Three Dikgosi Monument, the CBD, Main Mall and Museums

Unlike older colonial capitals, Gaborone's central landmarks tell the story of how a peaceful Bechuanaland protectorate transformed itself after 1966 into one of Africa's most stable democracies. You can trace that civic journey in half a day by linking the modern Central Business District with the 1960s Main Mall and the leafy Old Village along the Notwane River.

The Three Dikgosi Monument and Central Business District

Start in the Central Business District (CBD) at the open plaza of the Three Dikgosi Monument, unveiled in 2005. Cast in bronze at 5.4 metres tall, the three statues depict Kgosi Khama III of the Bangwato, Kgosi Sebele I of the Bakwena and Kgosi Bathoen I of the Bangwaketse. In 1895, the three traditional chiefs sailed to London to petition Queen Victoria directly against Cecil Rhodes's plan to absorb their lands into the British South Africa Company. Their diplomatic success kept Bechuanaland under protectorate status until independence in 1966, making the trio the founding fathers of modern Botswana. Information panels around the plinth explain their journey, and the surrounding Masa Centre quarter offers modern espresso bars and rooftop terraces.

Government Enclave, the Main Mall and National Museum

Drive or walk twenty minutes south-east to the original 1965 heart of the capital. At the western end stands the Government Enclave, where the colonnaded National Assembly faces a memorial statue of Botswana's first president, Sir Seretse Khama, and a monument to fallen soldiers of the Second World War. Stretching directly east from the enclave is the pedestrianised Main Mall, a shaded brick boulevard lined with 1960s low-rise arcades, bookshops, street-side basket sellers and outdoor lunch tables where civil servants gather over plates of seswaa and sorghum porridge. Just off Independence Avenue sits the National Museum and Art Gallery; check at the gate which indoor galleries and open-air traditional homestead displays are currently open, as the complex has undergone periodic refurbishments.

The Village: Thapong Visual Arts Centre and Botanical Garden

Continue three kilometres east toward the Notwane River into The Village, the oldest pre-independence administrative post in Gaborone. Here, inside the red-brick compound of the 1902 Old Magistrate's Court, Thapong Visual Arts Centre hosts studio spaces and rotating exhibitions by contemporary Batswana painters and sculptors. Right next door along Katapororo Road, the National Botanical Garden preserves seven hectares of indigenous Kalahari sandveld and riverine woodland, complete with giant marula trees, aloes and a quiet colonial-era heritage cottage. Compare nearby places to sleep in where to stay in Gaborone.