Botswana African safari information

• Geography of Botswana
• Money Matters
• Travel Safety
  1. Important telephone numbers
• Weather & Season
  1. Rainfall
  2. Temperatures
  3. Humidity
• Visa
  1. Requirements for visa
  2. Nationals not Require Visa
  3. Nationals Require Visa
• Health
• Botswana Travel Vision
• What to pack
• Attraction points
• Wildlife
  1. Mammals
  2. Birds
  3. Reptiles

Botswana Travel InformationBotswana is a land-locked country dominated in geographical terms by the Kalahari Desert - a sand-filled basin averaging 1,100 meters above sea level.

The country lies between longitudes 20 and 30 degrees east of Greenwich and between the latitudes 18 and 27 degrees approximately south of the Equator.

The country is bordered by Zambia and Zimbabwe to the northeast, Namibia to the north and west, and South Africa to the south and southeast.

At Kazungula, four countries - Botswana , Zimbabwe , Zambia and Namibia - meet at a single point mid-stream in the Zambezi River.

Botswana's currency is the Pula (P), which is divided into 100 Thebe (t). The word 'Pula' means rain and 'thebe' means shield. The shield appears on the national coat of arms.

Bank notes come in denominations of P10, 20, 50 and 100, and coins in denominations of 5t, 10t, 25t, 50t, P1, P2 and P5.

Major credit cards, including Visa, Master Card, American Express and Diners Club, are accepted widely. Most hotels and lodges accept foreign currency or travellers' cheques.

There are also Exchange bureaus at major border posts. Credit card cash advances are available in major cities through Barclays Bank or Standard Chartered Bank. Cash transfers are easiest through Western Union money transfer.

Please note that credit card cash is also available at First National Bank

The country remains a relatively safe place to travel in, however there are a few incidents of crime.

It is advisable to take basic precautions: always lock car doors; always lock your hotel room or house; do not leave valuables in your hotel room or car; and take care with your bags in crowded places, particularly the malls and nightclubs.

Botswana 's climate is semi-arid. Though it is hot and dry for much of the year, there is a rainy season, which runs through the summer months. Rainfall tends to be erratic, unpredictable and highly regional.

Often a heavy downpour may occur in one area while 10 or 15 kilometers away there is no rain at all. Showers are often followed by strong sunshine so that a good deal of the rainfall does not penetrate the ground but is lost to evaporation and transpiration.

Pula one of the most frequently heard words, it is not only the name of Botswana's currency, but also the Setswana word for rain. So much of what takes place relies on this essential, frequently scarce commodity.

The summer season begins in November and ends in March. It usually brings very high temperatures. However, summer is also the rainy season, and cloud coverage and rain can cool things down considerably, although only usually for a short period of time.

The winter season begins in May and ends in August. This is also the dry season when virtually no rainfall occurs. Winter days are invariably sunny and cool to warm; however, evening and night temperatures can drop below freezing point in some areas, especially in the southwest.

The in-between periods - April/early May and September/October - still tend to be dry, but the days are cooler than in summer and the nights are warmer than in winter.

Summer days are hot, especially in the weeks that precede the coming of the cooling rains, and shade temperatures rise to the 38°C mark and higher, reaching a blistering 44°C on rare occasions.

Winters are clear-skied and bone-dry, the air seductively warm during the daylight hours but, because there is no cloud cover, cold at night and in the early mornings.

Sometimes bitterly so - frost is common and small quantities of water can freeze.

All visitors entering Botswana must hold a passport that is valid for at least six months, except those with United Nations Convention travel documents.

Visitors must also have outgoing travel documents and sufficient funds to finance their travel arrangements.
Valid entry visas for the countries which do require them may be obtained from various embassies and high commissions abroad. In countries where Botswana is not represented, visas may be obtained from the British High Commission.

Entry visas obtained at border posts are valid for a maximum of 30-90 days. Extensions may be obtained from any immigration office in Botswana .

