Mochudi is one of the larger villages in Botswana

Botswana

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

 with a population of around 40,000. It is situated in the Bakgatla tribal region, in Kgatleng District

Kgatleng District

Kgatleng is one of the districts of Botswana, coterminous with the homeland of the Bakgatla people. Its capital is Mochudi, the hometown of protagonist Precious Ramotswe in Alexander McCall Smith's popular The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series...

, about 37 km (23 mi) northeast of Gaborone

Gaborone

' is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 191,776 based on a 2006 survey, about 10% of the total population of Botswana....

. The village lies several kilometres from the main Gaborone–Francistown

Francistown

Francistown or Nyangabgwe is the second largest city in Botswana, with a population of about 85,363, and often described as the "Capital of the North". It is located in eastern Botswana, about north-northeast from the capital, Gaborone...

 road, and can be found by taking the turning at Pilane

Pilane

Pilane ke motse oo moKgaolong ya Kgatleng mo Botswana.O dikhilomethara dile lesome kafa borwa-bophirima jwa motse mogolo wa kgaolo, Mochudi. Palo ya batho ene ele 1,178 ka ngwaga wa kete pedi le bongwe palobatho.-References:...

.

Mochudi was settled by the Tswana people in 1871.

Tourism

The tourist destination

Tourist destination

A tourist destination is a city, town, or other area that is dependent to a significant extent on the revenues accruing from tourism. It may contain one or more tourist attractions and possibly some "tourist traps."...

s of note inside Mochudi are the Phuthadikabo Museum at the top of the hill, which contains old photographs and historical texts relating to Mochudi and the history of the Bakgatla people. It is housed in a building that was originally the first school of Mochudi, as is evident from the outside appearance. Nearby is the hulk of the first tractor owned by a Motswana and huge footprints that legend says belongs to "Matsieng", a giant and ancestor of the Tswana, who led his people and the animals from the centre of the earth to inhabit the world.http://www.botswana-tourism.gov.bw/attractions/matisieng.html

Mochudi is known for its traditional painted houses and still has a traditional kgotla

Kgotla

A kgotla is a public meeting, community council or traditional law court of a Botswana village. It is usually headed by the village chief or headman, and community decisions are always arrived at by consensus. Anyone at all is allowed to speak, and no one may interrupt while someone is "having...

(tribal meeting place).

More information about the Bakgatla people can be found in David Suggs' ethnography entitled "A Bagful of Locusts and the Baboon Woman: Constructions of Gender, Change, and Continuity in Botswana."

External links

• Botswana Tourism homepage http://www.botswana-tourism.gov.bw