Botswana Travel Info: What to pack for a safari; Airport transfers; Money matters; Driving in Botswana; Tips and gratuities; Safety

Photo: Red Lechwe in Botswana's Okavango swamplands - Moremi

Botswana Country & Travel Info

Botswana - important travel info

- General info on travelling in Botswana

- What to pack for a Botswana safari?

- Airport transfers on arrival in
 & Air transfers inside Botswana

- Money matters ... currencies accepted & more

- Driving in Botswana

- Tips & Gratuities ... how best to reward good services provided by hospitality staff & local guides

- Safety - do's & don'ts for safe travelling in Botswana

Should you require more specific information or details on topics not covered here, please contact us. 

Where to stay in Botswana and at travel destinations around neighbouring countries can be found under Recommended Accommodations. 

Unique Tours & Safaris, Namibia

Contact Heike by Email:
info@unique-tours-safaris.com

Web: www.unique-tours-safaris.com

P. O. Box 1301
Swakopmund/Namibia
Cell:  +264-(0)81-2122580
Tel/Fax: +264-(0)64-406313
NTB-Registration: TFA 00107

Complete safari proposals can be found under

Suggested Itineraries: Cross-border Tours

Botswana- country & travel info - IMPORTANT TRAVEL INFO

Quick links to
other travel info:

- What to pack?
- Airport & Air Transfers
- Money matters
- Driving in Botswana
- Tips & Gratuities
- Safety
 

At first sight, Botswana appears to be one great wilderness with little else to offer than endless sandy bush tracks and barren Kalahari Desert plains. The heavily industrialised region around its capital, Gaborone, in the extreme south of the country, will remained ignored for the purposes of these Botswana Travel Info, as hardly any holiday visitor will ever go there. If you fly into Botswana or enter the country by road from any other direction but the south, you find yourself surrounded by wilderness and probably also by an immediate feeling of having landed up in the middle of nowhere.
Even tourist hubs like the towns of Maun and Kasane have little about them to make that feeling dissipate, never mind the handful of smaller settlements you might pass through - if you can recognise them as such at all, as most of the rural Batswanas live in widely dispersed traditional villages hidden amongst dense bush vegetation.
But step off the road and into any of our recommended accommodation options in Botswana and your view of Botswana will chance in an instant ... like it will the moment you give up counting the heads of an elephant herd in Chobe or waterbucks in the Moremi or springboks as far as the eyes can see in the Central Kalahari because there are simply too many to keep track of.

So rules #1 and #2 when travelling overland in Botswana read:
Do NOT count on finding villages you see a name for on your Botswana map AND do NOT count on finding fuel, water, provisions and an ATM where there is human habitation indicated on your map!
Unique Tours & Safaris will advise you exactly with the confirmation of any Botswana Self-drive Safari where you will find what you need on tour.

This makes well-prepared travels as much a necessity as touring in a suitable, reliable 4x4 vehicle but beyond that there is little to be concerned about.
The people of Botswana in their vast majority are friendly and helpful. If you keep the few safety recommendations in mind that we listed below, you should be able to avoid getting into challenging situations. As in most countries around the world, petty crime is the most common occurrence and born out of 'poverty meeting opportunity'. Not creating such exploitable opportunities usually does the trick.

Many of Botswana's overseas visitors will also need some time at the beginning of a tour to get used to unfamiliar driving not only on the left-hand side but also mostly on unmaintained dirt tracks while in vast nature conservation areas. Only very few overland roads connecting major tourist and economic centres received tarmac surfaces in recent years, such as the Trans Kalahari Highway as well as the main east/west axis through the centre of Botswana and the north/south axis in the east of the country.
Please do yourself a first holiday favour right away:
Don't be in too great a hurry to hit the open road, after your arrival in Southern Africa!
Spending at least one night in the vicinity of your port of entry, - as we suggest in all of our itinerary samples -, is the right thing to do to ensure your personal well-being, if you arrived on a tiring long-haul flight and/or straight from a different climate zone. Most o Botswana is desert-dominated, i.e. has got a semi-arid to arid climate, which means in layman terms that water loss through evaporation, also from the human body, is greater than the amount of water that gets naturally replenished.  You therefore have to drink a minimum of 2 litres per person per day of non-carbonated (!), non-alcoholic (!), non-sweetened beverages, preferably pure bottled water. Not doing so will have detrimental effects on your health!
Luckily, Botswana's air is very clean, and so by drinking enough water and taking it a bit easy in the beginning of a tour, you should soon feel completely in your element.

