The Botswana Tourism Organization (BTO) has embarked on a camel eco tourism pilot project, which is expected to be fully-fledged by August this year.
The trail-blazing project is a joint ÔÇôventure between Tsamama Trust and BTO in Kgalagadi area that is aimed at bolstering the tourism sector’s contribution in the GDP.
Tsamama Trust is made up of the Tsabong, Maleshe and Maubela communities.
Already the region has over 200 camels that will kickstart the project and a good number of people are busy undergoing an intensive training on how to deal and handle camels.
The project Administration Manager, Thabo Dithebe, of BTO, said his office consulted with the community of Tsabong, Maleshe and Maubela so that they can use them for tourism purposes.
He said the camel park project will be built in three phases starting with erecting the fence of the park, kraals and construction of a gate house.
The second phase includes the re-training of animals while the third phase will focus on the byproducts of camels that include milk, leather, just to mention a few.
Dithebe said that the park will have luxurious accommodation facilities that are aimed at catering for holiday-makers.
The project is estimated to cost about P9 million.
The chairman of the Tsamama trust, Albert Rakolele, said he was upbeat that the project will generate a lot of money as more tourists are expected to visit Kgalagadi region.
He said plans are afoot to put up a factory where camel by products will be prospected and that will also create employment to the community.
Camel expert, Christopher Rashifield, from Kenya, who was hired by the BTO to train the camels was optimistic that the country will generate a lot of money out of the project.
