The Voice (Francistown)
Bonnie Mothibi
11 September 2007
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Francistown is the chief pit stop for those on transit to the safari terrains. Not a tourist attraction itself, this city is home to the Bakalanga tribe but also houses diverse nationalities, which have created habitats in the second conurbation. An assortment of retail enterprises and a host of entertainment are offered to its citizens.
Natively, this city is more humbled and somehow rises above the old-fashioned views of discernment producing, state of the art hotels and lodges, casinos, restaurants and cafes in and around the city. I have created a list of all these posh locations, just to welcome you to the Ghetto with style. Enjoy....
Hard Rock Cafe
Situated at the Galo Mall, this chic café is one of the finest in the Ghetto. During working days, its serenity eggs one on to enjoy their drink while working. The ambience changes when the weekend pioneers. It hosts and promotes local disk jockeys. This theft free urban joint is one you cannot let pass for that fun filled evening with your chums.
Rating 8/10.
Dumela Lodge's Out of Town, In Town'
Francistown's quest to fulfil holidaying ambitions has been answered by the establishment of Dumela lodge. The birth of Dumela lodge is a welcome development to both the local and international travellers intending to spend their leisure or business time in a peaceful and tranquil environment.
Since its inception in 2006, the lodge has grown from a bush site to an eye catching rendezvous. The lodge is a five minute drive from the city centre or Air port, located in Ntshe Suburb, to cushion business planners and holiday makers from the hustles and commotion of the city centre.
The lodge architectured from timber in a modest style and traditional thatching is a true and perfect substitute for a modern palace. The name inherited from the lodge's geographical location and a common greeting term in the local language is an indication of the warm welcome given to guests who visit the lodge. Dumela lodge boasts of four main departments, namely, accommodation and conferencing, restaurant, bar and swimming arena.
The lodge offers unrivalled exclusive services to its ever growing clientele. The exclusive service cater for both leisure and business guests and includes beach volleyball facilities, mobile roaming internet facilities accessible by all clientele free of charge, DSTV facilities, Large swimming arena and pool bar facilities just to mention a few. To fuel the enjoyment on the volleyball pitch, Dumela lodge hosts a volleyball club consisting of both male and female teams which are open to challenges from outside clubs. Membership to join the Dumela lodge volleyball club is open to everyone and monthly tournaments are held at the lodge.
Other services offered at Dumela lodge include camping, outside catering for conferences, weddings and parties, restaurant and bar facilities. All the above mentioned services can be tele booked or physically booked through the marketing team. Another notable service is the provision of Kgotla facilities where local dishes are served and traditional activities carried out. The unrivalled exclusive services offered at lucrative rates have led the lodge to become an icon in the hotel industry.
According to Mr P. Choguya, the lodge's Marketing Manager, "Our vision as Dumela lodge is to be the leader and determine the pace for other players in the hotel industry. There is no room for failure. We have put in place strategic plans that are designed to position us at the pinnacle of the tourism industry, it's just a matter of time".
The restaurant offers a variety of both local and exotic dishes. The scrumptious meals are prepared to appeal to all kinds of taste buds. Next to the 'meal centre' is the bar, which has proven to be a 'thirst clinic', offering a wide array of beverages including rare wines. The bar and restaurant are open everyday of the week and only close when the last customer 'collect their change'.
To cater for business personnel and tourists who wish to stay longer at the lodge we provide overnight accommodation facilities, which comes in the form of ensuite timber decked chalets that are architectured to fulfil the quest for bush elegance.
The lodge has managed to build a positive corporate image for itself through the continuous provision of reputable services. The well-trained and experienced staff offers super hospitality to the clientele. The vision of the lodge goes beyond serving the Francistown community but rather putting Francistown on the global map as the centre of hospitality. The lodge is a brainchild of a local entrepreneur, Mr D. Mothukuthedi who had a dream of contributing to the tourism industry and later joined by his wife Mrs S. Mothukuthedi who is running the Lodge as an Administration Manager.
For enquiries and bookings, do not hesitate to contact our marketing personnel (hotline) on 71738201 or 71405340. In the event of network congestion, feel free to fax or call our office line 2403093 anytime. For International bookings, an online facility is available on our website www.dumelalodge.co.za or email us on
Wet and Wild
Massive New Fresh Water Pool Adds a Splash to Planet Baobab
Planet Baobab is no longer dry.Well, in one sense of the word, the resort never was since it has always had a well-stocked, energetic and friendly bar; but in the more obvious sense of the word, dry is one of the terms that described the camp on the northern edge of the Kalahari Desert extremely well.
Some of the others are: fun, rustic, welcoming, educational and different.
The sun-baked Makgadikgadi Pans can be one of the hottest destinations in Botswana - temperatures often soar into the mid 40s C - so a swim in the brand new 18-metre diameter swimming pool is just what the doctor ordered after a game viewing or quad-biking safari.
It was also the first of the camp's many attractions that my family and I checked out after our drive up from Francistown.
What a pleasure. The shallow end of the pool is even protected by a thatched roof so children, non-swimmers and guests who want to avoid the sun can enjoy the water all day long.
Some of you may have seen the turn-off to Planet Baobab and wondered what was tucked away in the grove of huge Baobabs one kilometre south of the Nata - Maun Road.
Five kilometres east of Gweta, the turn-off is marked by a four-metre high concrete aardvark on the north side of the road and a tree-adorned planet mounted even higher on the left.
It's pretty hard to miss.
And one of the great things about PB, as the folks at Uncharted Africa Safaris like to refer to their relaxed Planet Baobab resort, is that you can get there from all of our major towns and cities in a two-wheel drive vehicle or by bus - just get dropped off at the aardvark and it's a less than 10-minute walk to camp.
Once there, visitors have a choice of several organised game viewing and cultural tours.
We had pre-booked the 'explore the pans' safari, so after our swim and a few drinks we set off south into the Makgadikgadi.
From the elevated bench seats of our open-backed, canvas-shaded 4x4 we checked out the fascinating birds and game of the area before visiting Chapman's and Green's Baobabs, two 5000-year-old trees that were used as navigational landmarks and postboxes by European explorers and missionaries such as David Livingston.
Along the way we mingled with a clan of meerkats for the kind of 'up close and personal' wildlife encounter rich tourists pay small fortunes to experience.
The little guys didn't appear to feel threatened by our presence so we were able to walk right up to them and watch as some dug for frogs and other juicy tidbits while others scanned the skies for airborne predators. And according to our guide, this particular clan has a well-defined territory, so a walk with the meerkats is a regular feature of the Makgadikgadi tour.
The next stop was a cattle post with a difference - instead of cows, there were six 4x4 quad bikes parked in the kraal.
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