BOTSWANA Other Mammalsmigrate Annuallyinsearchofpermanentwater Andstable Foodsupplies
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© Lonely Planet Publications 838 lonelyplanet.com BOTSWANA •• Highlights 839 HIGHLIGHTS HOW MUCH? Botswana Okavango Delta ( p848 ) Glide through wa- tery expanses in a mokoro, a traditional Internet connection US$3 per hour dugout canoe. National park entry fee US$22 Chobe National Park ( p856 ) Spot the Big Five at Botswana’s premier wildlife park. Decent binoculars from a shop in Makgadikgadi & Nxai Pans National Park Maun US$35 ( p857 ) Follow herds of migrating zebra Nice meal in a tourist restaurant Botswana is an African success story. After achieving democratic rule in 1966, three of the and wildebeest in this baobab-d otted US$15 world’s richest diamond-bearing formations were discovered within its borders. Today, the salt-pan complex. 4WD rental US$75 to US$100 per day country enjoys a high standard of economic stability, education and health care, which, with Tsodilo Hills ( p854 ) Wander through the the exception of South Africa, is unequalled elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. However, its ‘Wilderness Louvre’ of ancient San rock LONELY PLANET INDEX paintings. modern veneer belies the fact that much of it remains a country for the intrepid (not to Savuti ( p857 ) Test the limits of your 1L petrol US$1.50 mention relatively wealthy) traveller. This largely roadless wilderness of vast spaces requires survival instincts on an intrepid 4WD 1L bottled water US$0.25 time, effort and, above all else, lots of cash to enjoy it to its fullest. camping expedition. Bottle of Castle beer US$1.25 Landlocked Botswana extends 1100km from north to south and 960km from east to CLIMATE & WHEN TO GO Souvenir T-shirt US$12 west, making it about the same size as Kenya or France and somewhat smaller than Texas. Although it straddles the Tropic of Capricorn, Sugar cane US$0.10 Most of the country lies at an average elevation of 1000m, and consists of a vast and nearly Botswana experiences extremes in both tem- perature and weather. In the winter (late May level sand-filled basin characterised by scrub-covered savannah. The Kalahari, a semi-arid through August), days are normally clear, of the country: do a mokoro trip through expanse of sandy valleys, covers nearly 85% of the country, including the entire central and warm and sunny, and nights are cool to cold. the Okavango Delta ( p848 ), safari in southwestern regions. In the northwest, the Okavango River flows in from Namibia, and Wildlife never wanders far from water sources, Moremi Wildlife Reserve ( p849 ) and soaks into the sands to form the Okavango Delta. so sightings are more predictable than in the Chobe National Park ( p856 ), camp and wetter summer season. This is also the time hike in the Tsodilo Hills ( p854 ), cruise With vast open savannas teeming with wildlife, Botswana is truly the Africa of your dreams. of European, North American and – most along the Okavango Panhandle ( p851 ) Because the Okavango Delta and the Chobe River provide a year-round water supply, nearly importantly – South African school holidays, and explore the very furthest reaches of all southern African mammal species are present in the Moremi Wildlife Reserve and Chobe so some areas can be busy, especially between the Savuti ( p857 ). mid-July and mid-September. In summer National Park. In the Makgadikgadi & Nxai Pans National Park herds of wildebeest, zebra and (October to April), wildlife is harder to spot HISTORY other mammals migrate annually in search of permanent water and stable food supplies. and rains can render sandy roads impassable. Pre-Colonial History This is also the time of the highest humidity Following the fragmented trail of ancient pot- and the most stifling heat; daytime tempera- tery, archaeologists and anthropologists have FAST FACTS tures of over 40°C are common. been able to piece together the complex, criss- crossing migration of different tribal groups Area 582,000 sq km ITINERARIES into southern Africa. Between AD 200 and ATMs Found in large towns Three Days Botswana’s tourist highlight is 500 Bantu-speaking farmers started to appear Borders South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, the Okavango Delta ( p848 ), and if you on the southern landscape from the north Zimbabwe (all overland crossings) have only a few days, this is where you’ll and east. To begin with, relations between want to focus. Choose Maun ( p851 ) or the San and Khoikhoi appear to have been Budget US$40 to US$70 a day the Okavango Panhandle ( p851 ) as your cordial, and the groups mixed freely, traded Capital Gaborone base and organise a mokoro trip through and intermarried. Language English, Setswana the wetlands, followed by a wildlife- Perhaps the most significant development Money Pula (P); US$1 = 6.4P viewing trip at Moremi Wildlife Reserve in Botswana’s long history was the evolution ( p849 ). of the three main branches of the Tswana tribe Population 1.63 million One Week Combine your visit to the delta during the 14th century. It’s a typical tale of Seasons Wet (November to March); dry (May to August) with