Botswana's tap water is not recommended for human consumption.
Any water taken from rivers or the Okavango Delta should be thoroughly boiled/filtered, before drinking and using it for cooking/washing. Such water is usually not dirty in a common sense but may contain illness-causing bacteria, spores and microscopic larvae from plants and animals, such as the one causing bilharzia - even if the water comes from a flowing source.
Never enter and use water from standing pools and puddles!  
Still on the topic of consumption - food! With Botswana being one of the greated beef producers in Southern Africa, meaty meals at lodges and hotels are delicious and of generous portions but veggies and greens are regarded as side dishes rather than main courses. Therefore you do have to advise your hosts in advance of any special dietary requirements, which most will happily meet.

A word of caution though to all those who are planning to do self-catering for most of their holidays in Botswana:
Grocery shops en route are few and far between, mostly offering little choice - please be prepared for stocking up in those very few urban centres and, if going camping, please consider spending a few extra dollars on a 12-V freezer hired together with your camper vehicle and camping equipment a must. There are no alternatives in a vast wilderness like Botswana!

As far as left-hand and gravel road driving in Botswana is concerned, well, any lack of experience in this respect can only be addressed by practice and applying common sense.
If you feel too insecure about jumping right in, you could always ask your travel organiser, Unique Tours & Safaris, to let your safari start off in Namibia and to include a day or two at one of the places near your port of entry into Namibia that offer driving training in natural surroundings, next to pleasant guest farm or game lodge facilities.
For some general advice on driving in Botswana, please see below.
Which vehicle to choose for travelling Botswana is covered under vehicle hire - in Namibia, as we recommend starting your Botswana Safari from Windhoek!

The often asked question about dress code in Botswana is easily answered:
There's none, really!
Keep it straight-forward and avoid any 'Out of Africa' or 'military' style, if you don't want to be classified and attract attention as tourist right away. Khaki pants, knee-length shorts and t-shirt or a plain shirt/blouse will do just fine, just about anywhere.
More on what to pack for a Botswana safari can be found below.
 

In your suitcase - or better: soft travel bags - for Botswana belongs only clothing that is comfortable to wear during outdoor activities and while driving in sunny, warm conditions, best from natural materials, not easy to stain or at least easy to clean; choose muted colours for game viewing purposes and while camping in wilderness area, and sensible walking shoes that can withstand sand, gravel, rocks and acacia thorns. Sandals are fine for moving about at your overnight places, if you stay in lodges and permanent camps, also in town, but they too should be able to take some strain. Closed safari boots are best for all outdoor activities and at camp sites.
You will also need something warm to wear for cooler night times, especially when camping and at tented camps.

In general, prepare to dress in 'onion fashion': As the sun rises to its highest point, you will want to 'peel' off layer by layer, and as the sun sets, you'll be happy to put them on again in reverse order - especially during the height of the Botswana winter, where it can get rather chilly during the night.
Since your going to spend a lot of time in the outdoors, it is advisable to opt for long-sleeved shirts/blouses as an additional protection against the harsh sun. 

Leave expensive jewellery and other non-essential valuables at home! Any kind of formal wear is out of place in Botswana - anywhere your safari will take you!

Botswana should only be visited during the winter months in sub-Saharan Africa, i.e. between late March/April and late October/early November, in order to avoid the height of the rainy season and the increased Malaria risk that goes with it.
Also during the winter period, you will still have to take precautions against malaria. Your physician might recommend injections against other infections too.

Other essentials to pack:

Things you will need too but might be able to buy in Botswana's few towns:

• Passport valid for at least 6 months beyond your departure date from Botswana and 2-3 empty pages to take immigration stamps.
  (Check with your travel agent at home, when booking flights, whether visa are required in advance for any country you are going to visit. Nationals of Western European and many other countries will be issues with tourist visa up to 3 months validity, upon arrival.) 

