Okavango Delta

Currency

Botswana charges every non-SADC visitor a $30 tourism development levy on arrival, payable by card at the border or airport — have it ready. Camps are priced in dollars and settled by card; pula is for Maun, tips and the odd shop. This is the most expensive safari country in Africa by design: the policy is high-value, low-volume, and the prices are the policy.

ATMs & cards

Draw pula in Maun before flying into the delta — there are no machines on the islands and no shops to spend it in either. Barclays, Standard Chartered and FNB in Maun. Tips for guides and camp staff are usually in dollars or pula, in cash, and are expected.

Have a card ready at the border for the $30 tourism levy. Tips for guides and polers are cash, in pula or dollars.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

You are in an unfenced wilderness with big animals and the camps are not fenced either — an escort walks you to your tent after dark, and that rule is not theatre. Hippos kill more people in Africa than lions and the mokoro passes them; listen to your poler. Malaria is present, particularly in the wet months, and prophylaxis is standard advice. Otherwise Botswana is stable, orderly and has very little crime.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

• Yellow fever certificate, but only if you are arriving from a country where yellow fever is present

Worth having

• Routine vaccinations up to date
• Hepatitis A
• Malaria prophylaxis for the delta and the north, particularly November to June

Getting treated

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.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Camp catering, and at these prices it is generally excellent — three meals and high tea, cooked in the bush. Botswana beef is famous and deserves it. Seswaa, slow-pounded meat with pap, is the national dish and you will more likely meet it in Maun than in a camp.

Getting around

• Light aircraft — almost every camp is reached by a 15-minute flight from Maun in a five-seater, and the flight is half the experience
• Mokoro — the dugout canoe poled through the reeds, which is what the delta is famous for and is done at water level with hippos somewhere ahead
• Game drives — open 4x4s at dawn and late afternoon, which is when the animals move
• Walking safaris — offered by some concessions with an armed guide, and a completely different way of seeing it
• Self-drive is possible to Moremi with a proper 4x4 and experience; the rest of the delta is fly-in only

Must-see

Things to do

• Spend a morning in a mokoro, at eye level with the water
• Fly over the delta in a light aircraft and see the shape of it
• Track wild dogs, which have one of their last strongholds here
• Take a walking safari with an armed guide
• Sit up at the hide after dark and let the animals come to you
• Go in the flood season, June to August, when the water is high and the game concentrates

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

Setswana

• Hello (to a man)Dumela rradoo-MEH-la rah
• Hello (to a woman)Dumela mmadoo-MEH-la mah
• How are you?O tsogile jang?oh tso-KHEE-leh jahng
• I am wellKe tsogile sentlekeh tso-KHEE-leh SEN-tleh
• Thank youKe a lebogakeh ah leh-BO-kha
• Yes / NoEe / Nnyaaeh-eh / NYAH
• How much?Ke bokae?keh bo-KAH-eh
• It is fine / all rightGo siamekho see-AH-meh
• GoodbyeSala sentleSAH-la SEN-tleh

English is official and universal in tourism, but Setswana is what Botswana speaks and the greeting is a small ceremony rather than a word. Add rra to a man and mma to a woman — dumela rra — and you will be answered warmly. Pula, the currency, means rain, which tells you most of what you need to know about the country.

Religion

Christian, with Tswana traditional belief alongside

Mostly Christian, with the older Tswana belief in Modimo and in ancestors persisting quietly beside it. The kgotla — the village meeting place where matters are settled by discussion — is the institution that actually shapes public life, and Botswana is proud of it. Sunday is a slow day; nothing about religion complicates a safari.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Greet properly — dumela rra or dumela mma — before asking anything; Botswana is formal and courteous
• Shake hands with the right hand, left hand supporting the right forearm, which is the respectful form
• Listen to your guide absolutely: everything in the delta is unfenced
• Tip guides, polers and camp staff in cash at the end of a stay
• Pay the $30 tourism levy on arrival — it is unavoidable and card machines at the border expect it

Don't

• Do not walk between tents after dark without an escort
• Do not raise your voice; Botswana finds it embarrassing rather than persuasive
• Do not photograph people without asking, and never at a kgotla or a village meeting
• Do not litter or take anything from the bush — the conservation rules are strict and enforced
• Do not expect to bargain; prices are prices here, unlike much of the continent