South-East: Otse Hill and Lentswe la Baratani
Accommodation in South-East
Otse Hill, local stories and the protection of a Cape vulture colony offer different perspectives on South-East. The names point to specific themes of the region: a landmark of the South East District, a site connected with local tradition, and a protected area with its own origin story.
Otse Hill and Manyelanong
Otse Hill is a landmark of the South East District. An article from 2020 cites literature to describe it as Botswana’s highest point above sea level, followed by Baratani Hill and Tsodilo Hill. This ranking by elevation links its status as a local landmark with a wider regional comparison.
Outside the village of Otse lies the 300-hectare Manyelanong Game Reserve. It was established in June 1985 to protect the Cape vulture colony living there. Its location, size and purpose make nature conservation a distinct theme of the region. While Otse Hill is described as a landmark, the reserve focuses on protecting the colony.
Lentswe la Baratani and local stories
Lentswe la Baratani in Otse is also a landmark of the South East District. Local stories about two lovers are associated with the site. This adds a cultural perspective to the landscape and nature conservation: the tradition gives Lentswe la Baratani a distinct place among the region’s themes.
Botswana’s landscapes and cultural heritage
Botswana’s landscape and cultural heritage sites also include the Okavango Delta and Tsodilo. The Okavango Delta is a large, gently sloping alluvial fan, also known as an inland delta. The World Heritage property covers most of the delta and more than two million hectares of largely undisturbed wetlands and seasonally flooded grasslands. Unlike river systems that drain into the sea, the Okavango Delta is one of the few large inland deltas whose water does not reach the sea: it seeps into the desert sands of the Kalahari Basin.
The delta’s habitats include rivers and lagoons with year-round and seasonal water, permanent swamps, seasonally and occasionally flooded grasslands, riparian forests, dry deciduous woodlands and island communities. This diversity includes both permanently wet areas and places that are flooded only seasonally or occasionally.
The Tsodilo Hills are massive quartzite rock formations in north-western Botswana, near the border with Namibia. Ancient sand dunes lie to the east, and a dry fossil lakebed of the Kalahari lies to the west. Large rock paintings are found in Tsodilo’s sheltered areas and caves. Their dates apparently range from the Stone Age to the 19th century, but have not been precisely established. Tsodilo preserves archaeological evidence, rock art and living traditions that document the development of human culture and the relationship between people and nature over many millennia. The Hambukushu and San communities revere Tsodilo’s water sources and hills as a sacred cultural landscape.
Discover more destinations: Gaborone, Ramotswa, North-West, Kgatleng District, Kgalagadi District, Central District, North-West District, Southern.
For the main travel overview: Botswana.
