Published on and written by Cyril Jarnias
wp:paragraph Moving to Botswana—whether for a few months of study, an expat contract, a humanitarian mission, or an entrepreneurial project—often feels like a dream. Safaris, the immense sky of the Kalahari, a warm culture shaped by botho… On paper, everything seems set for “living your best life.” Yet behind the sunset photos and weekend trips to the Okavango Delta, another side of expat life quickly appears: homesickness.
That’s the percentage of people who will experience some form of homesickness at least once in their lives.
Understanding what’s happening, knowing local resources, embracing Botswana’s culture, and building a strong network are the best antidotes. This article offers a very practical overview for managing homesickness in Botswana—without glossing over the difficulties, but leaning on the country’s real strengths.
Understanding Homesickness in the Botswana Context
Homesickness isn’t a whim or a weakness. Experts describe it as a psychological reaction to leaving behind familiar anchors: loved ones, places, routines, language, social codes. It’s like a small grief, with waves of sadness, anger, fatigue, and sometimes discouragement.
In studies on expats, researchers distinguish behavioral symptoms (isolation, withdrawal), cognitive symptoms (rumination, negative comparisons), and physical symptoms (fatigue, sleep disturbances). Other work shows a strong link between homesickness and depression or anxiety disorders when the situation persists.
Fisher, Dutch researcher
Typical symptoms can include sadness, irritability, decreased motivation, trouble concentrating, and feeling “off” even when everything seems objectively fine. Physically, many report restless nights, disrupted appetite, headaches, or stomachaches with no clear medical cause.
In Botswana, these emotions can be amplified by several factors:
Several cultural aspects matter for successful integration. Outside the capital Gaborone, the cultural gap can be bigger. Although English is the official business language, Setswana—the majority language—remains very present in daily life. The perception of time, often more flexible and referred to as “African time,” can unsettle those used to strict punctuality. Finally, social life often centers on family and long-established circles, where immediate integration isn’t always easy.
Still, homesickness isn’t inevitable. Research shows it tends to ease over time—generally within the first two years—provided you don’t stay stuck in isolation.
Culture Shock, Botho, and Emotional Roller Coasters
Intercultural specialists describe adapting to a new country as a journey in several stages. Steven Rhinesmith talks about a kind of emotional “roller coaster”: initial euphoria, culture shock, superficial adjustment, a deeper frustration period, then a more peaceful acceptance of the host culture.
In Botswana, a key to getting through these phases is understanding the central role of botho. This philosophy, close to ubuntu, emphasizes everyone’s dignity, solidarity, respect, restraint, and community before the individual. In practice, this means great importance placed on greetings, politeness, respect for elders, and avoiding direct confrontation.
Saying “Dumela” to greet one person, “Dumelang” for a group, or answering “Ke teng” to the question “O kae?” demonstrates respect for the ethos of *botho*. Adding titles like “Rra” (for a man) or “Mma” (for a woman) and doing the traditional three-part handshake before getting to the main topics makes integration easier and reduces the feeling of being an outsider in Botswana.
If ignored, this culture shock strongly fuels homesickness. Conversely, recognizing it, naming it, and gradually entering the culture of the kgotla (the community meeting place) and conviviality makes adaptation much smoother.
Why Homesickness Can Be Stronger in Botswana
Several characteristics of the country can amplify, at least at first, longing for home.
Geographically, you quickly move from Gaborone and Francistown—where most economic activity is concentrated—to very sparsely populated areas, with long roads lined by bush, scattered villages, and sometimes isolated communities. This feeling of vastness, enchanting for some, can feel like an oppressive emptiness to others.
In rural Botswana villages, daily use of Setswana, conservative dress norms, the weight of traditions, and the centrality of churches and the kgotla intensify the feeling of difference for expats. Studies show that even migrant Batswana maintain a strong attachment to their home village, keeping land and livestock out in the countryside, and sometimes experience a sense of suspension between two worlds—an experience that also touches foreigners.