• Cash, Visa & Master Cards

• Quality sunglasses with high UV filter

• Replacement set of spectacles or contact lenses, if you need to wear any

• Hat or cap good for protecting eyes & head from the strong African sun

• Neck scarf for open-vehicle driving

• Camera, tele- & wide-angle lenses and plenty of digital storage or film material

• Binoculars

• Prescription medicines in sufficient quantities for the tour duration

• Malaria prophylaxis medication, as prescribed by your physician  

When on a combined Namibia/Botswana tour, we recommend purchasing the following items in Windhoek/Namibia. Once inside Botswana, you will only be able to find them in Kasane and Maun, and at some of the most upmarket game lodges in remote areas:

• Sun protection lotion with high UV filter
• Insect repellent lotion or spray (your home products will not do the job as well as local ones, like e.g. Tabbart)
• Any kind of toiletries and cosmetics that are difficult to transport on flights these days (unless you can only use very specific products)
• Medicines against cold syndromes, headaches & other common ailments as well as anything else usually found in first-aid kits.

Airport Transfers inside Botswana have to be pre-booked through your safari organiser.

Air Transfers in common use in Botswana for transports between remote lodges and safari camps have to be pre-arranged through your booking agent too.

Please contact Unique Tours & Safaris for details.

Exchanging your foreign currency is best done within Botswana, as local banks and Bureaus de Change will usually offer a more favourable exchange rate than those in your home country. Exchange rates are also normally better at financial institutions in town than at airports and hotels.

Botswana's currency is called Pula (rain) and 10 Thebe amount to 1 Pula.

US-Dollar and South African Rand are also accepted by most souvenir shops in major tourist areas and at some upmarket accommodation establishments but will be converted to Pula at an unfavourable exchange rate.
The Pula is an independent currency and - as a rule of thumb - has got a 25% higher value than the South African Rand, which gives the country an advantage when importing goods from South Africa, on which it largely still depends.

Namibia Dollar are usually NOT accepted in Botswana.
Travellers are therefore advised to carry US-Dollars into Botswana, obtained already in their country of origin (no exchange possible at banks in Namibia and South Africa), and to exchange them to Pula at the first opportunity.

"Plastic money" also known as credit cards are in common use in Botswana, with Visa and Master Cards being the most widely accepted ones.
Cheques of any origin, - from local, regional and foreign banks -, are hardly accepted anymore in Botswana, due to an insurmountable level of cheque fraud. Card skimming also has become quite a prominent occurrence in the countries of Southern Africa, and visitors as well as locals in Botswana are well advised to keep an eye on their cards when making payments, especially at larger public places, and to inspect ATMs for tell-tale signs prior to using them.

In general however, it is still more advisable to pay for goods and services in excess of Pula100 in total by card, where possible, than carrying large amounts of cash on tour. Booking and settling most of your travel services through a local tour organiser such as Unique Tours & Safaris will avoid most of the hassles and risks involved in direct payments to individual service providers.
Only the self-driving tourist in Botswana will have to set aside a daily allowance of approx. Pula500 in cash for re-fuelling the rental vehicle at petrol stations.

While cash of any amount is no longer restricted, any person entering or leaving Botswana is required to declare Pula and/or foreign currency bank notes in their possession if the amount is equal to or exceeds an equivalent of P10,000.00 (ten thousand Pula). A family unit must declare any amount carried by each member if the aggregate in the possession of the family is P10,000.00 or more.

Travellers' cheques and any other monetary instruments need not to be declared.

There are 5 commercial banks in the country, with branches in major towns and many main villages: Barclays Bank of Botswana, Standard Chartered Bank, First National Bank, Stanbic Bank Botswana and Bank of Baroda.
Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) are located throughout the country at most shopping malls and major hotels.
Customers of Unique Tours & Safaris will receive a list of Botswana towns where ATM and Bureau de Change facilities are in place, with their travel documents.

Driving in Botswana is on the left-hand side of the road, which also means that vehicles have their steering wheels on the right and that the gear-changing lever is operated with the driver's left hand.
Foot pedals and indicator levers as well as instruments in the dashboard are however in the very same locations you are used to from the models of international car manufacturers found in your home country.

Speed limits applicable to Botswana - unless otherwise indicated by road signs:
80 km/hr on gravel roads

120 km/hr on general tar roads
60 km/hr in towns, villages and any built-up area

Driving overland at night is an absolute 'no-no' in Botswana, except in emergencies! It is therefore very important for self-driving visitors to familiarise themselves with distances between overnight places already while planning a tour in order to avoid night drives or having to rush to reach their day's destination before sunset - for two simple reasons: Botswana's roads inside its vast nature conservation areas are commonly just sand or gravel tracks in poor condition that lead through almost uninhabited wilderness terrain AND even when using some of the very few tar roads that connect isolated towns over long distances, these are usually fraud with potholes and free-roaming livestock.

