Botswana: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Botswana feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 49 written places.
Soft-spoken courtesy runs everything; the greeting comes first and the request second, always.
✓ Considered polite
- Open every interaction with Dumela Rra to a man or Dumela Mma to a woman before asking anything
- Give and receive with the right hand, the left hand supporting the right wrist
- Greet elders first and let them set the pace of the conversation
- Learn the local three-part handshake - palm, thumb clasp, palm again, unhurried
✗ Better avoided
- Launch into a question without greeting - it reads as rude everywhere from shops to bus ranks
- Hand anything over with your left hand
- Rush service or schedules - things move at their own steady pace
- Interrupt or contradict an elder in front of others
Worth knowing
- The currency is the pula, which means rain - a measure of how precious water is here
- Cards work in cities and lodges; carry cash for villages, markets and bus fares
- Tipping is about 10% in restaurants; safari guides are tipped separately, often in US dollars
- Setswana greetings go a long way, but English is an official language and widely understood
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
Some links on this page are Amazon affiliate links - if you buy through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Keep planning
Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.