Kolobeng Mission

Kolobeng was the third and last mission David Livingstone built in the region, established in 1847 with the Bakwena under Chief Sechele, and abandoned in 1851 when the river dried and the situation became untenable. What remains is stone foundations of the house, the school and the church on a slope above the Kolobeng river, and the grave of Elizabeth, Livingstone's infant daughter, who died here in 1850. It is a national monument with minimal development.

Background

The mission is also known as the Livingstone Memorial and lies at 1030 metres, 3 kilometres west of Kumakwane, off the Thamaga-Kanye Road. Before coming here, Livingstone had been posted in 1841 to a London Missionary Society mission at Kuruman, in present-day South Africa. At Kolobeng the mission held a church and a school and was home to David and Mary Livingstone and their children. He showed the Bakwena how to irrigate with water from the Kolobeng River. A drought set in from 1848, and Livingstone recorded soil 3 inches below the surface reaching 134 F at noon in the sun. The site lay untended until 1935, when a physician from Molepolole's Scottish Livingstone Hospital put a fence around it.

Source: Wikipedia, "Kolobeng Mission"

What to look for

• The house foundations - the outline of Livingstone's home on the slope.
• The church and school - foundations of the mission buildings alongside.
• The grave - the burial of Livingstone's infant daughter Elizabeth.
• The river - the Kolobeng below the site, dry for much of the year.

When to go

April to September is the most comfortable. Morning is best before the heat. The site is exposed with no shade at any time.

Before you go

There is little to see beyond low foundations and a few markers. Interpretation is limited and the site is often unstaffed. The access track is rough after rain.

Nearby

Manyana is south, and Gaborone is east.

Key facts