Useful info

• Passport
  Please make sure it is valid for at least 6 months past departure and that there are at least 2 blank pages.
  Some tourists can obtain a 30-day-valid visa (which can be extended to 90 days if required upon arrival) for free at frontiers or international airports after showing their return tickets to the immigration officers if asked to.

   

  Those who can obtain an entry visa for free on the spot are the citizens of:
  • Italy
  • EU-countries except Spain and Portugal
  • Commonwealth countries except Ghana, India, Mauritius, Nigeria and Sri Lanka
  • Japan
  • Switzerland
  • USA
  • South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, countries belonging to the SACU, i.e. Southern African Customs Union

   

  Tourists from other countries have to ask a Botswana embassy or consulate for a 30-day-valid tourist visa. If there is no Botswana embassy or consulate in your country, please contact the British embassy or consulate. Please make sure to apply for this visa al least 6 weeks in advance of departure. As the list of the nationalities required to obtain visas for entry into Botswana changes from time to time, it is important to check with your travel consultant regarding current visa requirements, well in advance of your departure.

   

  Entrance fee for Zimbabwe: USD 30.00 (about EUR 25.00) per person to be paid on the spot if you decide to observe the Victoria Falls from this country. If you decide to start your visit to the world-famous falls from Zambia, the entrance fee to be paid in loco amounts to USD 25.00 (about EUR 20.00) a person.

   

• Currency
  Botswana's currency is the Pula (BWP), which corresponds to about USD 0.16/EUR 0.13. Prices are also shown in dollars, which therefore can be used for payments in some cases, for example in some of the best hotels, in nearly all luxurious lodges and in all the tourist structures appealing to the wealthy market. You can use only pulas for all other payments, including entrance fees for natural parks and reserves.

   

  Changing money - You can change most foreign currencies in the bureaux in the main towns, but you had better use American dollars, British pounds, South African rands or euros. These currencies can easily be changed into cash and traveller's cheques and they always enjoy a favourable exchange rate.

   

• Tipping
  Tipping is not obligatory, but anyway we advice you to tip drivers, guides, rangers and hotel staff.

   

  In some places a service charge is added in lieu of tipping; otherwise, if you feel that the measure of the service you received deserves a show of your personal appreciation, tip about 10%.

   

• Language
  English is the official language of the country and everybody can understand it.

   

  The most commonly spoken language is however Setswana, a Bantu language which about 80% of the total population can speak: it is the language of the dominant ethnic group, the Batswana.
  Then we find Sekalanga, another language of Bantu origin, which is spoken by the Bakalanga living around the city of Francistown.

   

• Time Zone
  Botswana is two hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.