Bobonong

Bobonong is the main village of the Bobirwa sub-district, out in the mopane country of eastern Botswana, and the home of the Babirwa. The 2022 census counted 21,216 people. Locals call it Bobcity. An older name, Lekgarapeng, comes from the stony ground it stands on. Visitors are nearly all on their way somewhere else: this is where you shop before the Northern Tuli Game Reserve, about an hour’s drive further on. The Lepokole Hills, 15 km to the north, are the one reason to stop for longer.

Getting there

It is tar all the way. From the main north to south highway, go to Selebi-Phikwe, then on to Sefophe, a village 27 km to the south-east. The Bobonong turn is as you come into Sefophe, and from there it is 53 km. That makes about 80 km from Selebi-Phikwe. Buses run from Gaborone.

For Tuli, go through the roundabout in Bobonong and follow the signs for Thune Dam and Pont Drift. The road passes Molalatau, about 20 km out, and the dam wall, and stays tarred for 65 km to a T-junction. After that it is gravel. Tuli Wilderness, one of the camps at the far end, advises against low sedan cars on those last tracks in the wet season, October to April.

When to go

Rain comes as afternoon thunderstorms between November and March. The landowners in the Tuli reserve to the east give a range of 5°C to 42°C over the year, and Bobonong will not be far off that.

What to do

The Lepokole Hills are heaps of granite boulders and kopjes, described as the western end of the range that becomes the Matobo Hills in Zimbabwe. The last San people in eastern Botswana lived here, and they left paintings in the caves and on the rocks. I could not confirm who takes visitors in at present, so ask in Bobonong or at Lepokole village for a guide before you set off.

Thune Dam, on the Tuli road, opened in 2013. The wall is 1.7 km long and you drive right past it.

This is phane country. The Babirwa are known for gathering mopane worms, the big caterpillars that strip the mopane trees in summer. They are boiled in salt and dried, and you eat them as a crunchy snack or stewed with onion and tomato. The area is also known for a pink semi-precious stone called Botswana Pink.

Good to know

• The CDC names Bobirwa as a malaria area and recommends tablets. Speak to a travel clinic before you leave home.
• The village has a primary hospital, a police station, a post office, and Choppies and Saverite supermarkets. Stock up here, because the Tuli camps are a long way from a shop.
• Fill the tank in Selebi-Phikwe to be safe. I have not confirmed where the last pump on the Tuli road is.
• Rooms are few and simple. The Hive Hotel, Sarai Guest House and Sebata Kgomo Lodge are the ones on the map.
• Livestock and wild animals stray onto the road after dark. Do this drive in daylight.

Last updated 12 October 2026. Sources: Wikipedia, Bobonong (Bobirwa headquarters, Babirwa, Lekgarapeng, services, tar routes, buses, Lepokole Hills), City Population, Botswana census tables from Statistics Botswana (2001, 2011 and 2022 population), Tuli Wilderness, directions (Sefophe turn, 53 km to Bobonong, roundabout, Thune Dam road, where the tar ends, vehicle advice), Wikipedia, Sefophe (27 km south-east of Selebi-Phikwe), Wikipedia, Tuli Block (Lepokole Hills, granite kopjes, San paintings), Wikipedia, Thune Dam (opened 2013, wall length, villages supplied), Wikipedia, Molalatau (about 20 km from Bobonong), Wikipedia, Gonimbrasia belina (mopane worm, called phane in Setswana, how it is dried and eaten), Northern Tuli Game Reserve landowners association (Notugre), climate (rain months, temperature range), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Botswana traveller health (malaria areas, Bobirwa named), UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Botswana travel advice (road travel), OpenStreetMap contributors (places to stay and eat mapped in Bobonong).