Seat belt use is compulsory, as is proof of no-fault insurance.

Rewarding good services received by guides, drivers and pilots, by hotel and restaurant personnel, as well as by service men at petrol stations with tips and gratuities is common in Botswana. In fact, the income earnings of many people providing services on a part-time or casual basis depend to a large extent on such freely given rewards. For some, they may even be the only source of income. In Botswana, service charges are never included in restaurant bills.

Here are some guidelines on commonly paid tips & gratuities:
- Restaurant waiter: 10% of the total bill
- Service man at a petrol station: Pula2 for re-fuelling only; Pula5 for also cleaning
  the windscreen & checking tyre pressure/engine oil/radiator water

- Localised guide/game tracker/mokoro paddler: US$3 per person/per day
- Porter at airport & hotel: US$1 per piece of luggage/per person
- General lodge/hotel staff: US$1-3 per day/per person
- Tour & Game Lodge Guide/Driver-Guide/Pilot: US$5-8 per day/per person

Observing the following safety recommendations will help to keep you out of harms way throughout your stay in Botswana. Even though Botswana is one of the politically and economically most stabile countries in Africa, vast areas are still underdeveloped, providing very little opportunity for making a decent living.
Please therefore always stay aware how you, the visitor from a far away land, will be perceived by the less fortunate part of Botswana's population - even by the vast majority who would never even consider harming you in any way.
In addition to this, travelling in Botswana's wildlife conservation areas requires some adaptation to the natural wilderness surroundings.

• In town, always carry your purse, backpack, handbag and camera in front and
   keep all compartments closed. Otherwise you will never become aware of pick-
   pockets tempering with them.
• If you make use of an ATM, never let anybody help you with entering your pin or
   any other detail. Always take your partner with you and rather terminate
   withdrawing money, if there are one or more unknown individuals crowding you.
• Never carry more cash than absolutely necessary. Most curio shops, restaurants,
   grocery stores, and pharmacies accept credit card payments.
• If you go walking, avoid quiet and gloomy areas, and walking at night at all.
• Avoid getting crowded by street vendors selling souvenirs, newspapers, etc. and,
   if travelling without a guide, do not stop at informal settlements in rural areas.
• If you are spoken to and do not trust the person, don't stop walking but proceed
   calm and confident to seek the company of others.

• If you cannot avoid getting mugged, do not show signs of aggression but try to
   remember particulars of the thief/thieves. Afterwards, report the incident at the
   nearest public place - chances are that you will find a shop or hotel owner who
   not only can communicate in English but also knows how to get in touch with
   the appropriate police unit.
• Under no circumstances, stop for hitchhikers or take along an unknown person.
   Apart from a potential threat to your well-being, your vehicle rental contract
   and insurance cover will cease immediately.
• In case of a breakdown, whether in an urban or rural area, never leave your
   vehicle unoccupied, as it might quickly be dismantled even if the surroundings
   seem uninhabited.
   In rural and wildlife areas, always stay aware of your approximate geographical
   position and distance from the last/next inhabited place. Try to find help from
   other travellers first, even if this means having to wait for their appearance for a
   few hours or overnight.
   Inside wildlife parks, NEVER leave your vehicle - there may be dangerous animals
   hiding in or passing through the bush surrounds without you ever noticing them!

   Therefore, ALWAYS carry a few litres of extra water, something to eat, and a
   container that could serve as a make-shift toilet on board your vehicle, even if
   you planned to only sleep over at pre-booked safari camps and lodges.  
• Never leave camera, cell phone, purse or any other valuables in the vehicle, if it
   can be avoided. If you do have to leave valuables in the vehicle, store as many
   as possible out of sight and make use of guarded parking lots where available.
• While camping in Botswana, never leave groceries and food of any kind lying
   around unguarded - baboon troops frequently raid camp sites and will not stop
   entering zipped down tents, destroying camping equipment and stealing your
   belongings in order to find something edible.
   All food stuffs should therefore only be stored in very sturdy containers that can be
   kept firmly locked at all times.
• There are a few more tips and rules to be observe when travelling through and
   staying in wilderness areas for overnight. Unique Tours & Safaris will
   provide customers booked on Botswana safaris with a list together with travel
   documents.

As we pointed out in the general introductions on travelling in Botswana above - avoiding the creation of opportunities that can be exploited by human individuals and wildlife turned seasoned thieves is the key to spending happy holidays in Botswana.