Botswana: Getting there & around

Although international flights arrive in Gaborone, courtesy of South African Airways and British Airways, it's usually cheaper to do your long-haul flying to Windhoek (Namibia) or Johannesburg (South Africa), then travel overland. You can enter overland from all of Botswana's neighbours, though you'll have to put your car tyres and your shoes through cattle-dip (to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease) before Botswana will let you in. The Trans-Namib bus runs between Ghanzi and Gobabis (Namibia) although it's not always reliable. Buses and Minibuses run between Gaborone and Johannesburg as does the luxury coach service, Intercape Mainliner. Buses to Zimbabwe include the Gaborone to Francistown, Bulawayo and Harare service and the Kasane to Victoria Falls service, although these services are prone to disruption due to flaring upheaval in Zimbabwe. The bus line between Livingstone (Zambia), Victoria Falls and Windhoek passes through Kasane. To get to Zambia otherwise, you need to catch the Kazunguka ferry over the Zambezi River.

Air Botswana flights are scheduled regularly between Botswana's four major cities, but fares are expensive. Botswana has six major bus routes and a good train line running through Francistown, Gaborone and Lobatse, with service that's reliable and inexpensive. Overall, however, Botswana's public transport is a joke, and - though it's never entirely safe - this is one country where hitchhiking is an accepted way to get around. The practice of hitching is so institutionalised that it carries a set charge - about US$0.05 per 10km (6mi). If you're hitching the back roads, (which isn't really advisable due to such light traffic) make sure you've got camping gear and enough food and water to keep you going for several days of waiting.