Transportation in Okavango Delta

The Okavango Delta Transportation Guide below, gives you some general information of all the different mode of transportations available to get to, from and around Okavango Delta. to make discovering this splendid area easier for you, we also have a list of tours you can join on our Okavango Delta tours page.

Okavango Delta Transportation Guide

By Air

Around 15 km north of Gaborone, the capital city, is Botswana's main airport, the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. However, despite several flights operating to and from Harare and Johannesburg, tourists prefer to enter Botswana through Kasane Airport and Maun Airport.Most people who want to fly to Okavango Delta, land at the Maun airport.

Air Botswana, the national airline offers reliable, though limited services to neighbouring cities from Maun. It has several daily flights from Maun Airport to Johannesburg and Gaborone. The airline also flies direct to Windhoek in Namibia and Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

Air Namibia flights, connecting Windhoek and Maun, operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The aircrafts used on this route are small ones and are almost always fully booked in advance.

Several small charter flights, using Maun as a hub, operate all over Northern Botswana. These flight companies use 6-12 seater planes to criss-cross the entire region, landing on small bush runways. Flight schedules are drawn up just a few days ahead and stopovers at other airstrips are common. Most of the trips take an hour or so and unlike the typical, exclusive private charters, passengers often share the flights with others. The mode of operation of these flights is not unlike that of a fleet of taxis!

By Rail

A lone railway links South Africa with Gaborone, Lobatse, Francistown, Palapye and Bulawayo (in Zimbabwe). Despite being reliable, it is rarely used by travellers coming into Northern Botswana.

By Road

Botswana is connected by tarred roads with Namibia , South Africa and Zimbabwe. There are no fixed border opening timings; however, the main border crossings between Botswana and South Africa or Namibia are usually open between 6 am and 8 am and close between 6 pm and 10 pm. Visitors can take the Kazungula ferry to Zambia between 6 am and 6 pm. The Botswana- Zimbabwe border is open from 6 am to 8 pm.

Most visitors travelling overland, to and from Botswana, either take the Intercape Mainliner or travel by private vehicles. To prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease in the country, all travellers are requested to clean their footwear (even the packed ones) in a disinfectant dip at the border crossings.

The local bus station, abuzz with chaotic activity, is near Tsaro Street where the market is located. There are frequent services to Francistown, a seven-hour journey away. Buses also operate to Shakawe (a seven-hour trip); Ghanzi (P30) is four hours away and the bus stops at most of the larger towns en route. Kasane can be reached by taking a bus going to Francistown and changing at Nata.

Botswana's buses are uncomfortable, crowded and noisy; however, the upside is that bus services are frequent, and an economical way to travel. Besides, they also offer an opportunity to interact with the locals.

By Ferry

Zambia and Botswana share what is perhaps the world's shortest international border - a single point right in the middle of the Zambezi River. The Kazungula ferry operates daily from 6 am to 6 pm between the two countries. The charges per person is around US $0.50. The charges are approximately: for motorbikes US $5, for cars US $15 and for larger vehicles, it is US $20. If the ferry is not operating, or there are long queues that travellers might want to avoid, it's easy enough to reach Livingstone via Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.