Mochudi

Mochudi is one of the larger villages in Botswana with a population of 44,815 people in 2011. It is situated in the Bakgatla tribal region, in Kgatleng District, about 37km northeast of Gaborone. The village lies several kilometres from the main Gaborone - Francistown road, and can be accessed through a short turn at Pilane. Mochudi was settled by the Tswana people in 1871.TourismThe tourist destinations of note inside Mochudi are the Phuthadikobo Museum at the top of the hill, which contains old photographs and historical texts relating to Mochudi and the history of the Bakgatla people. It is housed in a building that was originally the first school of Mochudi. Nearby is the hulk of the first tractor owned by a Motswana and huge footprints that legend says belongs to "Matsieng", a giant and ancestor of the Tswana, who led his people and the animals from the centre of the earth to inhabit the world.Mochudi is known for its traditional painted houses and still has a traditional kgotla (tribal meeting place).More information about the Bakgatla people can be found in David Suggs' ethnography entitled "A Bagful of Locusts and the Baboon Woman: Constructions of Gender, Change, and Continuity in Botswana."Mochudi was the home of Mma Ramotswe, the heroine of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series of books. Michelle Obama visited the village during U.S. President Obama's African tour in 2011.