Botswana
The information below is provided by Lonely Planet readers and is not verified by Lonely Planet. For the official lowdown, contact your nearest embassy or check out our Travel Links.
Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
We don't like monkeys very much and already have had bad experiences with them in Africa and Asia. Ihaha, just like any other place along the Chobe river, is full of baboons and vervet monkeys. When we set up camp, there were tens of them in the bush around us, barking, yelling, playing and fighting. We were thinking "oh no, another night with these aggressive thieves...". Indeed, we had settled under trees that a full herd of baboons used as a shelter for the night. We spent the night with more than 100 monkeys above our heads.
In spite of our fears, absolutely none of them annoyed us nor tried to steal anything from us. In fact, these monkeys had simply not yet got used to campers and their food. Indeed, they turned out to be good companions for the night. Although they can get noisy, monkeys do sleep at night and in the evening and morning they are a funny lot to observe.
The conclusion of all this is: don't tempt the monkeys. Don't give them any opportunity to discover the marvels of the consumer society. Don't leave any food or similar out of your car. Keep your trash in your car until you leave. Monkeys too can be good companions.
Francois Chassing, France (Sep 01)
Moving About
When travelling from North Gate to Mababe Gate at Chobe Game Park, (114 km) you'll need more or less 2 hours, if the hundreds of elephants will allow you through! From Mababe Gate to Savuti Camp site, it will take another 2 hours. Don't be misled by the distance in kilometres, because an average speed of 20-30 km/h is what you can expect during the dry, sandy season......
Riana Odendaal, South Africa (Jul 03)
Kazungula Ferry - currently, only one ferry is in operation so it takes several hours to cross the river by car, but small boats did ferry individual passengers across.
Anon, UK (Jan 03)
The Gabs-Francistown road has so many speedtraps it could be considered a toll road for anyone driving... wildlife replaces cops as a means of speed limitation north of Francistown.
Malcolm Wallace, Botswana (Aug 02)
All the major roads are now well-paved so you can easily drive from the Namibia border to Maun in a 2x4. It's also possible to drive from Maun to the Namibian border post at Mohembo in a 2x4. The ferry to Zambia from Kazungula is pretty unreliable. There are two ferries and apparently, one gets repaired with "spares" from the other boat.
Katherine Wolf, Namibia (Mar 02)
Never ever intend to drive at night in Botswana. Along most tar roads you will see fences running for kilometres. Whatever the original purpose of these fences, the locals use them to keep the animals inside (i.e. on the side of the road) so that their goats, cows and donkeys don't go astray in the vast grazing expanses fenced by commercial ranchers. The result is that all tar roads in Botswana are packed with domestic animals that, unlike most wild game, absolutely don't give a damn about passing cars and will often be found sleeping in the middle of the road.
Respect the speed limits, especially around towns and villages. First because it is safer for you, for the people and their cattle, but also because fines are steep (BWP 195). The Botswana Traffic Police have recently been equipped with top-of-the-range laser control equipment. They can spot you 2km away, and there's no discussion possible.
Francois Chassing, France (Sep 01)
^ back to top
|
