Cultural Tours

Through our social responsibility programme and the Motse Project we have been able to develop, in conjunction with the two local villages of Tsetsebjwe and Moletemane, two cultural tours that can be booked as an extra during a stay at the reserve. These can be done as a standalone activity or taken as part of a game drive by using the gate on the backline.

Tsetsebjwe Tour

Our guide for the tour met us at the entrance to the village and after a welcome escorted us to the primary school where currently about 800 pupils are taught. Each grade has a classroom in which they learn everything from maths to geography and it was interesting to see the ways they teach some subjects. For example old drinks bottle lids have been recycled to help pupils learn to count. Our guide had been a pupil at this very school some years back and was able to give us an insight into what it is like to study here. He recounted stories of learning outdoors under the shade of an old baobab tree before the classrooms were built.

The school cooks prepare a meal for every child each day which ranges from porridge with beef or vegetables to bread with jam and milk. The cooks have to grind the corn or grains every day before it can be cooked, employing traditional methods despite catering on an industrial scale. The foods are provided by the local communities and government agencies and ensure that all the pupils get at least one good meal every day.

Leaving the school we went to the Kgotla - the village meeting place or "court" - where local people can come to speak to the Kgosi (chief) about their problems. This is sited around some famous, very old baobabs planted by a village chief long in the past. The Kgosi is in charge of the village and deals with the daily affairs and they remain very important in Botswana society and government. At the Kgotla we were welcomed by a group of traditional dancers and singers with the most beautiful African voices who performed wonderfully for us before we were shown how to grind grains the old way using a flat stone. One of the village's elderly women demonstrated for us before asking us each to have a turn. 

After this we went back to the school to enjoy a traditional meal and were offered a range of choices - perfect for those who like to experiment! A beef stew was accompanied by bean salad, porridge, vegetables and chicken heads and feet, known locally as "walky talkies"!

Our tour lasted about three hours in total and was a lovely way to learn more about local Setswana culture, the challenges of rural life in Africa and to see that many traditions are still alive and in regular practice. The sounds of the choir and drumbeats live on in our memories.

Cultural Tour Mini-Gallery

Enjoy some of the pictures from the tours in the gallery below.

Moletemane Tour

On arrival in the village we were taken to the Kgotla and welcomed by the choir and dancers. The village's elderly women had laid out a display of different corns and grains and explained how they grind and cook each of them. Following this we were led to a most beautiful spot in the bush nearby - a huge baobab tree that has become hollowed out in the middle in its old age. The void is big enough to stand inside and take pictures! Apparently this area has been renamed in honour of the partnership with the reserve and is referred to as BraGariLi - a shortening of Bradley (the reserve general manager), Kgosi Garigai (the chief of Moletemane) and Limpopo-Lipadi. The baobabs are surrounded by majestic hills and koppies covered in amazing rock figs.

Heading to a local farm we were shown how to mild a cow by hand and encouraged to have a go - it is harder than it looks! Then the well was demonstrated and we discovered how hard it is to raise the small container from the depths which reminds us how privileged we are to be able to turn on taps and open the fridge at home when we want these things.

After working up an appetite at the farm we returned to BraGariLi for a delicious traditional lunch, including a special treat - mopane worms! We were able to discuss the handing down of traditional methods through the generations of a family and contrast this with our Westernised societies today before finishing off the tour with a ride on a donkey cart - still a vital form of transport in the remote bush.