Botswana General Information

Overview Botswana is a largely roadless country full of savannahs, wetlands, deserts and wide open spaces that cry out for exploration. It’s one of the few places in Africa where the wilderness areas have remained completely unspoiled and is an ideal destination for nature lovers. With a population of only 1.5 million in a country roughly the same size of France, very little has seen human habitation and there are very few urban areas. Gaborone, Francistown and Maun are the only towns with sizeable populations. This is true Africa in her remote natural state. Recognising this fact, Botswana’s government has designated 17% of the country as national parks, with a further 20% as protected wilderness areas. The government has also taken a deliberate high-cost low-volume approach to tourism to maintain the country’s natural assets at their most pristine state. It means Botswana’s safari experiences don’t come cheap but this ecotourism policy has resulted in visitors being able to experience Africa at its most natural and stunningly beautiful, and nowhere will you find yourself in a crowd of camera-wielding tourists. Over two thirds of Botswana is covered by the mighty Kalahari Desert - sandy, flat scrub and thorn trees that are shared, not always harmoniously, between wildlife and cattle. Botswana’s most remarkable feature is the Okavango Delta, a wonderful wetland within this desert fed by water from the Angolan highlands. In a doomed attempt to reach the sea, the Okavango River spills hopefully from the east to falter and die on the hot sands of the Kalahari. It forms the world’s largest inland delta, a 15 000 sq km maze of lagoons, secret waterways and palm-dotted islands scattered with game. Here, sunny days are filled with the sounds of birds calling, hippo grunting, and antelope rustling in the reeds. Nights are ruled by unseen predators. The unspoiled and unpolluted Okavango is southern Africa’s premier wilderness destination. It's a must when you are in Botswana to go into the delta to spend some time with nature. The delta is a great place for walking safaris, floating through the peaceful channels in a relaxing canoe, or even flying over the lush water meadows by small plane. On the eastern side of the delta lies the Moremi Wildlife Reserve where large areas of dry land are interspersed between the wetlands. Here you can experience excellent savannah game viewing as well as bird-watching on the lagoons. But there’s more to Botswana than the delta. In the northwest is the dynamic Chobe National Park, home to an estimated 120 000 elephant - the largest population in Africa. The Chobe River, near the border town of Kasane, is the best place to see the elephant drink their fill from a boat cruise. There’s nothing more endearing than watching a baby elephant take a bath. The park has an amazing variety of habitats, ranging from floodplains and acacia woodlands, to verdant flood grasslands and thickets bordering the river and supporting large concentrations of game. Venture further into the park by 4x4 to hunt for vast herds of buffalo, zebra and antelope, constantly stalked by predators. It's not just Botswana's tourist policy that makes it unique amongst African nations. Botswana is one of the richest countries in Africa, thanks to its abundance of diamonds. You’ll find an excellent working infrastructure and very high standards of accommodation and service. The people are warm and friendly, and as the country has had no wars, military coups, or uprisings, the Batswana are peace-loving and non-aggressive. Botswana has the continent's longest and most stable democracy. People of different cultures and religions live peacefully side by side. But perhaps this is not so tricky given its large area (60 000 sq km) and tiny population (1.5 million). There’s only an average of three people per sq km: cattle and donkeys way outnumber people in Botswana!

What is Botswana's history? The first people to inhabit the empty Kalahari some 30 000 years ago were the San – also known as the Bushmen. They number only about 55 000 today, constituting a small but fascinating cultural minority in the country. From the 15th century the Tswana people arrived, collectively called the Batswana (the word today refers to anyone living in Botswana). By the 18th century, these people had established a powerful highly structured society of towns ruled by monarchs who controlled hunting, cattle-breeding and copper mining. The European Christian missionaries who pitched up in the early 1800s were most impressed with the orderliness and structure of the town-based Batswana people. The Zulu wars of the early 1800s in what is now South Africa produced a wave of northbound migration into Botswana land. Meanwhile, the Boers began their Great Trek over the Vaal, crossing into Botswana and attempting to impose white rule on the inhabitants. By 1877, animosity had escalated to such a level that the British stepped in and the first Boer War erupted in the Transvaal. The Boers retreated further into Botswana in 1882, prompting the Batswana leaders to ask for British protection. The British agreed and drew up borders. In 1885 they declared the northern territory as a British protectorate known as Bechuanaland, today’s Botswana. The southern territory became part of the Cape Colony and is now part of the Northwest Province of South Africa. The majority of Setswana-speaking people today live in South Africa. Bechuanaland was eventually brought under full British colonial control in 1890, when the British South Africa Company was established to supervise the whole region. Later in 1909 Bechuanaland, along with Lesotho and Swaziland, declined to become included in the Union of South Africa. Nationalism built during the 1950s and 1960s, and as early as 1955 it had become apparent that Britain was preparing to release its grip. Following South Africa’s Sharpeville Massacre of 1960, the Bechuanaland People's Party (BPP) was formed with independence as its aim. Despite Bechuanaland being dependent on South Africa for food imports and on the wages of Botswana miners working in South Africa for income, the BPP opposed apartheid as well as the Smith regime in neighbouring Rhodesia. In 1964, Britain accepted the BPP’s proposals for the independent democratic self-government of the newly-named Botswana, the seat of government was moved from Mafikeng in South Africa to the new capital of Gaborone in 1965, and independence was achieved by 1966. Seretse Khama was the first president who was subsequently re-elected until he died in office in 1980. He was succeeded by Ketumile Masire who was president from 1980-1998, and the current president is Festus Mogae. Botswana was economically transformed by the discovery of diamonds in 1967 - the diamond mines of Orapa, Letlhakane, and Jwaneng together make up one of the largest reserves of diamonds in the world. This mineral wealth has provided the country with enormous foreign currency reserves, pushing the pula to its position as one of Africa's strongest currencies. Botswana has always been a peaceful and safe country, and the vast majority of travellers to Botswana have nothing but praise for it.

