CRESTA LODGE luxury hotel with beautiful gardens

MOKOLODI LODGE Excellent self catering accommodations in the Mokolodi Nature Reserve 12 km from Gaborone.

METCOURT INN at The Grand Palm - the affordable option without sacrificing luxury

GABORONE SUN HOTEL-Gaborone's top hotel

PRESIDENT HOTELGaborone's most central luxury hotel

OASIS MOTEL - Luxury hotel and self catering near the South African border

THE BIG FIVE LODGE - real Africa only 10 minutes from the CBD

CITY CAMP self catering and camping - neat, basic and affordable (Not recommended due to bad service)

Gaborone

Often described as Africa's fastest growing city, Botswana's capital Gaborone is a vibrant and colourful city, which lies in the flat valley between Kgale and Oodi hills, on the Notwane River in the south eastern corner of Botswana, 15km from the South African border post at Tlokweng.

In 1998 Gaborone had an estimated population of 192,000 inhabitants. As the capital city, Gaborone is the seat of government as well as the country's commercial and administrative heart.

The city is named after Kgosi (Chief) Gaborone who led the Batlokwa tribe into the area in the 1880s. They settled in Tlokweng, the first urban area you reach when driving into the city from the South African border post 10km to the east. In the early 1890s a colonial fort was built in an area now known as The Village near Tlokweng, and its ruins can still be seen near the Village Cinema.

As plans developed for Botswana's independence, the need to establish an capital town within the boundaries of the country was recognized. Botswana was the only country in the world whose administrative centre, Mafikeng, lay outside its boundaries.

Gaborone was chosen because of its strategic location, its proximity to the railway line and Pretoria, its already established administrative offices, its accessibility to most of the major tribes, its non-association with any particular tribe, and, most importantly, its closeness to a major water source.

In three short years, the Gaborone emerged from the African bush. By the time it was completed, it boasted Assembly buildings, Government office blocks, a power station, a hospital, schools, a radio station, a telephone exchange, police stations, a post office, banks, shops, a church, a hotel, a brewery, a stadium grandstand and more than 1,000 houses. The basic infrastructure was in place for Independence Day on 30 September 1966, when Botswana became the eleventh British dependency in Africa to become independent.

Today it is a very different story, and Gaborone is a bustling modern city, and the seat of power for one of Africa's most successful economies, which once again is being viewed with envy by almost all her neighbours.

Gaborone have shopping malls offering full range of imported and locally produced goods, excellent restaurants, top international quality hotels, sports clubs and various night clubs. New buildings and suburbs sprout like mushrooms wherever there's a block of land to fit them, resulting in a mix of low-cost housing, blocks of flats, shopping centres and industrial complexeswithin the city of Gaborone

Situated close to the Gaborone, Sir Seretse Khama International Airport has modern facilities to cater for all wide-body aircraft. The new aiport terminal is equiped with bridges and all other modern facilities. Due to the rapid growth of the city it will soon be surrounded by building.