Serowe

Serowe (population approx. 90 000) was famed as Botswana's largest village. It was superseded in this by neighbouring Palapye around 2000.

Serowe is located in a fertile, well-watered area in Botswana's Central District and is a trade and commerce center. It lies west of the Gaborone–Francistown road, from which it is easily reached. It also marks the beginning of the Serowe-Orapa road, which ends at the diamond mines in Orapa. Construction of this road began in 1986, and was completed several years later.

It has a memorial to Khama III, chief of the Bamangwato people in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1903 he founded as a new capital Serowe, Bamangwato. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_International_Encyclopedia] It is also the birthplace of Seretse Khama, Botswana's first President, and the traditional center of the Bamangwato tribe.

Swaneng Hill School in Serowe was the first of the Brigades Movement schools founded by educationalist Patrick van Rensburg.

Swaneng hill is divided into three hillocks called Ba-Swaneng, Ma-Swaneng and Pa-Swaneng: Father, Mother and Baby Swaneng respectively.

Literature

Serowe was the adopted home of South African-born writer Bessie Head, inspiring her 1974 book "Serowe: Village of the Rain Wind".

External links

* [http://www.destinationplanner.com/africa/botswana/serowe.html Serowe tourist information]