No visitor is allowed more than a 90-day stay in every calendar year, unless permission has been granted in the form of a waiver pending the outcome of a residence permit application

1. Completed immigration supplementary Form D by the applicant (Visa form).
2. Letter of support from the host.
3. Two passport size photos (identical).
4. Fee of P25.00 (around USD 5)
5. Return visa or residence permit from his/her country of residence
6. Return air ticket.

Compared to the rest of Africa , Botswana is not a risky place to visit from a health perspective. In spite of this, there are certain precautions visitors should take even though there are no legal requirements for taking these precautions. There are no inoculations required except for visitors from yellow fever zones.

Botswana 's public health system consists of different kinds of health facilities: 23 district health teams, 3 referral hospitals, 12 district hospitals, 17 primary hospitals, 222 clinics, 330 health posts and 740 mobile stops.

Helping the country attract a segment of the tourism market with what is widely considered to be very significant growth potential.Raising the profile of the country as a tourism destination.Generating resources for conservation.

Providing an incentive for the sustainable utilisation of natural resources.Generating renewed pride in local culture.Facilitating and rewarding responsible tourism planning and management practices.

Botswana views Eco-tourism as an enhanced travel package to Botswana 's historical, cultural and natural environments, with the aim of enjoying and learning, and in so doing promoting the financial development of the local host communities, whilst sustaining the natural environment and developing the tourist industry.

The Department of Tourism thus sees Eco-tourism as minimizing the strain and disagreements caused by the complicated interaction between the tourism industry, visitors, the environment and local communities.

Botswana National Eco-Tourism Strategy will ensure tourism planning and management aimed at.Minimizing negative social, cultural and environmental impacts;Maximizing the involvement in, and economic benefits to, host communities;Maximizing revenues for re-investment in conservation; Educating both the visitor and the local people as to the importance of conserving natural and cultural resources;Delivering a quality experience to tourists

Bring casual, comfortable clothing and preferably light, long-sleeved blouses and lightweight trousers for protection against the sun and insects. Don't forget

1. Sun block, sun glasses, good walking shoes
2. A light and compact raincoat
3. Swim suit
4. Torch
5. An elegant outfit for a cocktails

If traveling with an organized safari, see if there is a weight limit, in which case you may have to restrict your luggage to 10-12kg.

Botswana is one of the finest tourist destinations on the African continent. The Okavango , which originates in the uplands of Angola to the north-west, flows into and then spreads over the sandy spaces of the Kalahari to form an immense and wondrous inland delta of lagoon and labyrinthine channel, palm-fringed island and fertile floodplain.

A number of safari lodges and camps have been established in and around this watery wilderness.

This wilderness and the nearby game-rich Moremi Game Reserve and Chobe National Park reserves, offer the visitors the best of several worlds, appealing variously to the game-viewer and bird-watcher, the hunter and the sporting fisherman, the explorer of hidden places and the lover of Africa in its loveliest and least spoilt state

However it is in the Okavango Delta and Moremi Game Reserve that visitors will find unforgettable beauty. In the lush indigenous forests of the delta and its islands, and along the floodplains spawned by this great marriage of water and sand, more than 400 species of birds flourish .

On the mainland and among the islands in the delta, lions, elephants, hyenas, wild dog, buffalo, hippo and crocodiles congregate with a teeming variety of antelope and other smaller animals - warthog, mongoose, spotted genets,monkeys, bush babies and tree squirrels.

Botswana is well known for its diverse range of wildlife. Most of the major African game species can be found, along with a number of species that are endemic to the region. Compared to the rest of Africa the game has been well protected from the scourge of poaching. The statistical picture reveals that the country is home to 164 species of mammals, 157 of reptile, 80 of fish, 550 of bird and uncountable different kinds of insects.

The Government of Botswana has set aside thousands of square kilometres of national territory as protected travel areas (around 17% of the country area) and wildlife management areas (another 20% of the country).

