Everyday practical information for Botswana

Power, and an honest disagreement

• Botswana Tourism says the supply is 220/240 V and that both square UK plugs and round South African plugs are in use.
• World Standards lists Botswana as type M only, at 230 V and 50 Hz. Type M is the large round three-pin South African plug.
• They disagree, so carry a universal adapter that covers both. A UK three-pin will fit some sockets and not others, and lodges built to South African standard fittings are the norm outside the cities.

Language and manners

• English is an official language, taught in schools and spoken in every urban centre, in rural villages by anyone who has been to school, and by camp, lodge and hotel staff. You will not need an interpreter.
• Tipping is not obligatory anywhere, in restaurants, bars or hotels. It is discretionary rather than expected, which is not what a visitor arriving from South Africa assumes.

Shopping and the practical day

• All the major towns, Maun and Kasane included, have supermarkets carrying basic goods, and most fuel service stations run 24 hour convenience shops.
• Buy what you need before you leave the tar. In the Delta and the Kalahari there is nothing.

The land borders keep office hours

• Most crossings shut in the evening. Tlokweng and Pioneer Gate into South Africa run 06:00 to midnight, Mamuno into Namibia to midnight, Kazungula Road into Zimbabwe 06:00 to 20:00, and several of the smaller posts close at 16:00.
• Check the hours for your specific post before setting out, because arriving at a closed border in Botswana means a long drive back to somewhere with a bed.
• Kazungula is a bridge now, not a ferry. The Botswana to Zambia bridge opened in 2021 and the two governments established a joint authority to run it in February 2026. The tourism board's port list still says ferry; ignore that.

Getting between towns

• Scheduled buses cross into South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Zambia, and internal services link the major and minor towns.
• There is no passenger rail. Botswana Railways is freight only.