If you are moving to Botswana......

Hi Ladies,

Like any other African Country, even Botswana is not crime free. So Beware ladies if you are going alone. Currently as Zimbawe economy is becoming worse, the neighbouring countries like South Africa, Botswana.. is being affected. You will find lot of illegal immigrants in Botswana who will knock at your door and ask for part time jobs(Piece job as they call it), never ever open the gate or the door. The people may say this area is good and safe but a word of caution - Please install security inside the house, electric fencing, burglar bar in the entrance and the backside door. I am telling this for your safety measures. It may be a mid morning or afternoon or night, you will hear stories of robbery, burglary, attack .....

They say Botswana is better than any other african country - Diamond mines, stable government, strong currency. But off late i can see lot of people moving out of the country. There are lots and lots of Indians from various states, pakistanese, bangladesi, chinese..... Currency has been devalued against basket of currency as the dollar keeps falling. Recently i heard there is rationing of milk, only 2 box of 1ltr milk per person and also has become very expensive.

Plus Points - If you are a drinker, i mean if you like liquor, then Botswana is a paradise. Beer is cheaper than coke. You can get maids(african, very risky) - they are hard working, clean and neat job but you should never trust them. If you teach them then you can just relax, they will do cooking, cleaning, taking care of your kids, all household work.... Not much entertainment other than the expensive indian bouquet(Sony, ZEE, B4U for P160 in 2007April, iam not sure now...) and South indian bouquet(Sun Tv, K TV for P120 before..) NDTV is free for any of this bouquet. At the end of the day you can still save some money, if you are good wallet watcher. Recently they did Kumbavishegam to the newly built Balaji Temple. You have hindu hall, sai temple, suryanarayana temple. You have many indian associations - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Gujarati.....

So whenever you meet people may be in the get together, parties or anywhere you can see them discussing about the robbery in this place at this time and what happened.... everyone will have their own stories to tell you about the crime in the country. But i feel it is not so bad as Nigeria, Zimbawe,.. But still when somone goes for the first time out of India, you will be cribbing and surely will regret where have you landed in the intitial stages, then you will get used to it.

I have written all this in my own experience in Botswana for the past 6 years and recently relocated to Dubai.

When compared to Dubai - In Dubai you get everything that you get in India at a very better price. Sometimes i feel India is expensive like for food, here it is very very cheap compared to Botswana. There are 4 or 5 indian restaurants in Botswana, but very expensive.Rentals are too too much in Dubai. The amount of money you pay for rent for one bedroom in Dubai, you will get a villa in Botswana. You get many indian channels here, even in Botswana you still can put your own dish where you get many pakistanese channels and some indian channels. In Dubai you can install Dish or Tata Sky. Traffic is too too much in Dubai compared to Botswana. Insurance claims and doing insurance is not very easy here whereas Botswana is better. Police is very very good in Dubai whereas in Botswana they are just there to write reports about the incident. In Dubai you can walk freely, crime free and you dont have to worry, whereas in Botswana you always have to look back and even in your office you cant leave your cellphone. In Dubai, if you dont have a personal car still you can manage with buses, taxi, walking(everything closeby) whereas in Botswana it is very difficult if you do not have one, you feel very dependant. The most important thing - In the night, you can sleep and you do not have to be alert looking for strange sounds, no need for securties and alarms...

So Ladies, i will feel happy and informed, if you share your african experience.

So anyone going to Botswana, you can contact me and i am ready to answer all your queries....

bye
BALA

Hi bala,

Thats a nice synapsis of botswana lifestyle
I myself wanted to ask you abt the culture of botswana
I ve heard that in African country life is little risky, not much security kind of.
For your info in aval vikatan-there is a thodarkathai-"no.1 thuppariyum niruvanam", the story is about the challenges faced by botswana lady by running a detective agency. The story spot is botswana, you may enjoy reading it. You'll get all indian magazines from malik news agency. In bur dubai temple shops also you get tamil magazines.

Thank you suja.

