First Lady to officiate Tsabong camel walk

The First Lady, Neo Masisi, is expected to officiate as a chief walker at the Tsabong, Maleshe, Maubelo (TSAMAMA) Trust sponsored walk to be held on June 3, 2023.

Speaking to The Monitor recently, TSAMAMA Trust chairperson, Charles Proctor said preparations are at an advanced stage while an official confirmation of attendance from the Office of the First Lady has been made, hence programme of the day is been finalised ahead of the highly anticipated inaugural event. Proctor said the Trust is facing a challenge of overpopulation of camels at the Tsabong Eco-Tourism Park which causes a high mortality rate especially of young camels due to overgrazing and carrying capacity imbalance. Hence, he said, they acquired a farm in Maubelo to alleviate the situation at the park, located 10 kilometres outside Tsabong towards Omaweneno village. Proctor added that the current situation needs urgent attention thus they are taking precautionary measures and putting in place various strategies to generate income for critical plans hence the sponsored walk. “As a Trust, we want to reach out to the general public and the business sector to support this noble initiative, so that we are able to archive our objective or curbing high mortality rates of young camels, as they are rare species locally and regionally,” shared Proctor. Amongst some of the daily activities, the secretary of the Trust, Ishmael Modise said not only “Walk on Sand Dunes for the camel” will be graced by compatible customers.

He said it will also be a platform for small and micro entrepreneurs to showcase their products as well as an avenue for positive customer relations interactions, all themed under the tourism diversification component, as driven under the mandate of Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO). Located 10km from the centre of Tsabong towards Omaweneno, is the 3,200 hectares current home of the camels at Tsabong Ecotourism Park. Though it is a community project, it is however initiated by the BTO and it is also a training field for the camels for visitor’s rides, with chalets in the vicinity to accommodate guest. In partnership with The Desert Bush Walk, the event will be held under the theme: “Walk on Sand Dunes for the camels” and tickets are selling at P200 for the 30km, and P150 for the 15km.