Namibia or Botswana?
The practical differences, drawn from our own write-ups rather than from a brochure. We are not going to tell you which is better - they are different trips. What follows is what actually changes between them.
Namibia
Reserved but courteous; greetings matter, distances are vast, and everything runs on unhurried order.
What we have written up
- Arnhem Cave cave
- Brukkaros Mountain volcanic crater
- Bwabwata National Park national park
- Cape Cross Seal Reserve beach
- Cheetah Conservation Fund research centre
- Dune 7 dunes
Worth knowing before you go
- The Namibian dollar is pegged 1:1 to the South African rand, and rand is accepted everywhere
- Cards work in towns and lodges - carry cash for rural fuel stops, markets and tips
- Shops keep early hours, roughly 08:00-17:00, with Saturday afternoons dead in small towns
Botswana
Soft-spoken courtesy runs everything; the greeting comes first and the request second, always.
What we have written up
- Aha Hills hill
- Bokspits village
- Boteti River river
- Botswana Basketry tradition
- Chobe National Park national park
- D'kar village
Worth knowing before you go
- 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
Counts describe this site, not the countries: "places written up here" means how many pages we have finished, and it keeps growing. Currency, plugs and languages are practical facts and change rarely (plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026); check anything visa-related with the relevant official source before you book.