Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
More modern poetry tends to highlight current issues. For example,
The Silent Bomb
aimed to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS. It was written by AIDS activist Billy
Mosedame (1968-2004), who himself succumbed to the virus.
Music
Musical traditions run deeply through Botswana's culture and have done so ever since the
earliest San societies where men gathered around their campfires playing their thumb pi-
anos (
mbira
) accompanied by music bows. Compact discs and cassettes of traditional
San music are available in D'kar and at Botswanacraft outlets in Gaborone.
Jazz, reggae, gospel and hip hop are the most popular forms of modern music - almost
nothing else features on Batswana radio or is played live in nightclubs and bars.
One reliable measure of local talent is
My African Dream,
Botswana's version of
Pop
Idol
. The show is faithfully watched across the country and, as these things are wont to
do, has plucked at the musical dreams of many a Gaborone-bound Motswana youth.
JAZZ & REGGAE
Bojazz is the colloquial term for a form of music called Botswana jazz. It has been im-
mortalised by Nick Nkosanah Ndaba, among others, who recently released
Dawn of Bo-
jazz,
the first bojazz album to be produced in Botswana.
Another popular artist is Ras Baxton, a Rastafarian who plays what he calls 'tswana
reggae', but he, like many other Batswana artists, has to go to South Africa to make a liv-
ing. Banjo Mosele is huge all around the nation, while Bonjour Keipidile is perhaps the
greatest living guitarist in Botswana.
Jazz performances are staged every few weeks in the winter (dry season) in and around
Gaborone, including Bojanala Waterfront at the picturesque Gaborone Dam and at the
huge National Stadium. These festivals are great fun, safe and cheap. Details are advert-
ised in the English-language newspapers.
THE NO.1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY & ITS
AUTHOR
Gaborone may once have been one of the world's lesser-known capitals, but Alexander McCall Smith's runaway
international success
No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
has changed that forever. Based around the exploits of the
Motswana Mma Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's first female detective, the topic spawned a whole series of nov-
