Jwaneng

Jwaneng exists because of a hole in the ground. Debswana’s diamond mine here is among the richest in the world by value, and the town was built alongside it when the mine opened in 1982. The name is Setswana for a place of small stones. It began as a closed town where you needed the company’s permission to live. Now anyone can drive in, and the 2022 census counted 18,784 people. Travellers come for two things: a tour of the mine, or a night’s sleep on the Trans-Kalahari Highway.

Getting there

Jwaneng is on the A2, roughly 160 km by road west of Gaborone. From the capital you can come through Thamaga and Moshupa to Kanye, then west along the highway. Allow two hours or a little more. Carrying on, the A2 goes through Sekoma and Kang towards Ghanzi and the Namibian border. Buses use the terminal on the A2 at the northern edge of town. There is an airport, but it belongs to Debswana and has no scheduled flights.

When to go

Rain falls between November and March and can bring flash floods that make roads unsafe. If you want the mine tour, the calendar matters more than the weather, because general tours only run on Fridays.

What to do

The mine tour is the reason to plan a stop here instead of just passing through. Debswana takes visitors over 18 who apply to its Corporate Affairs office at least ten working days ahead, with passport details and, yes, a shoe size for the safety boots. Tours leave that office at 09:00 after a safety induction, in groups of 10 to 30, so a couple travelling alone will be joining others. The pit is now 452 m deep. Wear long sleeves and full-length trousers, and bring socks. Phones and laptops are banned in the high security areas, and cameras must be declared when you apply.

Jwana Game Park sits inside the mine lease: 15,669 hectares, fenced, with around 1,700 animals including white rhino, giraffe, eland, gemsbok and zebra. Cheetah Conservation Botswana has a field unit there, and lappet-faced vultures nest in the park. It is not a walk-up reserve. Debswana’s site gives no way to book it, and an old 4x4 forum thread warns you to have a permit in order and make sure the mine knows you are coming, so ask Corporate Affairs when you apply for the tour.

There is also a golf course. It hosted the Cresta Jwaneng Open in June 2025, with over 170 players.

Good to know

This is still a company town. The mine owns the hospital and the airport as well as the game park. Cresta runs two hotels in town. Cresta Jwaneng is the one on the highway, five minutes from the mine.

Heading west, the gaps get long. Trucks refuel at Sekoma, and one driver told the Daily News in 2022 he wanted another station between Sekoma and Kang because there is no phone signal if you get stuck. Don’t drive it after dark. Livestock and wildlife on the tar are the main danger, according to both the truckers and UK government advice.

Malaria is a minor worry. The CDC records only rare cases in Southern District.

Last updated 12 October 2026. Sources: Debswana, Jwaneng Mine (discovery, opening, pit depth, Jwana Game Park size and animals), Debswana, Mine tours (who can visit, notice period, tour days, start time, dress and equipment rules), Statistics Botswana, Population of Cities, Towns and Villages 2022 (census), Parliament of Botswana, excursions programme, August 2018 (mine tour day from Gaborone, route through Thamaga, Moshupa and Kanye), Mmegi, Botswana's National Monuments and Protected Areas, 20 May 2015 (Jwana Game Park fence, species, nesting vultures), Wikipedia, Jwaneng (closed town history), Wikipedia (German), Jwaneng (meaning of the name, bus terminal on the A2, open town today), Wikipedia, Jwaneng diamond mine (ownership, mine hospital and airport), Rome2Rio, Gaborone to Jwaneng (road distance and driving time), Wikipedia, Jwaneng Airport (Debswana owned, no scheduled flights), Wikipedia, A2 road (route through Kanye, Jwaneng, Sekoma and Kang), Cresta Hotels, Cresta Jwaneng (two Cresta hotels in town, this one on the highway five minutes from the mine), Debswana, Cresta Jwaneng Open golf tournament, June 2025 (Jwaneng Golf Course), 4x4 Community forum (Jwaneng area thread, 2010 to 2012, game park permit), Botswana Daily News, Trans Kalahari truck drivers, 17 October 2022 (fuel at Sekoma, gaps beyond, animals on the road), US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Botswana (malaria by district), UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Botswana travel advice (driving conditions, rainy season).