Mokolodi Nature Reserve

About the park

Mokolodi is a small private, not-for-profit reserve of hills and bushveld about 12 km south of Gaborone, founded in 1994 by the Mokolodi Wildlife Foundation on donated land. It is less a wilderness than an easy, well-run outing: white rhino and giraffe are the highlights, with zebra, kudu, gemsbok, impala, waterbuck and hippo, and a breeding programme for white rhino. Cheetah and wild dog live in large separate enclosures, and the reserve also takes in injured and orphaned wildlife, so many animals are relaxed around vehicles. You can drive yourself as a day visitor or book a two-hour guided day or night drive, rhino or giraffe tracking, a guided walk, horse riding or mountain biking. It suits families, Gaborone residents and travellers with a spare morning in the capital. The catch is that the free-roaming predators are almost never seen, and the reserve sometimes closes for a few weeks between December and March.

Highlights

• Tracking white rhino or giraffe on foot with a guide
• A night drive for serval, brown hyena and honey badger
• The drive through the cheetah enclosure with a ranger talk
• Mountain biking on the reserve's three trails

Good to know

• Small private reserve about 12 km south of Gaborone on the Lobatse road, founded 1994
• Run by a not-for-profit foundation; revenue funds environmental education
• Self-drive for day visitors, or two-hour guided day and night drives
• White rhino breeding programme; cheetah and wild dog in separate enclosures
• Chalets, campsites, a traditional rest camp and a thatched restaurant; picnic site at Lake Gwithian
• Reptile park and sanctuary for orphaned and injured animals