Kanye

Kanye has been the Bangwaketse capital since the eighteenth century and is among the oldest continuously settled villages in the country, built on a hillside with a gorge cutting below it. The kgotla and the chief's compound sit at the centre, and walks lead down into the gorge and out to a dam nearby. Stone-walled remains of earlier settlement are found on the hills around, which is part of what makes the age of the place legible on the ground.

History

Makaba, paramount chief of the Ngwaketse, founded Kanye in the 1790s after losing a battle to the Kwena, fortifying Kanye Hill with stone walls, and around 1798 the Ngwaketse beat off an attack by the Rolong and Griquas; European traders and hunters visited from the early 19th century and began to settle under Gaseitsiwe, chief from 1845. In 1852 the trader Joseph McCabe set out from Kanye to cross the Kalahari to Lake Ngami, in June 1854 Robert Moffat found the town in ruins after wars with the Boers, and by the 1860s it was rebuilt as a trading centre for ivory, skins and ostrich feathers, with a mission of the London Missionary Society from 1871 (Wikipedia, Kanye, Botswana).

Highlights

• The gorge - a rock cut below the village with walking routes down into it.
• The kgotla - the Bangwaketse meeting place at the centre.
• The stone walling - remains of earlier settlement on the surrounding hills.
• The dam - a reservoir nearby with walking and birdwatching.

When to go

April to September is the dry season and most comfortable. The gorge walk is best in the morning. Summer storms make the rock slippery.

Good to know

The village has little formal tourist infrastructure and few facilities. The gorge paths are unmarked and a local guide helps. Sites of interest are spread out.

Nearby

Manyana is northeast, and Gaborone is northeast on the main road.

Key facts