African Reservations

Palapye is a large town in Botswana, situated about halfway between Francistown and Gaborone (240 km away from Gabarone and 170 km away from Francistown). Over the years its position has made it a convenient stopover on one of Southern Africa's principal north–south rail and road routes. Located here is the Morupule Colliery coal mine, which supplies Morupule Power Station, Botswana's principal domestic source of electricity. The power station has undertaken an expansion project to increase its generation capacity in an effort to meet the country's increasing demand for electricity.

The Bamangwato people, under Khama III, are widely believed to be the first people to have settled down near present-day Palapye. There, the settlement Phalatswe, also called Old Palapye, was the capital of these people in the early part of the 20th century. The ruins of Phalatswe still stand today, a few kilometres away from the town centre.

There are several well known tourist attractions close to Palapye. The Khama Rhino Sanctuary, located some 15 km outside of neighbouring Serowe, is probably the best known and is some 50 km from Palapye. Here, there is plentiful opportunities for game-viewing, especially for the endangered black and white rhino. The Tswapong Hills also have many areas of historical significance and well as the Moremi Gorge. This is an area of great beauty as it has a permanent water source.