Hi Bala

That was a very useful information about Botswana.

I have been to kenya when i was a kid. My dad was working there. I was studying in India and i go there for summer vacations. Even 20 years back in kenya there used to be lot of theft. All the shopping centers would close between 7pm-8pm. We never go out after 8.

The cook and driver we had were very friendly. If only there was no theft or robbery Kenya is a very nice place to live . I loved it.


jay

Hi Bala

This is Paulami, my husband is a software professional, although we are Bengali, but we stay in Chennai for last 10 years. He recently got an offer from an organisation in Botswana and we are in dilema what decision to take, should we move or not. We are hearing lot of negative about south african countries. I need few clarification from you.
The comapy is offering P15000, + house allowance or P4000 + Car allow of P2000 + P750 as medical insur.
Is it enough for a family of three. My daughter is studing in class three (3). We also heard that the education standard is bad and medical facility is worst.
The work location is in countries capital.
Can u please give me the details breakdown about the whole expenses, like grocery, school, house rent, as you are a house wife you will be knowing better.

regards

Paulami

Hi Paulami & Bala,

We understand you both are discussing and sharing some useful information that you have that will help anyone thinking of moving to Botswana.

Kindly do not post your email ids in the forum to share information via email. Instead post it here and that will be of help even in the future for anybody stepping in here to know about life in Botswana.

Paulami,
Being a new member here, please read our Forum Etiquette and orientation guide here.

Bala,

Thanks for taking that extra effort to contact your friends and get the information requested by a new member here. It will be really great if you could get your friends to join our site and share the information in the forum here or if you could get the information and post it here yourself.

Thank you.

Information about life in Botswana as shared by Mr. Rajan (Balamotwani's friend):

Hi,

I am Rajan from Botswana.

I don't advice to move in. The reasons are:

Proposed salary has to cover:

Monthly Groceries - P 3000
Power/Water - P 500
TV - P 400
Fuel - P 1000
School fees for international school for 1 child - P 7500 per term (monthly 2500) per child
Other social expenses - P 1000
Startup exp to reduce over 12 months - P 2000 , If furnished accomadation not provided and if you have to buy everything here.

House - You can get for P 4000, it is fine

Medical - P 750 is also fine for Bomaid

So, in the end you end up saving P 4000 to 5000 per month. But inflation is catching up more than 13% and exchange rate is very bad, it is at 6.2. So what you are saving per month is P 24000- 30000 per month.

I advice you to move, 1. If your Wife can also work and fetch some income
2. If the employer pays the school fees
3. If you are in the beginning of your career.

Security is ok now, But still if you are worried about it too much, you shouldn't come

Atlast, it is the personal decison of each individual.

Thanks

Rajan

Hello Bala,

Thanks for the detailed information on the lifestyle in Botswana & it's comparison with Dubai, was a interesting read .

I am Saraswati Adhikari from Nepal. I am a married professional. I did my my CWA degree from India.

We received an offer (for both me & my husband, who happens to be a qualified engineer from IIT- Kanpur) from one of the web based employment opportunities for a company in Durban with a branch in Zambia.

I read your post as well as post posted by your friend , who obviously was not very impressed with the place just like you. You mentioned that you had lived there for 6 years & i presume your friend was also living with you for the same period in Botswana before she move out. I don't understand is what was the need to stay in such a place for 6 years when you did not like it? We all move out of our home land to other places for either education or career or money. I came to India for education & went back to Nepal for working.

To be honest India is a very nice place now & great opportunity for growth. So, presume that you stayed in Africa only for money! When you are getting the sort of money that you want what is the point of cribbing about the place? It just does not make sense to me. If you did not like the place you could have come back to India within couple of months after landing there.

The second thing is, comparing countries from two different continents does not make sense to me. Tomorrow if you move over to the USA then you will be comparing Dubai to the USA & have a big list of defects that you have with Dubai, which is inherent. It is like comparing apples and oranges!!