Among the largest protected areas in Botswana are Chobe National Park in the north, Central Kalahari Game Reserve (second largest protected area in the world), Moremi Game Reserve in Okavango Delta and the recently launched Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, which spans the border between Botswana and South Africa. In addition, the government carefully monitors 42 Controlled Hunting Areas, where hunters may shoot small quantities of game. Authorities issue only a limited number of shooting permits each year.

Mammals have a number of common characteristics that set them apart from other animals; they breathe with lungs; females have mammary glands that produce milk for suckling the young; they possess a four-chambered heart; and nearly all species have a covering of body hair. Approximately 164 species of mammals have been recorded in Botswana .

The mammals that may be seen during your travel through the country include the following: vervet monkey, chacma baboon, wild dog, bat-eared fox, black-backed jackal, large-spotted genet, small-spotted genet, mongoose, spotted hyena, brown hyena, lion, leopard, cheetah, aardvark, Burch ell's zebra, square-lipped (white) rhino, warthog, giraffe, common duiker, klipspringer, springbok, steenbok, impala, blue wildebeest, tsessebe, gemsbok, sable antelope, roan antelope, reedbuck, waterbuck, lechwe, bushbuck, kudu, eland, buffalo, hippopotamus, elephant.

Some 550 bird species in total have been accepted for the Botswana national bird list. These are species known to live in the country at some time of the year, including the various rare vagrants, which are from time to time recorded. Total numbers of birds within the country fluctuate within a year and also from year to year.

On more local scale, many bird species may undergo irregular movements within Botswana . Such movements may be triggered by rainfall, temperatures, food, breeding requirements or a combination of these ( see maps).

Not only is the diversity of bird species high in the national parks and reserves, but also throughout the north and east of the country. Over 400 species have been recorded in the Gaborone area alone. In many regions the terrain adds to the ease of bird viewing on your African travel expedition..

The Department of Wildlife and National Parks has recently instituted a bird research programme. Current research projects include a study of the breeding sites of several aquatic birds such as storks, herons, pelicans, flamingoes and cranes.

The birds you are most likely to see include the following: ostrich; cormorant; darter; stork; hammerkop; greater and lesser flamingo; pygmy goose, knobbilled duck and Egyptian goose; African jacana; black korhaan and kori bustard; Cape vulture, bateleur eagle and African fish eagle; Cape turtle dove, laughing dove, red eyed dove and Namaqua dove; bee-eater; kingfisher; hornbill; fork tailed drongo; black and pied crow; pied and whiterumped babbler; yellowbilled and redbilled oxpecker; masked weaver, paradise and shaftailed whydah. The majority of these species can be seen in the Okavango Delta or by River Chobe in northern Botswana .

About 157 species of reptiles have been recorded in Botswana . Most obvious characteristic of reptiles is their dry, horny skin that is usually modified into scales or plates. This prevents rapid water loss and has allowed them to move on to dry land, whereas amphibians are still restricted to moist habitats. Many reptiles lay eggs that have thick shells and which undergo development independent of water or parents.

All reptiles are cold-blooded, which means that they absorb their warmth from the environment, as opposed to mammals or birds which generate their heat internally. Many reptiles simply sit in the sun until their body reaches correct temperature, and subsequently shuttle between sun and shade, maintaining a constant optimal temperature. They do not generate heat internally by metabolizing foods as do mammals and birds.

The reptiles are divided into crocodilians, tortoises, terrapins and turtles, snakes, lizards and amphibians. Some of the most common for Botswana are: crocodile, python, gecko, tortoise, black mamba, green mamba, Cape cobra, Egyptian cobra, spitting cobra, puff adder, horned adder, egg eater, tiger snake, boom slang, shield-nose snake, Cape skink, striped skink, bushveld lizard, sand lizard, ground agama, flap-neck chameleon.

There are still certain nationalities that do not require a visa to enter Botswana, and those that do require a visa will need to apply for it prior to arrival.

The following Nationalities will have to purchase their visas prior to arrival