TRAVEL ADVICE
Introduction | Visa | What to Bring | Seasons
INTRODUCTION
Our safari's generally start or finish in either Maun in Botswana, Livingstone in Zambia, or Victoria Falls in nearby Zimbabwe.
Direct flights from Johannesburg to Maun are daily.
Direct flights from Maun to Johannesburg are also daily. There are daily flights Maun / Gaberone / Johannesburg.
There are daily flights between Johannesburg and Victoria Falls on Air Zimbabwe, and daily flights Johannesburg to Livingstone .
VISA REQUIREMENTS
topBotswana does not require the citizens of the following countries to have visa's:
All Commonwealth countries (except Ghana, India, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and Mauritius), all European Union countries, Scandinavia, USA, South Africa, Uruguay, Western Samoa and countries of the former Yugoslavia.Zimbabwe charges visa fee's to Nationals of all countries except Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Botswana, Canada, Fiji, Cyprus, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Namibia, Western Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, St Kitts, St Lucia, St Vincent, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tongo, Trinidad/Tobago, Tuvalo, Uganda, United Kingdom, Vanuatu and Zambia.Nationals of the following countries can purchase their visa's at any Botswana border, without prior application: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Cook Island, Denmark, Dominica Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Monaco, Norway, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, Seychelles, Spain, Switzerland, South Africa, Sweden, USA, United Arab Emirates and The Vatican. All other nationalities are required to obtain a visa in advance from the nearest Botswana embassy, this must be applied for at least 21 days before date of intended travel.
WHAT TO BRING
If you are travelling between May and August it is recommended that you bring warm clothes, for early morning game drives and sitting around the camp fire in the evening. A track suit or similiar is useful to sleep in, it makes it easier to get out of bed on chilly mornings!
If you bring a video camera, it is essential to bring a 12 volt charger so the batteries can be charged off the vehicle in remote area's. Electricity is only available in the towns, not in the National Parks or Reserves.
Binoculars are a necessity for good game or bird viewing.
A Camera with a telephoto lens is also recommended, 400mm is ideal. Often the best game sightings are made early morning or late afternoon so fast film is also a good idea.
Digital Camera's are now the norm, please bring charging equipment for your batteries and hard drives we have a 12 v battery set up independantly of our normal car batteries so you can charge your digital equipment 24 hrs a day.
A good hat (that doesn't blow off easily), sunscreen, insect repellant and a good torch are also recommended. In hot weather a scarf or sarong that can be wet and put around your neck will cool you down considerably. A 'Stubby Holder' that fits Beer cans is also useful!!
Malaria prophylaxis is necessary from November to May, when there are mosquito's about. There are also isolated cases outside of these times so please seek advice from your doctor or health centre on the neccessary anti-malarials.
SEASONS
There is no such thing as the ideal time to visit Botswana, it is a matter of personal preferences, depending on what you want from your holiday, and seasonal variations, we never know how much rain we will get during the rainy season.
During the rains the bush is thick, animals are not concentrated at water points, so game viewing is generally not as good. However most antelope species have their young during this period. There are many area's that are often impassable during the rains due to the road conditions.
The seasons are as follows :
Summer (November to March) - Frequent rain and thunderstorms, can be very hot but usually cools off after rain. Game generally dispersed due to availability of water, bush is thick so visibility is reduced. Biggest risk of malaria at this time.
Autumn (April to June) - Warm days with cooler nights. The game starts to concentrate as ground water dries up.
Winter (July to August) - Dry sunny warm days, but very cold at night (sometimes freezing or slightly below). Game concentrated more as water dries further, bush is thinning so visibility is improving.
Spring (September to November) - The hottest time of the year, water is at it's least so game concentrations can be very high. Most tree's are leafless, visibility is at it's best - if you can handle the heat an excellent time for viewing wildlife.
Jane Bettenay, P.O Box 156, Maun, Botswana.
E Mail : ulinda@dynabyte.bw
Telephone: + 267 6800244
Mobile: + 267 71309435
Fax: + 267 6801053
Satellite Telephone: 881631547465
