Botswana travel guides

Most Western nationalities enter Botswana visa-free for up to 90 days, including EU, UK, US, Canadian, Australian and South African passport holders. Your passport needs at least six months of validity and two blank pages. If you are driving a rental car in from South Africa or Namibia, bring the vehicle's cross-border permit and authorisation letter, as these are checked carefully at the border.

May to October is the dry season and the best time for game viewing, as animals concentrate around shrinking water sources and the bush thins out. Confusingly, the Okavango Delta floods during this dry period, because the water arrives from Angolan rains months earlier, peaking around June to August when mokoro trips are at their best. November to April is the green season, bringing birdlife, newborn animals, dramatic skies and much lower rates, but also thicker vegetation and some camps closing.

Botswana deliberately follows a low-volume, high-value tourism model, capping visitor numbers in prime areas and charging accordingly to limit environmental impact. Delta camps are often reached only by light aircraft, run on generators and fly in all supplies, which pushes costs to USD 500 to 1,500 per person per night at the top end. There are cheaper routes: self-drive camping in Moremi and Chobe, mobile safaris, and basing yourself in Maun or Kasane and taking day trips.

Botswana is one of the safest and most politically stable countries in Africa, with low crime and a long democratic record. The genuine dangers are wildlife and driving rather than people: never walk around unfenced camps after dark, keep a safe distance from elephants and hippos, and avoid driving at night when animals on unlit roads cause serious accidents. Malaria prophylaxis is recommended for the northern regions including the Delta and Chobe.

Seven to ten days lets you combine the main areas properly. A typical circuit gives three nights in the Okavango Delta, two to three in Chobe or Moremi, and two in the Kalahari or Makgadikgadi pans. Because internal transfers are by light aircraft and take time, fewer than three nights per camp wastes much of your trip in transit. Many visitors extend across the border to Victoria Falls, which is close to Kasane.

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