LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK INFORMATION
Money & Costs
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Botswana
Travelling around Botswana isn’t cheap due to the government’s ‘high cost-low volume’ policy. The absolute cheapest way to get around the country is by using public transport, eating locally, camping and arranging a couple of local tours into the wildlife reserves. On this basis, you could get by on about US$30 to US$40 per day. The cheapest safaris, on the other hand, are around US$120 to US$150 per person per day (sharing).
For most independent travellers aiming to travel on a midrange budget, your single biggest expense will be the hire of a vehicle. A 4WD will set you back around US$85 per day, with a tank of petrol costing roughly US$40 to US$60. Add to this a sprinkling of midrange hotels, restaurant meals and camp entrance fees (US$30 per person per day) and you’ll probably be looking at a daily budget more like US$150 to US$200. For about US$250 to US$300 per person you could book yourself on a pretty good organised safari. Travelling in low season (October to June) and sharing the cost of vehicle hire with other travellers are two ways of reducing some of the costs.
At the top end of the scale, you’ll probably be booking yourself on an all-inclusive mobile or fly-in safari. At this level you’re getting the best that Africa has to offer and it will set you back between US$300 and US$400 per person per night (sharing). A single supplement is usually about US$100 to US$200.
HOW MUCH?
One day mokoro trip: P400
1L bottle water: P1.50
Bottled beer: P5
Snack: P4.50
Foreign newspaper: P10
Night in a budget hotel: P150
Namibia
It’s definitely easier to get around Namibia on a restricted budget. If you’re camping or staying in backpacker hostels, cooking your own meals and hitching or using local minibuses, you could get by on as little as US$20 to US$30 per day.
A plausible midrange budget, which would include car hire and B&B or double accommodation in a mixture of hotels, rest camps and lodges, would be around US$80 to US$100. In the upper range, accommodation at hotels, meals in restaurants, escorted tours and possibly fly-in safaris will cost upwards of US$300 per person per day. In this case, it may be better to prebook a fly-drive or organised tour overseas.
To reach the most interesting parts of Namibia, you’ll have to take an organised tour or hire a vehicle. Car hire may be expensive for budget travellers, but if you can muster a group of four people and share costs, you can squeak by on an additional US$20 to US$50 per day – that’s assuming a daily average of around 200km in a 2WD/4WD vehicle with the least expensive agency, including petrol, tax and insurance. The plus side of a 4WD is that many vehicles are equipped with camping gear.
HOW MUCH?
Dune surfing: N$180
1L bottle water: N$2
Bottled beer: N$6
Snack: N$5
Foreign newspaper: N$12
Night in a budget hotel: N$90
Lonely Planet recommends World Nomads Travel insurance
