Botswana travel health
Required is not recommended: the first is what the border asks about, the second is what a clinic would suggest. Both, for Botswana, then the number to dial and what care costs a visitor. Applies to every guide in Botswana: Okavango Delta.
Required to enter
- Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present
Recommended
- Routine vaccinations up to date
- Hepatitis A
- Malaria prophylaxis for the delta and the north, particularly November to June
Emergency number
997 for an ambulance, 999 for police
Care for visitors
Good but costly
Gaborone and Maun have adequate private clinics; the delta camps have a radio, a first-aid kit and an airstrip. Every good camp has an evacuation arrangement — check that your insurance matches it, because the flight is the expensive part.
Malaria in the delta, worst in the wet months. Hippos and buffalo cause more injuries than predators. Tsetse flies in some concessions are a nuisance rather than a danger, and they are attracted to dark blue and black, which is why safari clothing is beige.
The general rules — clinic timing, water, mosquitoes, insurance — are in travel health tips.
