Gaborone, Botswana — familiar worldwide as the literary setting for Alexander McCall Smith’s wildly popular series The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency — is also the location of Phakalane Golf Estate Hotel Resort. Recognized at the World Travel Awards for the third consecutive year as Botswana’s Leading Hotel, the resort offers modern accommodation and meeting facilities, the African-themed Drotsky’s Restaurant, an expansive clubhouse, a wine cellar, two bars and a soon-to-be-completed health spa. In addition to luxury guestrooms, accommodations include 12 self-catering Eagles Nest Villas overlooking the 18th green and eight larger Phakalane Golf Chalets.

Aside from the dramatic landscape and resident wildlife, a major draw is the 18-hole Douw van der Merwe-designed championship course. Terrain features include 15 dams and 75 bunkers. Beyond the greens, venture into the Okavango Delta in a traditional dugout canoe known as a mokoro, scout 450 bird species including carmine bee-eaters and saddle-billed storks or embark on a game-viewing safari to watch elephants, hippos, cheetahs, lions and other big cats in their natural habitat.

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