Maun is known as the “tourism capital” of Botswana. Gateway to the Okavango Delta, Moremi Game Reserve and much of northern Botswana, Maun is naturally a tourism hub. Almost all tourists entering Botswana’s jewel and water oasis, the Okavango Delta, do so through Maun. Thus, Maun is the headquarters for innumerable safari and air-charter operations and its airport is one of the busiest airports in Southern Africa, if one is to count the light aircraft charters to the various Delta camps.
While most tourists pass through Maun without paying this little village a visit, a stopover will be sure to afford some interesting sights. Maun is unique in that it presents visitors with a mixture of sorts. Modern buildings contrast against native huts while domesticated animals graze alongside the wild.
Although officially still a village, the growth of the tourism industry and completion of the tar road from Nata in the early 1990s has contributed towards rapid development of Maun and it is no longer the rural, frontier town it once was. Now, Maun is home to over 30 000 people and it is a thriving tourist town.
Spread along the wide Thamalakane River, on whose banks red lechwe are often spotted, shopping centres, hotels, lodges and car hire businesses offer modern commodities which contrast against the traditional business of the local tribesmen, who bring their cattle to Maun to sell.
If you decide to explore the village of Maun before heading on your next Botswana adventure, visit the Best Western Riley’s Hotel set on the banks of the river.
When Charles ‘Harry’ de Beauvoir Riley first arrived here in the 1920s, he decided to set up a place for the men who journeyed from Francistown to Maun to provide them with something cold to drink and a place to relax (in those days, this was a taxing 35-hour journey). Harry set up a bar and this became the scene of many wild parties.
Maun Game Reserve covers only 8 square kilometres of woodland, following the Thamalakane River upstream from the Best Western Riley’s Hotel. Here, one can find numerous walking trails and the original “Place of Reeds” (Maun is derived from the San word ‘maung’ which translates as ‘the place of short reeds’).
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