“How much does a trip through Botswana actually cost?” This question has been asked to us very often by our readers, which is why we have noted all the costs for Botswana and compiled them here. Of course, the total price depends on many factors, such as the travel time, the type of trip, or even your own requirements.
The 3-week round trip with our 4×4 and roof tent is definitely one of the most adventurous and beautiful trips we have ever taken. In the following article, you will learn all about our costs for Botswana, including the car, campsites, food, tours, and entrance fees. Enjoy browsing!
What else you should know
- To the Botswana country page
- Travel planning for Botswana
- The most beautiful highlights in the country
- What else you should know
- Costs in Botswana – Our overall overview
- Flights to Johannesburg
- Costs for the rental car (Toyota Hilux)
- Fuel costs (diesel)
- Costs for supermarket purchases
- Expenses for campsites and lodges
- Costs for restaurants and snack bars
- Entrance fees for national parks and tours
- Other expenses
- Costs in Botswana – Our conclusion
Costs in Botswana – Our overall overview
We don’t want to make this unnecessarily exciting, so we’ll just throw out the numbers: In total, we spent around €5,858 on the 22-day tour through Botswana, just €2,929 per person (roughly rounded). That’s about €137.00 per person per day for everything. In the following table, we’ve broken down all costs and categorized them (rental car, fuel costs, campsites, etc.).
It should be noted that we traveled through the country during the off-season (November) and may have been able to snag cheaper prices. The costs for a trip during the high season (June – August) could be much higher. We sincerely hope this overview helps you with your own travel planning. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below this post.
Flights to Johannesburg
We flew with Etihad from Munich to Johannesburg and even had a 3-day stopover in Abu Dhabi along the way. You can include this for free if you book your flight directly with Etihad. We had a great time in Abu Dhabi and highly recommend a stay there. The return flight also goes via Abu Dhabi, but with a short stopover.
We only paid approximately €608.50 per person for the round-trip flight. Since we wanted to travel through South Africa for another two months after our trip through Botswana, the starting and destination point Johannesburg was perfect for us. We also picked up our rental car there and returned it after three weeks in Botswana. Others also like to start in Windhoek (Namibia).
Costs for the rental car (Toyota Hilux)
For our trip through Botswana, we naturally needed a reliable and spacious vehicle that would serve not only as a means of transport, but also as a place to sleep and store our luggage. We quickly decided on a Toyota Hilux Double Cab 4×4, as this model was perfect for our trip. We naturally compared prices beforehand and had all the providers send us offers.
We ultimately booked with Bushtrackers (station in Johannesburg), as they offered a great overall package. We paid (at the current exchange rate) the equivalent of €1,911.93 for 22 rental days, including all the equipment (camping, roof tent, spare tires, compressor, and much more) and the documents for the border crossings in southern Africa. You’ll find more on this topic soon on our blog.
Fuel Costs (Diesel)
Since our car had a “Long Range Fuel Tank,” we were able to fill up with 60 and 80 liters of diesel. 140 liters of diesel in the tank is enough to last quite a while. There are gas stations throughout the country (e.g., Puma, Engen, Caltex, Shell, or Petro Hyper), and we never had any problems paying locally with a credit card. One liter of diesel cost 17.66 Pula (equivalent to €1.30) during our trip. In total, we spent around €592 on diesel and drove almost 4,600 kilometers across the country.
Supermarket shopping costs
During this trip, we self-catered most of the time and bought our groceries locally from various supermarkets. In Botswana, you can find SPAR, Shoprite, Sefalana, and Choppies, among others, in every larger town. If you can’t find a large chain supermarket, you’ll occasionally find a small “village supermarket.” We spent approximately €298 on food during our three-week trip.
Expenses for Campsites & Lodges
We are not fans of wild camping and feel much more comfortable at official campsites than somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Especially in Botswana, we wanted to feel comfortable and, above all, safe at all times. We booked and paid for most campsites before the trip, which made things much easier on site. We left some spots open because we wanted to remain somewhat flexible at the end of the trip.
We spent around €900 for 21 nights. The campsites sometimes cost €11 per person per night, but sometimes over €40 (e.g., Third Bridge Moremi). We also spent two nights in a tented lodge (€45 per person per night). You can find a detailed report on all our campsites and prices here: Our campsites in Botswana and Namibia.
Costs for restaurants & snacks
Every now and then, we ate at one of the lodge or campsite restaurants or ordered a beer. However, this was very rare, which is why we only spent around €67 in total. Generally, most campsites also had a restaurant where you could order various dishes and drinks. Most of the time, however, we cooked our own meals, as the food in Botswana was too meat-heavy for us.
Entrance Fees for National Parks & Tours
During our three-week trip through Botswana, we also visited several national parks and reserves, for which you have to pay an entrance fee (sometimes €7 per person, sometimes €20 per person). We visited, among others, the Moremi Game Reserve (Okavango Delta), Chobe National Park, Bwabwata National Park, Khama Rhino Sanctuary, Nkasa-Rupara National Park, and Makgadikgadi Pans National Park.
We also participated in a meerkat tour (€100 per person), booked a boat tour through the Okavango Delta (€35 per person), and a guided bird walk (€10 per person). For all these entrance fees and tours, we paid a total of around €672.00, or €336.00 per person. You’ll also find more detailed information about the parks and highlights soon on our blog.
Miscellaneous Expenses
We had a few other expenses while we were there that we don’t want to categorize. These included the malaria tablets (approximately €77 for 36 tablets), which we bought at a pharmacy, and the SIM card for our cell phone (€16 for 12 GB) with data allowance. Tips, a map of Chobe National Park, and border fees also fall into the “Other” category. We spent a total of around €201.00 here, or €100.50 per person.
Costs in Botswana – Our Conclusion
We actually thought we would have spent more on this 3-week adventure through Botswana. On site, we spent only around €2,400 per person for the rental car, diesel, campsites, food, activities, and entrance fees. That’s pretty impressive, isn’t it?
Flight costs vary greatly and depend on the destination and the month of travel. Botswana is generally a more expensive country to travel to, but not excessively so. Gas and food are quite cheap, but many campsites are more expensive, as are activities and tours. We didn’t miss out on anything during this tour and invested every euro very well.