a safari through Chobe National family discord, where three brothers – Kwena, BOTSWANA Telephone Country code %267; international Park ( p856 ), one of the world’s top safari Ngwaketse and Ngwato – broke away from access %00 experiences. Either go overland through their father, Chief Malope, to establish their the rugged interior or cruise along the own followings in Molepolole, Kanye and Se- Time GMT/UTC +2 wildlife-rich waterfront. rowe respectively. Realistically, these fractures BOTSWANA Visa None required for citizens of Australia, New Zealand, One Month With a full month (and lots of probably occurred in response to drought and France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Canada or the USA money), you can hire a 4WD or use a expanding populations eager to strike out in reputable safari company and see the best search of new pastures and arable land. 840 BOTSWANA •• History lonelyplanet.com lonelyplanet.com BOTSWANA •• History 841 Colonial History their leaders to petition the British for protec- the Molopo River became the British Crown coming as long as the people were governed From the 1820s the Boers began their Great tion. Britain, however, was in no hurry to sup- Colony of Bechuanaland and were attached to by Tswana chiefs and proclaimed all local Trek across the Vaal River. Confident that they port lands of dubious profitability and offered the Cape Colony, while the area north became government officials answerable to colonial had heaven-sanctioned rights to any land they only to act as arbitrator in the dispute. But the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland. magistrates. So great was the popular opposi- might choose to occupy in southern Africa, by 1877, the worsening situation provoked A new threat to the Tswana chiefs’ power tion – people feared that it would lead to their 20,000 Boers crossed into Tswana and Zulu the British annexation of the Transvaal and base came in the form of Cecil Rhodes and incorporation into South Africa – that Rey territory and established themselves as though launched the first Boer War, with violence his British South Africa Company (BSAC). By was ousted from his job and his proclama- the lands were unclaimed and uninhabited. At continuing until 1881. In 1882, Boers again 1894, the British had all but agreed to allow tion annulled. the Sand River Convention of 1852, Britain moved into Tswana lands and subdued Ma- him to control the country. An unhappy dele- During WWII, 10,000 Tswana volunteered recognised the Transvaal’s independence and feking, threatening the British route between gation of Tswana chiefs – Bathoen, Khama III for the African Pioneer Corps to defend the the Boers informed the Batswana (people of the Cape and the suspected mineral wealth and Sebele – accompanied by a sympathetic British Empire. After the war Seretse Khama Botswana) that they were now subjects of the in Zimbabwe. missionary, WC Willoughby, sailed to Eng- went to study in England where he met and South African Republic. Again, the Tswana lobbied for British pro- land to appeal directly to Colonial Minister married an Englishwoman. Tshekedi Khama Prominent Tswana leaders Sechele I and tection and in 1885, thanks to petitions from Joseph Chamberlain for continued govern- was furious at this breach of tribal custom, Mosielele refused to accept white rule and John Mackenzie (a friend of the Christian ment control but their pleas were ignored. and the South African authorities, still h oping incurred the violent wrath of the Boers. After Chief Khama III of Shoshong), Britain re- As a last resort, they turned to the London to absorb Bechuanaland into the Union, were heavy losses of life and land, the Tswana sent signed itself to the inevitable. Lands south of Missionary Society (LMS), which in turn took none too happy. The British government the matter to the British public. Fearing the blocked Seretse’s chieftaincy and he was exiled 0 200 km BOTSWANA 0 120 miles BSAC would allow alcohol in Bechuanaland, from the protectorate to England. Bitterness Katima the LMS and other Christian groups backed continued until 1956 when Seretse Khama Mulilo Z A M B I A Chief Khama III. Public pressure mounted renounced his right to power and returned A N G O L A Lake Kasane Kariba and the British government was forced to with his wife to Botswana to serve as a minor Okavango Victoria Falls River Bwabwata Kongola River Kazungula NP ὅὅὅNgoma Zambezi concede. official. Rundu River Mohembo Okavango Bridge Panhandle Chobe Hwange Chiefs now grudgingly accepted their rites Shakawe Kachikau NxamaseriὅὅὅὅὅὅSavutiὅὅὅChobe Pandamatenga and traditions would be affected by Christi- Nationalism & Independence Sepupa NP Tsodilo Moremi anity and Western technology. The capital of The first signs of nationalist thinking among WR Kwe Kwe ὈὈHills The ὄὈὈὈEtshas ὅὅὅὅὅὅ ὅ Mababe Chiefs Depression the protectorate was established at Mafeking – the Tswana occurred in the late 1940s, and in Gumare Island Gweru Ngamiland Okavango Makgadikgadi & Z I M B A B W E actually in South Africa – and taxes were in- 1955 it had become apparent that Britain was Delta Nxai Pans Aha Hills ὅὅὅὅὅShorobe troduced.