Add to that some very concrete difficulties: finding a paid job is far from easy, as positions are preferentially reserved for citizens. Testimonials from foreigners who arrived thinking they’d “quickly land a job” describe a much harsher reality, where only certain sectors (healthcare, highly specialized expertise, international education) offer real openings. This gap between expectations and reality is a powerful accelerator of distress.
Language barriers and the perceived slowness of administrative procedures can create frustration and a sense of loss of control. According to research, it’s precisely this feeling of not being in charge that tends to intensify homesickness symptoms. So it’s important to anticipate delays, seek language support, and recognize this impact to better manage your adaptation.
Building a Strong Social Network: The Best Weapon Against Isolation
All studies agree: emotional loneliness, even when surrounded by people, is a major factor in homesickness. Conversely, being part of a community—even a tiny one at first—is a powerful buffer.
In Botswana, several levers exist to create this social safety net.
Leveraging Expat Communities in Gaborone
In the capital, the foreign community is well organized. InterNations, a global network present in over 420 cities, has a Gaborone group that organizes monthly meetups, interest-based activities, and a Q&A forum. For a newcomer, finding a few familiar faces, a compatriot, or simply people who’ve been through the same adaptation stages can make a huge difference.
Once registered, regularly attending InterNations events or other expat groups on Facebook helps you quickly get a few “human anchors”: that colleague you grab coffee with, that family sharing tips on schools or doctors, that running group that meets near Gaborone Dam.
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| Need | Possible Local Resource |
|---|---|
| Meet expats | InterNations Gaborone community |
| Get practical advice | InterNations forums, expat Facebook groups |
| Regular social outings | InterNations monthly events, pubs (Bull & Bush, etc.) |
| Emotional support among foreigners | WhatsApp groups for newcomers, GEA (US Gov community) |
The risk, often pointed out by psychologists, is staying stuck in an “expat bubble” disconnected from Batswana society. The solution isn’t to avoid it, but to treat it as a temporary buffer, a stepping stone for opening up to the rest of the country.
Investing in Botswana’s Social Spaces
Batswana society is described as very social. Conviviality happens a lot in restaurant and bar malls, but also on sports fields, in clubs, churches, kgotla, and markets.
In Gaborone, places like the Bull & Bush pub, the terraces at Caravela or News Café, and shopping centers (Game City, Riverwalk, Fairgrounds) are meeting points where locals and expats mingle. Joining this daily life—shopping at the same times, signing up at a gym like Virgin Active, joining a running club or golf club (Gaborone Golf Club, Phakalane Golf Estate)—helps multiply contacts.
In Botswana, social and professional relationships are built on trust and face-to-face interactions that develop over time. Regularly visiting, greeting, checking in, and respecting politeness codes is essential, and can lead to invitations to social events like a braai, a soccer match, or a village celebration.
For those living in Francistown or Maun, the same logic applies: find the local sports club, church choir, charity, busiest market, and keep going back. In villages, asking where the community gathers (at the kgotla, a church, a local festival) is often the best way in.
Volunteering, Engagement, and a Sense of Purpose
Feeling useless or “in limbo” is a powerful fuel for homesickness. Conversely, contributing to something bigger than yourself boosts self-esteem and integration.
In Botswana, the nonprofit network is far from negligible. In Gaborone, for example, the Rotary Club organizes food drives at Spar supermarkets for community centers in poorer neighborhoods like Old Naledi, Gabane, Goodhope, and Molepolole. Holy Cross Hospice has been providing palliative care for people with HIV/AIDS or other serious illnesses since the 1990s. Many NGOs work in education, health, and supporting vulnerable people.
For an expat seeking meaning, spending a few hours a week volunteering at such a structure—even on simple tasks—brings three key benefits: breaking isolation, practicing English and/or Setswana in a real context, and emotionally anchoring yourself in your host country.
