Kenson Kgaga- the guide who founded Mokoro excursions

Posted by Botswana Safari News on May 16, 2019 | 1 comment

Mokoro (canoe) excursion in the Okavango Delta has become one of the most sorted after travel experiences for local and international visitors alike.

 Any travel enthusiasts who has just enjoyed a Mokoro ride will likely tell you that this, compared to  other  safari experiences in Africa, few can match its authenticity and uniqueness.  Imagine yourself drifting silently through the meandering Okavango channels teaming with biodiversity. What an experience!!!

A Mokoro, a vessel painstakingly made from jackalberry, ebony, mangosteen or sausage trees (moporota wood) and recently for conservation considerations, fibre glass; is an undeniable product of workmanship; an unheralded feat of indigenous engineering.  

But few people know that this vessel was introduced to the local tourism scene thanks to other than Kenson Kgaga, the elderly Wayeyi Safari guide who hails himself as the first Motswana to own a Safari company.

Kgaga (70) was born in Shorobe village in 1948, a small village about 30 kilometres north of Maun. At school, the youthful Kgaga only went as far as standard two, quitting in 1972 and travelling to Maun to look for employment in the emerging tourism sector.  He worked for various companies as a waiter, chef and mechanical engineer. In 1985, Kgaga was offered shares at Audi Safaris, which traded as Kubu camp where he had risen through the ranks to become a managing director.

It was during his time at Audi Safaris that Kgaga realised the potential of a Mokoro, the famous wooden vessel. “Back then around 1987 the wooden Mokoro was not used in the tourism sector saves for few motor boats owned by foreign companies. I am the one who introduced it by mobilising the community. I told myself that my people cannot wallow in poverty when they have an asset like a Mokoro that they can use to empower themselves by ferrying tourists.”

"I spoke to about 20 mokoro polers from Boro area in 1987 to organise themselves so that they could begin offering Mokoro excursions. The area where this happened was at Diadora Island near the buffalo fence. We later renamed the Island Mokoro Island. Years later Mokoro is part of the Okavango Delta product. There is Okavango Kopano Mokoro Trust and Okavango Community Trusts and many camps offering Mokoro rides.”

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