Botswana - Health AND Travel Advice

Health Advice

Recommended Immunisations

Hepatitis A
Meningococcal meningitis
Polio
Tetanus
Typhoid Fever

Yellow fever Yellow Fever Certificate is required for entry into Botswana if travelling from a Yellow Fever infected area. This includes passengers transiting through an infected area).

Malaria Malaria risk exists from November to May/June in the northern parts of the country: Boteti, Chobe, Ngamiland, Okavango, Tutume districts/sub-districts.

Passport & Visa

Your passport needs to be valid for at least 6 months at the time of travel and have 3 blank pages.

Foreigners from Commonwealth countries are not required to obtain visa for entering Botswana, except in cases where the Minister of Labour and Home Affairs has directed otherwise. Botswana has also signed visa abolition agreements with a number of countries, and their nationals are not required to obtain entry visa. http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/getting_in/visas.html

General Tips

Tap water in Botswana is not recommended for the use of drinking water. Always use bottled water, which is widely available and very cheap.

The local currency is the Pula (P), which is divided into 100 Thebe (t). The word 'Pula' means rain and 'thebe' means shield. The shield appears on the national coat of arms. Bank notes come in denominations of P10, 20, 50 and 100, and coins in denominations of 5t, 10t, 25t, 50t, P1, P2 and P5.

Credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club, are accepted widely. Most hotels and lodges accept foreign currency or travellers' cheques.

For more general health & travel advice, packing tips and travel insurance, please check our Travel Planning section.