Botswana Packing List

Most of Botswana is Kalahari. That word does the work of both halves of the packing problem: it is dry and it is open, so days are hot and nights are cold, and there is nothing between you and either.

The cold is the part people get wrong

Winter nights in the Kalahari and the delta, from roughly May to August, drop close to freezing. A game drive leaves before dawn in an open vehicle at speed, which makes it colder still. Camps hand out blankets and hot water bottles because they have watched guests underestimate this for decades.

Bring a genuine warm layer and something windproof over it. You will take both off by nine in the morning and want them again the next day.

Clothing, and how little of it you need

Layers in muted colors. Camps do laundry, often daily, so a week of clothes covers a fortnight. Long sleeves and long trousers in the evening are a response to mosquitoes rather than a dress code.

The baggage limit is the real constraint. Light aircraft into the delta and the parks carry strict limits, usually in a soft bag rather than a hard case, because of the shape of the hold. Your operator will give you the number. Take it literally: it is enforced at the airstrip, where there is nothing to do about it.

Dust, water and the rains

In the dry months dust gets into camera bodies, lenses and phone ports. Sealable pouches earn their space.

The rainy season runs from November to March, brings heavy rain and flash flooding, and can make roads unsafe across the country. If you travel then, waterproof what must stay dry inside the bag rather than trusting the bag.

Note the inversion that defines this country: the Okavango flood arrives in the dry season, fed by rain that fell in Angola months earlier. Water in the delta and rain in the sky are two different seasons here.

The health kit

Malaria is present, and in April 2025 it was reported to have spread into areas where it is not usually found, so an assumption based on an older map is not safe. Discuss prophylaxis with a travel clinic with your route in hand.

Carry enough of any prescription medicine for the whole trip and some over, in its original packaging. Medicine and medical supply shortages remain widespread in public health facilities across the country, so the pharmacy you are counting on may not have what you need.