus' driver go after details had been swapped. The driver, by this stage completely befuddled by the experience, found himself going down the only one way street in town - the wrong way. Cars were hooting and swerving out of our way and one of them was a Police car that then escorted us back to the Police Station - our second visit in less than 10 minutes! We'd still not made it to the Science Fair. Fortunately the Police could see that we were being punished for the driver's lack of experience and, under police escort, took us off to the University where everyone had given up on us.
Needless to say we had a different driver for the return journey.
You can see how McCall-Smith gets inspiration for his stories.