Gaborone - Post Report Question and Answers
What are the particular advantages of living in this city?
If you appreciate a quiet, simple life and are good at making your own fun, this is the post for you. Many people find it to be a good family post as well, especially for younger kids. Clean air and water, reasonably safe and quiet, nice people, some interesting things to do. - Aug 2024
Half days on Fridays, lazy weekends, and relatively short commutes to anywhere in the city. - Dec 2023
Nothing in the city was a particular advantage. It was pretty clean for an African city and stuff mostly worked. - Jul 2019
It is close enough to Pretoria or Johannesburg that you could travel there frequently. Several of my colleagues went to Joburg every month.
Madikwe is a fantastic Game Park located just 45 minutes from Gabs. - Apr 2017
Gaborone "Gabs" is safe (relatively), quiet, calm. I walk to work almost daily and never, never, get harassed, panhandled, even noticed. It's amazing. My kids love it. You can see stars at night. You get to know people. It's totally different from a big city. No malaria, clean, easy. Just easy. - Jul 2016
Definitely the touring if you are into safari/wildlife photography, and you have the funds to travel. Sites are tough to get to (many are 10 hour drives or quick-but-expensive and unreliable flights on Air Botswana), many do not allow kids, and travel is pricey. Singles and couples without kids tend to take advantage; those with kids tend to stay pretty local. Compared to other areas of Africa, Botswana is noticeably devoid of any real "culture." Groceries are on par with U.S. prices, so no real cost savings there. Weather is very hot and dry - so if that's your thing, you'll love it. - Mar 2015
None.. Well maybe you get the chance to go on Safari but... there are really expensive. It is really hard to save money. There is no culture.. You would think you are in Africa and will be able to get a sense of the music, food, etc... Don't get your expectations high on this...The Okavango Delta is a very popular tourist destination but is really expensive..especially if you have kids. - Oct 2014
Southern Africa in and of itself is a beautiful region. The city is continuously growing with a large amount of retail venues, hotels, and restaurants being built. In the two years I was there, two shopping complexes were built. The Batswana are extremely friendly and there are some outstanding recreational opportunities albeit expensive. The cost of living is a bit more expensive (consumables, gas, etc.). A lot of the tourism is located outside of the city and not really within a "day-trip" distance. The Mokalodi Game Reserve, Gaborone Game Park, Kgale Hill are popular venues. There are often things going on in the city such as the Gaborone Marathon, Gaborone Dam boat races, etc. Outside of the city are the Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, Salt Pans, and some other smaller and less known attractions such as Moremi Gorge. Safaris are marketed to foreigners, and can be very expensive; however, if you talk to the Batswana they can give you insight on how to travel and see things at a more reasonable rate. You "can" save money, but if you really take advantage of what the region has to offer, it's likely that you will not. - Nov 2013
The weather is great. There is world-class, EXTREMELY expensive, safari tourism in the north of the country, the Okavango Delta. - Jul 2013
Peaceful, kind people. Lots of tourism possibilities but expensive. For us, the best benefit was a great family culture - lots of activities for kids. We loved it. - Apr 2013
Botswana is a beautiful country which offers a good quality of life and many unique tourism opportunities for expats. Cost of living in Gaborone is moderate, and unlike most African cities you can drink water straight from the tap, drive on good roads, enjoy near-constant electricity and other utilities, and send your children to good schools. Botswana is a relatively developed and easy place to live. - Jun 2010
