Botswana’s main roads are in excellent condition, looking almost brand new. Most of the Botswanan coverage is centred around the main highways- the A1, A2 and A3 which form a ring around Botswana. The coverage also deviates off these roads with some coverage featuring sandy paths. The environment in Botswana is flat and largely a mixture of desert and savanna. There is a short, sprawling tree that is seen all over Botswana, sometimes with leaves and sometimes without. The yellow continuous roads lines are also abundant in Botswana, like these aforementioned places. Botswanan highways start with the letters ‘A’ or ‘B’ followed by a number. Botswana uses black and yellow stripes for its sign poles and blueish obelisk shaped structures for its most common bollards. The most common road markings in Botswana feature yellow, continuous edge lines and some form of white middle line. These line markings are also common in South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. In populated Botswanan areas, you will often encounter dirt/sand roads. Unpaved roads can also be seen in the more remote areas of Botswana. It can also be visible in South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho. Botswana typically has high quality main roads and the environment is a blend of desert and savanna. The main roads are typically of high quality and the landscape across the country is very flat. Botswana’s sign poles have black and yellow stripes. The most common type of bollard in Botswana is a blueish, small obelisk. Botswana tends to use the fairly generic looking, cylindrical, wooden utility poles that are found right acros southern Africa. Botswana’s highway signs look similar to South Africa’s. Botswana use ‘A’ for major highways and ‘B’ for smaller roads. This contrasts South Africa which most commonly uses R, N and M. These short trees with no leaves are a common sight in parts of Botswana. Note the short, sprawling trees now having leaves. There are few cars in Botswana. License plates are therefore quite a rear sight. Cars in Botswana most commonly have yellow rear plates and white front plates. This map of Botswana shows the general regions as characterised by the landscape. In the images below, an example is provided for each coloured section. (Image source: Jasper Woodard). The orange area on the above map (the western half of Botswana): There should be some sand visible that is like the sand you see on a beach- fine granules and soft. There is also patchy grass as opposed to the entire ground being covered in grass. The yellow area on the above map (the mid-eastern part of Botswana): The ground is fully covered with short grass. There are slightly more trees. This area is more populated than the remainder of Botswana (which is relative, as it can still seem quite lowly populated). The dark blue section on the above map (the far north-east): This part of Botswana stands out for its long grass. The trees are also greener in colour than the remainder of Botswana. The red area on the above map (far eastern Botswana): This area has lots of visible sand however the sand is harder, packed together and rocky. The sand resembles coarse dirt more than sand. Additional resources to region guess in Botswana.

Botswana has white front plates and yellow rear plates, similar to UK-style plates.

Botswana is the only country in southern Africa, where yellow rear plates are predominantly found.

Signs in Botswana are usually in English. Most town names, however, are derived from any of the indigenous languages spoken in the country.

The Afrikaans language, which is closely related to Dutch and common in South Africa, is very rare in Botswana. You will almost never find Afrikaans place names.

The typical Botswana landscape is dry and mostly flat, though a limited amount of elevation can be found in certain regions. Common vegetation includes shrubs, small trees, and occasionally dry, golden grasslands. The soil is arid, sandy and ranges in colour from white to red.

The border region of South Africa can have a similar landscape.

Like the other countries in Southern Africa, outside road lines (if present) are yellow, while centre road lines are white.

Outside yellow road lines in arid environments also exist in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and the UAE. However, these countries all drive on the right side.

Botswana has a unique black-and-yellow striped signpost. More rarely, you can see red-and-white signposts.

In Southern Africa, these signposts are only found in Botswana.

Curbs and guardrails are usually striped. Possible colour schemes are black-and-yellow, red-and-white, and black-and-white.

These small red-and-white chevrons can sometimes be found next to the road.

Just like the other Southern African countries, direction signs have a green background.

The numbers of major roads start with A. These road numbers frequently appear on direction signs.

Some road signs have a blue background. This is an older style of sign that was used before signs with white backgrounds were introduced. They are relatively unique to Botswana. 

Note that most road signs will have the newer white background.

Typical Botswana houses range from small impoverished shacks to comfortable middle-class bungalows. Some buildings have exposed grey bricks. On occasion, you might find traditional round huts.

All of these house styles are also found in the other southern African countries.

Random small blurs are common in Botswana’s coverage. These blurs are similar to the ones found on licence plates and faces, but they cover seemingly random parts of the panorama instead. This is especially noticeable in urban areas, and mostly absent on more rural roads.

Bollard:

This bollard is pretty rare, and its usually located about 10 meters off the road.

This bollard is a triangle shape and is about 5 meters from the road. It usually has the KM located on the side. Its found closer to the major cities.

This blueish bollard was found in the city of Gabane, south west of Gaborone.

You find these reflectors and bollards near drainage ditches across the country. Sometimes its two signs (the red and white arrow).

Unique Vehicle:

Like most of the African Continent, we have these vans. They don’t seem to have a pattern, but some have a yellow stripe on the bottom portion of the sides.

Road Lines:

Like most of the Southern Africa region, Botswana has yellow shoulder lines and a white middle line. There is also the chance for the triple white middle line (Like seen in Eswatini).

Road Signs:

These road signs look very similar to other countries in this area. The important thing to look for is the letter that is before the number. Botswana uses the letter A, which separates it from South Africa and Eswatini (But not Lesotho). However, The color Green with the letter A is entirely unique!

There are also plenty of signs that have a yellow and black pattern. These are located in / near the major cities. You can also find the curbs following a similar pattern across the country.

Architecture:

There seems to be a lot of Brick houses, as well as these plaster houses.

