Travel Guide

Places To See

Mokolodi Nature Reserve

Mokolodi Nature Reserve is home to giraffes, elephants, zebras, baboons, warthogs, hippos, kudu, impala, waterbucks and klipspringers. The reserve also protects a few retired cheetahs, leopards, honey badgers, jackals and hyenas, as well as over 300 different species of birds.

Mokolodi also operates a research facility, a breeding centre for rare and endangered species, a community education centre and a sanctuary for orphaned, injured or confiscated birds and animals. They also accept volunteers, though an application must be submitted prior to arrival, and a maintenance fee is levied according to the length of the programme.

The reserve is also home to the well-reviewed Mokolodi Restaurant, which features cuts of all those tasty animals you've been tracking all day. Even if you're self-catering, the outdoor bar is perfect for a sundowner or two.

Makgadikgadi Pans

Comprised of three great salt pans (the largest on earth) the vast Makgadikgadi Pans are like no other landscape on earth; they represent all that's left of a vast lake. Especially during the sizzling heat of late winter days, the stark pans take on a disorienting and ethereal austerity.

Heat mirages destroy all sense of space and direction, imaginary lakes shimmer and disappear, ostriches take flight and stones turn to mountains and float in mid-air.

As the annual rains begin to fall in the late spring, depressions in the pans form temporary lakes and fringing grasses turn green with life. Herd animals arrive to partake of the bounty, while water birds flock to feed on algae and tiny crustaceans.

Tsodilo Hills

The four Tsodilo Hills rise abruptly from a rippled, ocean-like expanse of desert and are threaded with myth, legend and spiritual significance for the San people. More than 2750 ancient rock paintings have been discovered at well over 200 sites. The Tsodilo hills are now a national monument and all visitors must report to the headquarters at the Main Camp.

Pre-Departure Information

When to go?

Autumn and winter (April through August) are good times to visit Botswana, as the days are generally pleasant and the wildlife never wanders far from water sources. Bear in mind, however, that this is also the time of European, North American and South African school holidays, so things can get a bit crowded. In general, June, early July and mid to late September are the least crowded times to visit. Summer isn't the best time to hit the back roads, enjoy wildlife viewing or explore the Okavango, as prolonged rains may render sandy roads uncrossable, and animals disperse when water is abundant. From December to March it is very difficult to get around Chobe and Moremi national parks due to heavy rains, and many lodges actually close.

Travel Visa Overview

No visa is required for visits of up to 90 days for citizens of most Commonwealth countries, most European countries and the US. Passengers must hold a return/onward ticket and sufficient funds.

Electricity

220-240V

50Hz

Electrical Plugs

British-style plug with two flat blades and one flat grounding blade

South African/Indian-style plug with two circular metal pins above a large circular grounding pin

Health Information

Malaria

If you are travelling in endemic areas it is extremely important to avoid mosquito bites and to take tablets to prevent this disease. Symptoms range from fever, chills and sweating, headache, diarrhoea and abdominal pains to a vague feeling of ill-health. Seek medical help immediately if malaria is suspected. Without treatment malaria can rapidly become more serious and can be fatal. If medical care is not available, malaria tablets can be used for treatment. You should seek medical advice, before you travel, on the right medication and dosage for you. If you do contract malaria, be sure to be re-tested for malaria once you return home as you can harbour malaria parasites in your body even if you are symptom free. Travellers are advised to prevent mosquito bites at all times. The main messages are: wear light-coloured clothing; wear long trousers and long-sleeved shirts; use mosquito repellents containing the compound DEET on exposed areas (prolonged overuse of DEET may be harmful, especially to children, but its use is considered preferable to being bitten by disease-transmitting mosquitoes); avoid perfumes and aftershave; use a mosquito net impregnated with mosquito repellent (permethrin) - it may be worth taking your own, and impregnating clothes with permethrin effectively deters mosquitoes and other insects.

HIV/AIDS

40% of adults in Botswana are HIV+. HIV (Human Immuno-deficiency Virus) develops into AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), which is a fatal disease. Any exposure to blood, blood products or body fluids may put the individual at risk. The disease is often transmitted through sexual contact or dirty needles - body piercing, acupuncture, tattooing and vaccinations can be potentially as dangerous as intravenous drug use. HIV and AIDS can also be spread via infected blood transfusions, but blood supplies in most reputable hospitals are now screened, so the risk from transfusions is low. If you do need an injection, ask to see the syringe unwrapped in front of you, or take a needle and syringe pack with you. Fear of HIV infection should not preclude treatment for any serious medical conditions. Most countries have organizations and services for HIV-positive folks and people with AIDS. For a list of organizations divided by country, plus descriptions of their services, see www.aidsmap.com.

