The best-known craft workshop in southern Botswana is in a village most visitors would otherwise never see. Lentswe la Oodi Weavers was founded in 1973 in Oodi, about 20 km north-east of Gaborone, as a cooperative to give rural women a cash income. Half a century later the women still spin, dye and weave by hand, producing wall hangings, rugs and bedspreads whose pictures tell stories of village life — ploughing, weddings, cattle, the coming of rain.
Oodi is one stop on an informal craft trail. In the city, Botswanacraft has been marketing work from all over the country since 1970, above all the celebrated baskets woven from mokola palm in the Okavango region, while Thapong Visual Arts Centre is the home of contemporary art.
Top things to do: Oodi Weavers & the craft trail
Watch the weavers at Oodi
Visitors are welcome in the workshop during working hours. You can see wool being carded, spun and dyed, watch tapestries growing on the upright looms and buy from the small showroom. Pieces are not cheap — each takes weeks — but the money goes straight to the cooperative.
Learn to read a Botswana basket
At Botswanacraft, look for the tightly coiled baskets from Etsha and Gumare. The patterns have names — “Tears of the Giraffe”, “Forehead of the Zebra”, “Flight of the Swallow” — and the finer the weave, the higher the price. The shop also stocks pottery, San ostrich-eggshell jewellery and textiles, and its courtyard hosts live music and food events.
Meet artists at Thapong
Thapong’s studios in the Village are open to visitors; exhibitions change regularly and the annual artist-of-the-year show is a good survey of what is happening in Botswana art.
Take the village craft tour
If you have no car, the art and craft tour visits four villages around Gaborone in a day, with a local lunch — the simplest way to reach workshops that have no public transport to speak of.
How to get to Oodi Weavers & the craft trail
- To Oodi: take the A1 north towards Francistown for about 15 km, then turn east at the Oodi/Modipane junction; the weavers are signposted in the village. Allow 30–40 minutes from central Gaborone.
- Botswanacraft: in the west of the city, a short taxi ride from the CBD. Any driver knows it.
- Thapong Visual Arts Centre: in the Village, the oldest part of Gaborone, east of the centre near the dam road.
Insider tips
- Phone ahead or ask your hotel to confirm the Oodi workshop is open; it normally keeps weekday working hours and may close at weekends and on public holidays.
- Fine baskets are investment pieces. Check the tightness and evenness of the coils and ask where and by whom each was made.
- Carry cash in pula for village purchases; Botswanacraft accepts cards.
- Baskets travel well in hand luggage; large tapestries can usually be shipped.
Best tours: Oodi Weavers & the craft trail
These top-rated experiences are the easiest way to see Oodi Weavers & the craft trail:
Day trip from €240 Art & Craft Tour: Villages around Gaborone
A day in the villages that ring Gaborone, where much of the country’s weaving and pottery is actually made. You visit four of them, watch the craftspeople at work, have the chance to buy direct and eat lunch at a local restaurant. It is the easy way to reach places such as Oodi without hiring a car.
- Four craft villages around the capital
- Meet weavers and potters and buy direct
- Lunch at a local restaurant
Two-day tour from €195 Multi-Day Tour from Gaborone: 2-Day City + Village Experience
A two-day programme combining the capital with village Botswana: the city tour first, then Manyana with its rock paintings and Livingstone connections, and — depending on the day — a game drive. A good choice if you prefer culture and history to a second day of wildlife.
- City tour on the first day
- Manyana village and its rock paintings
- A game drive where time allows
