Shakawe is a village located in the northwest corner of

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kal ...

at the beginning of the

Okavango Delta The Okavango Delta (or Okavango Grassland; formerly spelled "Okovango" or "Okovanggo") in Botswana is a swampy inland delta formed where the Okavango River reaches a tectonic trough at an altitude of 930–1,000 m in the central part of the en ...

, close to

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

. Shakawe is awakening from its former status as a sleepy little outpost on the Okavango. For travellers, Shakawe means a Botswana entry or exit stamp or a staging post for a visit to the

Tsodilo Hills The Tsodilo Hills are a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS), consisting of rock art, rock shelters, depressions, and caves in southern Africa. It gained its WHS listing in 2001 because of its unique religious and spiritual significance to local peo ...

, 40 km away. For Southern African holiday-makers, it is most often the start of a fishing trip in the Okavango

Panhandle A salient (also known as a panhandle or bootheel) is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state. While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on ...

. It also provides access to the

Caprivi Strip The Caprivi Strip, also known simply as Caprivi, is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia. It is surrounded by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a s ...

. The record high temperature ever registered in Shakawe was . The lowest temperature registered in Shakawe was .

Infrastructure

The village is served by

Shakawe Airport Shakawe Airport is an airport serving Shakawe, a village in the North-West District of Botswana. It is the gateway to the northern part of the Okavango Delta and the Linyati area. Direct charter flights are operated to the aerodrome. It is o ...

. It is the gateway to the northern part of the Okavango Delta and the Linyanti area. Direct charter flights are operated to the aerodrome, with the main airline in the area being AirShakawe. Flight is the most efficient form of transport in the area. Travel by road is slow . Tarred roads have been constructed but have deteriorated over time due to under-maintenance . Bus transport is available to the main city of Maun, but this is a 5-hour travel. The large village has also been connected to the main electric grid . A bridge is also under construction and is due to be finished around the end of 2019. Various lodges and tented camps have been constructed . The main ones are Xaro Lodge, Drotsky's Cabins and Shakawe River Lodge . Shakawe is growing rapidly starting with two shopping centers or malls. Each mall has a well stocked supermarket. Also had developed a few safari lodges . A new medium-sized shopping center is being constructed .

Demographics

As per the 2011 national census, the population of Shakawe and its associated localities was 7,506. The village of Shakawe on its own had 6,693 people.

References

Populated places in Botswana North-West District (Botswana) {{botswana-geo-stub