Destinations

A lion in an Okavango morning

Travel Guides

There are a very useful (and relatively up-t0-date) guidebooks for Botswana:

Let's Go: South Africa: These books are published each year, with all the information cross-checked. They are oriented towards the budget traveler. Luckily, the small section about Botswana is accurate and helpful.

Lonely Planet Botswana - by Paul Greenway. Sadly, this little gem is getting rather out-dated. Botswana has changed a lot since it was published in 2001. You can use it as a backup reference point.

Lonely Planet: Southern Africa - This is a more up-to-date guidebook to the entire Southern Africa region, including Botswana. It has accurate phone numbers and reviews of places to stay and visit.

Botswana: The Bradt Travel Guide - by Chris McIntyre. This book only focuses on the Okavango Delta, Chobe and Northern Kalahari, but it has stellar advice on camping, going off into the wilderness area, and accurate GPS coordinates. The prices for most places have changed (places are more expensive now).

Let's Go 2003: South Africa by Kyle D. Hawkins, Tess Mullen, Sarah Levine-Gronningsater. This includes about 40 pages about Botswana. It is also handy to have a South Africa guidebook aimed at budget travel.

Fiction

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith - best selling novel (first in a series) about Botswana. Excellent book! Followed by Tears of the Giraffe, Morality for Beautiful Girls, The Kalahari Typing School for Men, and The Full Cupboard of Life. Terrific tales, gives you a great sense of the country.

Other Non-Fiction

Africa: The Biography of a Continent by John Reader. Simply a must read if you want to understand the development and history of this amazing continent.

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. This autobiography is fantastic. Great pieces of wisdom, history of South Africa and the struggle against apartheid. For instance, from page 201 talking about jail time in 1956: "It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones -- and South Africa treated its improsoned African citizens like animals."

Power Lines: Two Years on South Africa's Borders by Jason Carter. This is an enjoyable and informative read written by the grandson of Jimmy Carter after he returned from living for two years in rural South Africa as a volunteer with the Peace Corps. You get a nice sense of life in Botswana's southern (and influential) neighbor.

Speak American: A Survival Guide to the Language and Culture of the USA by Dileri Borunda Johnston. This is very useful for people who need to translate between British/African/Australian English and American English. The people in Botswana learn British-based English, and their customs are more associated with British customs than American. This can help you understand that using the terms "pants" instead of "slacks" may get a chuckle out of a Motswana.