What does Botswana look like? Botswana is situated to the north of South Africa and is bordered to the west by Namibia, and to the east by Zimbabwe. It is connected by Namibia’s skinny Caprivi Strip to Zambia on its northern border. Here, at Kazungula, all four countries meet at a single point mid-stream in the Zambezi River. At 581 730 sq km, Botswana is about the same size as Kenya but the comparison stops there. Botswana is almost entirely flat except for some very small hills along the Limpopo Valley in the east. The mighty Kalahari Desert covers 84% of the country, as well as substantial parts of South Africa, Namibia and Angola. The Kalahari thirstland, as it was described by early explorers, is a semi desert of grass and acacia thorn scrub, though it does contain adequate vegetation to support numerous herds of wild animals. It’s only in the southwest where there are sand dunes that true desert conditions prevail. National parks cover 17% of Botswana and in the northwest, the Okavango River empties into the Kalahari sands creating the largest inland river delta in the world. The 15 000 sq km Okavango Delta is almost the same size as Israel. From its source in Angola, the Okavango flows to its termination in the flat, marshy Okavango swamps of water channels, lagoons, and islands. Compared to other parks, it’s home to relatively few large animals but its clear waters, small islands and stark isolation create a wonderful African wilderness. Nearby is Chobe National Park, a beautiful grassland reserve that has gained fame for its abundant elephant population. They are fed by one of Botswana’s only forests along the banks of the Chobe River. With the exceptions of the Chobe, Okavango and Limpopo rivers, the country has little permanent surface water. About 80% of the country's population lives on the eastern borders, concentrated around the largest cities of Gaborone and Francistown. Neither are very large (or terribly exciting) thanks to a country-wide population of only 1.5 million.

What is Botswana's weather like? Botswana is mostly hot and very dry with an annual rainfall of only 200-400mm. Most of the rain, not that there's much, falls during the summer from November to March, when it’s very hot with temperatures reaching 30-40°C. The rain tends to be erratic and unpredictable. Often a heavy downpour may occur in one area while 10km or 15km away there is no rain at all. Thunderstorms are followed by strong sunshine so that a good deal of the rain does not penetrate the ground but is lost to evaporation. Pula is not only the name of Botswana's currency, but also the Setswana word for rain. Much of what takes place in Botswana relies on this valuable commodity. Winter is from late May to August and brings bone-dry, warm days with clear, sunny skies. Nights can be freezing with occasional overnight frosts. In autumn, September-October, it still tends to be dry, but the days are cooler than in summer and the nights are warmer than in winter. This is perhaps the best time to travel to Botswana. From then and on through winter, the wildlife gathers around what water there is and are at their most visible. What do the people speak? Whilst English is largely understood, Setswana is Botswana’s national language with minor differences in dialects. Not only is it Botswana’s principle language, but there are Setswana speakers all over southern Africa including 3.5 million people in South Africa who use it as their home language. When travelling in Botswana, knowing and using the odd word in Setswana always helps, and people will be pleased that you have made the effort. • Hello (to woman/man) - Dumela mma/rra • How are you? – Le Kae? O tsogile jang? • OK/fine - Go siame • Yes - Ee • No - Nnya • Please - Tsweetswee • Thank you – Ke itumetse • Goodbye – Tsamaya sentle (go well) / Sala sentle (stay well) • No problem – Ga gona mathata • How much is this? – Ke bo kae? • I don’t have any money – Ga ke na madi • I want some water – Ke natla metsi • I speak Setswana just a little… - Ke bua Setswana go le gonnye fela • Internet café - Khefi ya Inthanete And finally, if you really want to impress a Setswana speaker, try… • Do you accept (money/credit cards/traveller's cheques)? - A lo amogela (madi/dikarata tsa molato/ditšheke tsa bajanata)?