Botswana Travel Forum

Hi All,
I'm planning a trip from Cairo to Cape Town in the Summer of 2005. I was wondering whether anyone knew what the best way to travel across Botswana is, by serface transport. I believe there is a bus from Nata to Maun. But from there I'm a bit stuck. Ideally I would like to get to Windhoek, Namibia. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, including from people who have done the Cairo to Cape Town (or vica versa) trip before,
Cheers guys,
Ben

Hej!
No replies thus far, eh? Guess not many vt-ers are as adventurous as us. :) A couple fo months ago I travelled from Vic Falls through Botswana (Maun, Ghanzi, Gaborone) to Zimbabwe. From Vic Falls to Maun I hitched (very common, everyone does it, theres a more or less fixed fare and often certain hitching 'stations'; safe enough!) (took about one day), from Maun to Ghanzi there was a bus, and from Gaborone there are busses everywhere (but slow and crowded). There apparently used to be a bus from Ghanzi to Windhoek, but no more, so youll have to hitch.
Have fun,
Malin!

Having flown into Maun from Johannesburg (and back) is my only experience in the area -- and looking down at Botswana then (as well as from the small planes between safari camps) it was striking how few roads there were -- I do recall one very straight road running north-south and another east-west, but aside from that it appears to be very primitive trails that the supply trucks cover...(we spoke with a petrol driver in the Okavango Delta, having completed 5-hours on really sketchy trails from Maun to the camp where we were staying. I suspect the hitching option is your best choice, and that some of those guys would appreciate the company. However it also seems that the method for most people getting around the country is light plane. It could be the best thing to do would be to plan on spending some time in Maun while you check out the possibilities (unless you can find a contact in Maun with the types of contacts you will need.) I think it will be easier once you reach Windhoek. Sounds like a fantastic adventure. It will be fun to read your trip report on return (almost more like a major article or book???)

About 30 years ago a friend of mine was planning a trip all over South America. She asked someone about getting from one point to another by bus or train, and felt rather silly when she got the response "Oh no, Miss -- you forget the Amazon forest..."