Few capital cities have zebra grazing within their boundaries. The Gaborone Game Reserve is a fenced park of roughly 600 hectares on the eastern edge of the city, along the Notwane River, about ten minutes’ drive from Main Mall. It was created in 1988 on the initiative of the Kalahari Conservation Society so that city residents — and especially schoolchildren — could see their country’s wildlife without travelling to the north, and it remains one of the most visited reserves in Botswana.
It is small and unpretentious, and that is its charm. You can drive the gravel loops in an ordinary saloon car in an hour or two, stop at the hides overlooking the marshy stretch of the Notwane, and be back in town for lunch.
Top things to do: Gaborone Game Reserve
Drive the game loops
Expect zebra, blue wildebeest, eland, kudu, impala, red hartebeest, gemsbok, warthog and ostrich, plus troops of vervet monkeys around the picnic sites. Animals here are used to cars, so photography is easy. Keep to the 30 km/h feel of the place and stay in your vehicle except at marked sites.
Watch birds along the Notwane
The reed beds and pools along the river make this one of the best birding spots in the Gaborone area, particularly in the wet summer months when migrants arrive. Kingfishers, herons, bee-eaters, hornbills and weavers are all regular; bring binoculars and use the hides.
Have a picnic or a braai
There are shaded picnic sites with tables and braai stands. Bring your own food, drink and charcoal — there is no shop — and keep everything away from the monkeys, who are expert thieves.
Combine it with the city
Because it is so close, the reserve fits naturally into a half-day with the city sights. The game drive and city tour combinations do exactly that, with a guide who can find and identify the animals for you.
How to get to Gaborone Game Reserve
- By car or taxi: the entrance is off Limpopo Drive on the east side of the city, around 10 minutes from the centre. Any taxi driver knows it; arrange your return, as you need a vehicle inside the reserve.
- On a tour: if you have no car, a guided tour is the only practical way in — you cannot walk or cycle around the reserve.
- Opening hours: daily, roughly from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm. A modest entrance fee is charged per person and per vehicle, payable at the gate; check current rates and whether cards are accepted.
Insider tips
- Go early in the morning or in the last two hours before closing — animals are active and the light is soft.
- After heavy summer rain some tracks become muddy; ask at the gate which loops are passable in a low car.
- Do not feed the monkeys, and keep windows closed when they are around.
- This is a place for antelope, zebra and birds. For rhino and giraffe go to Mokolodi; for big cats and elephants you need the north or Madikwe.
Best tours: Gaborone Game Reserve
These top-rated experiences are the easiest way to see Gaborone Game Reserve:
Game drive + city tour from €105 Safari Game Drive and Gaborone City Tour
Gaborone is one of the few capitals with a game reserve inside the city. This tour pairs a guided drive through it — expect zebra, wildebeest, kudu, impala, warthog and plenty of birds — with the main sights of the capital, so you get wildlife and history in a single six-hour outing at a fair price.
- Guided drive in the Gaborone Game Reserve
- Zebra, wildebeest, antelope and ostrich inside the city limits
- City landmarks on the same outing
City tour + food from €178 Gaborone: City Tour with Game Drive and Tswana Cuisine
Similar ground to the classic game-drive-and-city combination, with one important addition: a proper Tswana meal — typically seswaa (slow-cooked pounded beef) with bogobe or pap and morogo. A newer listing with only a handful of reviews so far, all of them excellent.
- National Museum area and the Three Chiefs monument
- Game drive in the Gaborone Game Reserve
- A traditional Tswana meal
Two-day tour from €184 2-Day City Tour, Safari Game Drive & Boat Cruise
Two guided days that cover nearly everything in this guide: the city, the Gaborone Game Reserve and Old Naledi on day one, then Mokolodi Nature Reserve and a boat cruise on day two. Accommodation is not part of the tour, so you keep your own hotel — and the price per day is the best value among the longer options.
- Gaborone Game Reserve and the National Museum area
- Old Naledi, the city’s oldest township
- Mokolodi Nature Reserve and a boat cruise
Two-day tour from €385 2-Day City Tour, Safari Drive, Diamond Tour & Boat Cruise
Botswana’s wealth was built on diamonds, and Gaborone is where they are sorted and sold. This new two-day tour adds a visit to see diamond sorting and processing to the city, game-drive and cruise programme. It had no reviews when we checked, so treat it as promising rather than proven.
- A look at diamond sorting and processing
- Gaborone Game Reserve and city landmarks
- Boat cruise