I have myself been to Dubai couple of years for a conference & was just not impressed with the place. It is a concrete jungle, as others say & I accept it. I was also not okay with the jobs done by the people from India. In the Airports they were either cleaning the place or cleaning the toilets or were used as coolies to move handicapped passengers & goods. There is no difference in the way they were treated outside too, they were doing similar jobs.
I will not be comfortable as a working professional living in such a place where there are expatriates who are doing such jobs. I would like to choose a place where you as an expatriate are among the elite in the country, which is more charming than living in some country where some fellow countrymen cleans public toilets, I am just not comfortable with this idea.

Crime is everywhere Nepal, India, Africa, America wherever. It depends on the media coverage. I have heard that most of the organized crimes are in Dubai, am not sure about the authenticity of this information.

In short, my point is that if you are choosing a country for the money/ career factor don't cribb about the place & try to give negative image of any place. Secondly don't compare apples and oranges! (I mean countries from different continents and cultures)

Take care
Saraswati Adhikari

Dear Saraswathi,

Thanks for taking your time to read my post and also comments on "apples and oranges". If life was as simple as apples and oranges, one would not need to seek opinion on such forums.

Moving out of the country to pursue professional dreams, career growth, etc. are very personal decisions and every inidividual decides on the above giving priorities based on each individual stages & circumstances of life.

As a member of this great forum, i wanted to share my personal views and my experiences in Botswana. At the same time i have explained both the positives and negatives of both the places. Even if i move to USA, i will still write about my experience in Dubai and my life in USA. I do not find anything wrong in expressing my opinion like the way you have expressed your opinion about my post as "cribbing".

My views are expressed openly in this forum and the readers are welcome to make their own opinion and choices and that is why forums are meant for!

Wishing you the best of luck and professional growth whereever you are.

Thank You

Bala Motwani

Originally Posted by Saraswati.A

Hello Bala,

Thanks for the detailed information on the lifestyle in Botswana & it's comparison with Dubai, was a interesting read .

I am Saraswati Adhikari from Nepal. I am a married professional. I did my my CWA degree from India.

We received an offer (for both me & my husband, who happens to be a qualified engineer from IIT- Kanpur) from one of the web based employment opportunities for a company in Durban with a branch in Zambia.

I read your post as well as post posted by your friend , who obviously was not very impressed with the place just like you. You mentioned that you had lived there for 6 years & i presume your friend was also living with you for the same period in Botswana before she move out. I don't understand is what was the need to stay in such a place for 6 years when you did not like it? We all move out of our home land to other places for either education or career or money. I came to India for education & went back to Nepal for working.

To be honest India is a very nice place now & great opportunity for growth. So, presume that you stayed in Africa only for money! When you are getting the sort of money that you want what is the point of cribbing about the place? It just does not make sense to me. If you did not like the place you could have come back to India within couple of months after landing there.

The second thing is, comparing countries from two different continents does not make sense to me. Tomorrow if you move over to the USA then you will be comparing Dubai to the USA & have a big list of defects that you have with Dubai, which is inherent. It is like comparing apples and oranges!!

I have myself been to Dubai couple of years for a conference & was just not impressed with the place. It is a concrete jungle, as others say & I accept it. I was also not okay with the jobs done by the people from India. In the Airports they were either cleaning the place or cleaning the toilets or were used as coolies to move handicapped passengers & goods. There is no difference in the way they were treated outside too, they were doing similar jobs.
I will not be comfortable as a working professional living in such a place where there are expatriates who are doing such jobs. I would like to choose a place where you as an expatriate are among the elite in the country, which is more charming than living in some country where some fellow countrymen cleans public toilets, I am just not comfortable with this idea.

Crime is everywhere Nepal, India, Africa, America wherever. It depends on the media coverage. I have heard that most of the organized crimes are in Dubai, am not sure about the authenticity of this information.

In short, my point is that if you are choosing a country for the money/ career factor don't cribb about the place & try to give negative image of any place. Secondly don't compare apples and oranges! (I mean countries from different continents and cultures)

Take care
Saraswati Adhikari