Gaborone, Botswana

After finding a great price on a ticket to Johannesburg, I knew I could build another Africa trip from this and see some new places. I had some points and was able to grab my bag, go upstairs for a new check-in, and easily bounce to Gaborone, Botswana.

I’d made a booking on Booking.com, and all was not as it seemed. The guest house had listed itself as being in Gaborone, but it was actually over an hour away. I found this out when my taxi was calling them to say, “We’re close but can’t find you.” (I fought for and got a refund later)

I wound up finding a small guest house nearby and just walked around a bunch. Let me tell you: it was suuuuuper hot. We’re talking close to 100F/37C. First stop was the nearby Krishna temple.

There were some peacocks hanging out there, which I find strange and intriguing. From here, I walked up through the CBD.

There is some really great architecture in Gaborone, which surprised me, because I admittedly didn’t know much about the city. From here, I walked past the supreme court and over to some monuments.

These 3 chiefs went to the UK and got Botswana separated from the massive UK colony at the time that included South Africa & Zimbabwe, and it was apparently constructed by a North Korean company. Strange.

After some more walking and trying a restaurant that turned out to be closed for reconstruction, I found a Thai restaurant inside a gas station (you heard that right) with tofu options and indications of what’s vegan, so I ate there.

Walking back to the guest house, I was surprised by this giraffe statue in someone’s yard along the main road. Hello!

There was a crazy storm that night, so I didn’t get out much. I was up early the next morning and caught a taxi to the national stadium to poke around. On the taxi ride, we passed a bunch of stuff that caught my eye for the walk back.

Next, I stopped by the local mosque and Islamic center, neither of which were very interesting.

From here, I walked through a market and over to the national congress. Really cool layout in the grounds here.

It was still super, super hot, but I knew I probably wouldn’t be back any time in the foreseeable future, so I walked in the general direction of the guest house, sweated a ton, and realized Gaborone was better than my limited expectations. 2 days was sufficient, but I’d definitely need more if going out into nature.

Off to Namibia!