Weather Information

Although it straddles the Tropic of Capricorn, Botswana experiences extremes in temperature. Days are normally clear, warm and sunny, but nights range from cool to bitterly cold in autumn and winter which runs from March to August.

With the Kalahari Desert cleaving through most of Botswana, the northern and eastern outskirts of the country offer the friendliest climates. Most of the year in these parts sees maximum temperatures range between 25°C (77°F) and 32°C (90°F) except for a slight drop during the more chilly months of May to September. Days are normally clear, warm and sunny, but nights range from cool to bitterly cold. The heat and humidity from October to April can become quite uncomfortable during this moderate rainy season.

Botswana is primarily a dry country, but a summer rainy season lasts roughly from November to March. From late May to August, rain is rare anywhere in the country.

History and Culture

Pre-20th Centure History

The San people (Bushmen) are believed to have inhabited Botswana for at least 30,000 years. They were followed by the pastoral KhoiKhoi (Hottentots) and later by Bantu groups, who migrated from the northwestern and eastern regions of Africa sometime during the 1st or 2nd century AD and settled along the Chobe River. Different Bantu groups, including the Tswana, lived relatively amicably in small groupings across the Kalahari until the 18th century. Disputes were solved through fragmentation: the dissatisfied party simply gathered together and tramped off to establish another domain elsewhere.

By 1800, all suitable grazing lands around the fringes of the Kalahari had been settled by pastoralists, and peaceful fragmentation was no longer a feasible solution to disputes. Furthermore, Europeans had arrived in the Cape and were expanding northward, and aggression after the 1818 amalgamation of the Zulu tribes in South Africa made the scattered Tswana villages highly vulnerable. In response, the Tswana regrouped and their society became highly structured. Each Tswana nation was ruled by a hereditary monarch, and the king's subjects lived in centralised towns and satellite villages.

The orderliness and structure of the town-based Batswana society impressed the Christian missionaries, who began to arrive in the early 1800s. None managed to convert great numbers of Batswana, though they did manage to advise the locals, sometimes wrongly, in their dealings with the Europeans who followed. Meanwhile, the Boers began their Great Trek over the Vaal, crossing into Batswana and Zulu territory and attempting to impose white rule on the inhabitants. Many Batswana went into service on Boer farms, but the association was rarely happy and often marred by rebellion and violence. By 1877, animosity had escalated to such a level that the British finally stepped in to annex the Transvaal, thereby launching the first Boer War. The Boers dawdled after the Pretoria Convention of 1881 but moved back into Batswana lands in 1882, prompting the Batswana to ask again for British protection.

Modern History

The British stepped in but didn't dance to the Batswana tune. Lands south of the Molopo River became the British Crown Colony of Bechuanaland, while the area north became the British Protectorate of Bechuanaland (which is now Botswana). Apart from a few years when it seemed Britain was going to cede control of Bechuanaland to Cecil Rhodes' British South Africa Company, Britain maintained control until 1966. Nationalism grew during the 1950s and 60s, and as early as 1955 it had become apparent that Britain was preparing to release its grip. Following the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa in 1960, the Bechuanaland People's Party was formed with independence as its aim. General elections were held in 1965, and Seretse Khama was elected president. On 30 September 1966 the Republic of Botswana gained independence.

Botswana was economically transformed by the discovery of diamonds near Orapa in 1967. While most of the population remained in the low income bracket, this mineral wealth provided the country with enormous foreign currency reserves, pushing the pula to its position as Africa's strongest currency.

In 1999, the international diamond market slumped, which led to Botswana's first budget deficit in 16 years. However, compared to the rest of the African continent, it still has tremendous wealth and stability. Botswana's government is regarded as pragmatic and pro-Western, although there are concerns about the country's increasing military expenditures.

Recent History

Currently, Botswana's biggest problems are unemployment, AIDS, urban drift and a rocketing birthrate, which has begun to slow in recent years due to the spread of HIV through the child-bearing age groups.

The country suffered devastating floods in 2000 that left 70,000 people homeless, while droughts in recent years have caused considerable suffering, especially in the west. In 2004, Botswana's HIV infection rate was 37.5%, and the country was experiencing an unsettling influx of refugees from Zimbabwe. Unemployment sits around 40%, and 30% of the population live below the poverty line, yet despite these challenges, Botswana remains a peaceful nation.