In the late 19th century a group of five families trekked north from South Africa, transported by ox wagons. They decided to set up their homes in the Ghanzi area of Botswana because of the unusually large quantities of underground water, stored in the limestone aquifer. They correctly anticipated that they could operate their farms using the copious quantities of ground water, and to this day a number of the original families’ descendants farm in the area.

The Burtons

George Arthur and Arthur George Burton were New Zealanders who arrived in Southern Africa, in 1899, as part of the ANZAC forces in the Boer War. After being de-mobbed in Johannesburg they set off North to become traders of the Kalahari. Once they arrived in Mafeking, they purchased ox wagons and goods and trekked north.

On their way they arrived in Sekoma and dug a water pit, as the locals were dependent on shallow water for their survival. Once they had provided the village with water they moved to Kokong and Tshane did the same. Although in Tshane they failed to hit water. Then the Burton brothers and Beecham, traveled back to Mafeking, which was the British capital of Bechuanaland. They struck an agreement with the commissioner that they would dig pits of 200m in Sekoma, Kokong and Tshane for £100 each. Having already achieved this, all they had to do was head north and then send a messenger to collect the money. This they did, however the messenger proved unreliable and spent the entire amount.

After this set back the Burton brothers headed to Tsabong, and then in 1918, onto Ghanzi, where they purchased a farm, called Naitso and began cattle farming. George Arthur was killed when a building collapsed on him in the 1920’s. Arthur George became the first farmer to successfully trek cattle from the Ghanzi area to the Molapo.

George Arthur Burton expanded his empire, until it exceeded 100 000 hectares. In order to get the best value for his cattle he had to trek the vast herds of cattle from Ghanzi to the Molapo on horseback, an arduous 1200 km round trip which took upwards of a month. It involved moving from waterhole to waterhole and predicting when and where the rain would fall, or if there was no rain then sustaining his herd with Tsama melons. As if that wasn’t enough, the Burtons also had to protect their cattle from the predators of the Kalahari, namely the black-mained Kalahari lion

George Arthur Burton married Maria Lewis and had three daughters, the twins: Ada and Ivy and Hilda.

The Vickermans

Henry Vickerman (snr) first came to Southern Africa, from Bradford, as part of the British forces, to put down the Matabele uprising. He then returned to England to fetch his family, which included his wife and three sons: Booth Illingworth, William and Percy. Booth Illingworth opened a trading store in Molepolole and moved between Mochudi and Kanye selling his wears. William and Percy settled in Rhodesia.

Booth Vickerman married Martha Kotse and had three children, Henry, Theunis and Booth. Old man Booth died, just after Theunis was born, so the family moved to Ghanzi, was Martha’s home town. At 5 years of age Henry, followed some years later by Theunis, was sent to boarding school in Johannesburg, some 10-days journey from Ghanzi.

After school Henry served an apprenticeship in South Africa, before moving back to Ghanzi to live with his Mother. Theunis worked in Zimbabwe and joined his brother in Ghanzi in 1940.

Henry and Theunis began carting cream from Ghanzi to Maun and into South West Africa (now Namibia). Although relatively lucrative, the brothers decided that it was time to move to Rhodesia. However their endeavor’s had not gone unnoticed; Arthur Burton offered them a loan and land (Serebi) so that they could speculate cattle. Old Man Burton, was renowned for helping people in the region, in fact he was the unofficial bank.

During this period Henry and Theunis met Old Man Burton’s twin daughters, Ada and Ivy and after a protracted courting period, Henry married Ada and Theunis married Ivy in a single ceremony in 1946.

The happy couple’s settled in one big house on Serebi farm and the Vickerman Brothers name became synonymous with beef farming in Botswana. Both couple’s had two children, Theunis and Ivy produced Ada (jnr) and Wendy; and Henry and Ada, produced Vicky and Arthur.

Top to bottom, Left to Right: Henry, Theunis, Ada and Ivy Vickerman

Kananas development

Through four generations the Burtons and Vickermans have seen their land develop from a cattle farm to a hunting safari to a photographic reserve, which is presently owned and run by Gavin Richards and his wife Vicky, a Granddaughter of George and Maria Burton.

Henry Vickerman introduced a small herd of eland to complement the indigenous springbok and kudu. The eland took so well to the area that game farming was considered a feasible option and zebra and gemsbok were seamlessly introduced.

When Gavin and Vicky Richards took over the farm, they game fenced some 27 000 hectares worth of land and brought in more species such as rhino, giraffe, impala, ostrich and blue and black Wildebeest. Between 1990 and 2002, the only viable manner considered for a game farm of this nature, was hunting. The hunting on the estate was extremely successful with many international clients contributing to this form of conservation.

However, during 2002, Gavin Richards decided to revolutionise the estate into a photographic reserve of small privately owned lodges, where residents would be able to see the animals and own a portion of the property.
The sales of the plots have gone particularly well to date, the attraction of owning a small part of a private reserve in a secure country within Africa being the great appeal.