For nature and wildlife lovers, Mokolodi Nature Reserve offers an excursion from Gaborone that provides a wide variety of activities for the entire family. Situated approximately 10 kilometres south of the city, on the main road to Lobatse, the five-square kilometre reserve comprises riverine terrain interspersed with rocky outcrops and the picturesque Lake Gwithian and with adjoining picnic site.
Mokolodi offers game drives, guided walks, horse-back safaris, rhino-tracking, giraffe-tracking, walks with trained elephants, and cheetah visits. It also holds regularly scheduled lectures and annual events, such as Easter and Christmas day excursions for children and the Mokolodi Photography Competition.
Wildlife resident in the reserve includes kudu, warthog, duiker, giraffe, steenbok, zebra, blue wildebeest, gemsbok, ostrich, impala, springbok, waterbuck, baboons, vervet monkeys, mountain reedbuck, eland, bushbuck and leopard. A highly successful white rhino reintroduction and breeding programme now puts the white rhino population in the reserve at eight.
Mokolodi also houses a reptile park and a wildlife sanctuary for disabled or orphaned animals that, for one reason or another, cannot be returned to the wild, and an animal clinic that treats sick or injured animals.
Facilities include camping sites, chalets, picnic sites, an education centre, museum and library, the World's View Conference Centre, The Alexander McCall Smith Traditional Rest Camp, and a lovely stone thatch restaurant gives a beautiful view of the surrounding bush.
Environmental education for children from local schools is a significant part of the nature reserve's mandate. Each year, thousands of schoolchildren come for courses, sleeping in the dormitories or camp-outs.
For more information or bookings, Tel: +267 316-1955.
