Seasoned head chef from Seronga turns a humble Delta staple into a dish that charms both travellers and food lovers At the Okavango Wilderness Stakeholder Engagement in Gaborone last week, Head Chef Ipeleng Gaesemodimo of Vumbura South, which is Wilderness’ luxury tented camp in the Okavango Delta drew a quiet crowd simply by doing what she does best—turning tradition into theatre. Ready to showcase her culinary skills, Gaesemodimo leaned over her demonstration table with the confidence of someone who has shaped dough a thousand times over. Her hands moved with a dancer’s rhythm—press, fold, cut—before she sprinkled in the star ingredient:tswii, the waterlily tuber so central to northern Botswana’s cuisine.
As she stirred the strips of fresh pasta into the tswii mixture, cameras hovered and murmurs built. A humble ingredient suddenly felt elevated. The tswii pasta has become one of Chef Gaesemodimo’s star creations, a culture-rich invention that never fails to surprise guests, who consistently rave about its ingenuity.
Taking a brief pause from the demonstration, the Seronga-born chef reflected on her 39-year journey through hospitality. “I started in the scullery, then housekeeping, then as a waiter,” she told Time Out. “I always gave my all.
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That’s how I earned my place in the kitchen as the head chef after I underwent training.” Her smile widened as she added, “With this role, I’ve unlocked my true passion and creativity. Cooking is something I can take home with me when I retire.” Tswii, she explained, is endlessly adaptable—fine with fish, meat or even dried into powder. Sourced from local harvesters, her version requires only salt, pepper and confidence in the ingredient’s purity.
“Through the tswii dish we are sharing our culture and story as a people with the world through food. Food that is simply healthy and nutritious,” she said.
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