*A version of this article originally appeared in the March 2024 Bush Telegraph newsletter. You can read our recent newsletters and sign-up to receive these in your inbox on our Bush Telegraph newsletter page.
New Flights to Maun, Botswana
Travel to Maun, the gateway to the Okavango Delta, just became a lot easier.
From 10 June 2024, Ethiopian Airlines will fly direct from Addis Ababa to Maun, three times a week.
Combined with Ethiopian Airlines’ extensive flight network to Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East, this makes Botswana much more accessible from wherever you live in the world, and removes the need to connect in Johannesburg.
In addition, FlyNamibia has announced direct flights from Windhoek to Maun (starting July 2024), and from Windhoek to Victoria Falls (starting April 2024). These new routes open up easier multi-country trips, and combinations of Cape Town, Namibia, Botswana and Victoria Falls without the need to fly via Johannesburg or other airports.
Visas for Malawi and Kenya
There’s also some great news around visas. On 7 February Malawi announced that it has dropped the requirement for visas for 79 nationalities, including visitors from the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Visitors from these countries will now be able to enter Malawi visa-free for up to 30 days.
This followed the announcement in January by the Kenyan government that the country is moving to an ‘Electronic Travel Authorisation’ system, instead of physical visa documents to visit the country. Visitors to Kenya can now apply for an ETA online, which usually takes 72 hours to process (though the Kenyan government recommends applying for one at least two weeks prior to travel).
The standard fee for an ETA is US$32.50. You can apply using the official government website: https://www.etakenya.go.ke/en