The table below illustrates the variety of possible forms of engagement and their impact on homesickness:
| Type of Engagement | Example in Botswana | Impact on Homesickness |
|---|---|---|
| Social volunteering | Rotary Club, Holy Cross Hospice | Strengthens sense of purpose and belonging |
| Community volunteering | Village projects, local associations | Creates bonds with Batswana from all walks of life |
| LGBTI+ volunteering | Groups supported by LEGABIBO | Provides a safe space for those affected |
| Religious participation | Churches, prayer groups, choirs | Offers structure, spiritual and social support |
LEGABIBO’s work with LGBTI+ support groups shows how much small, regular groups can break isolation, reduce depression, and provide a space to talk about rejection and violence. Even if you’re not directly affected, the lesson applies to everyone: a small group where you can freely talk about your struggles makes all the difference.
Building a Professional Network to Avoid Feeling Stuck
Among expats, homesickness is often closely tied to a sense of professional stagnation. Leaving a stable job to find yourself sending out CVs with no response or taking a role that doesn’t match your skills can quickly become bitter. Botswana’s reality reinforces this: the market is relatively small, heavily regulated, and jobs are primarily reserved for citizens.
To avoid frustration, think of your professional network not as an immediate tool to land a job, but as an ecosystem of support, advice, and opportunities that pays off over the medium term.
Botswana’s economic landscape is changing, with a gradual rise in sectors like modernized agriculture, tourism, technology, and renewable energy. The country is trying to encourage entrepreneurship and startups, with structures like the Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH), the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Botswana (YEAB), and the Botswana Entrepreneurs Hub.
Attending events like hackathons, pitches, workshops, or conferences lets you meet local professionals and broaden your perspective. It might reveal that your project is better suited to starting a business rather than looking for a traditional job.
A few helpful organizations for professional integration:
| Organization / Venue | Role for an Expat |
|---|---|
| Botswana Chamber of Commerce & Industry | Networking, workshops, lobbying, business visibility |
| Botswana Innovation Hub (BIH) | Tech startup incubation, events, hackathons |
| YEAB, YEDO | Young entrepreneur networks, mentoring |
| Global Expo Botswana, Botswana International Trade Fair | Discover growing sectors, meet decision-makers |
| Botswana Business Network (online platform) | Digital connection with entrepreneurs and investors |
Botswana’s business culture strongly values reputation, personal referrals, and trust built over time. An expat who takes the time to show up regularly at events, listens more than they speak at first, and offers expertise without arrogance will gradually be integrated. This reduces both the material stress related to work and the feeling of being “just passing through.”
Taking Care of Your Mental Health: Resources Available in Botswana
Recognizing that you’re not doing well is a fundamental step. Homesickness, even if not a disease in itself, can slide into depressive or anxiety disorders when it lasts, isolates you, and severely disrupts sleep, appetite, and daily functioning. In that case, self-management isn’t enough: you need professional support.
In Botswana, mental health services are limited but real, especially in Gaborone.
The Botswana Network for Mental Health, located at Bontleng Mall, offers individual and group counseling in English and Setswana for adults and teens. Fees are income-based, with some free consultations. The goal is a quick first contact (same day) and an initial assessment within the week, though the wait may be longer for regular therapy. This organization aims to reduce the stigma around mental health.
In the capital, private practices like Psych Matters BW offer clinical psychology services, sometimes also forensic psychology, to individuals and organizations. Other centers—Crossroads Counselling Center, Lifeline Organisation Botswana, etc.—round out the options. Lifeline Botswana also runs a 24/7 helpline (phone 3911270), a valuable resource in moments of acute distress.
The cost, in pula, of a public mental health consultation in Botswana for adults.
Services are summarized below:
| Resource | Location / Access | Type of Support |
|---|---|---|
| Botswana Network for Mental Health | Gaborone, Bontleng Mall | Low-cost individual / group counseling |
| Psych Matters BW | Gaborone | Clinical psychology, individual support |
| Lifeline Botswana (3911270) | National 24/7 line | Crisis listening, referral |
| Public clinics | Countrywide | Basic mental health consultation |
| National psychiatric hospital | Near Gaborone | Hospitalization, severe psychiatry |
Add to that online therapy options, like TherapyMantra (available in many cities in the country) or platforms specialized for expats. These can be invaluable if you prefer to consult in your native language or if you live in a remote area.
When the following signs persist for several weeks despite your efforts (exercise, socializing, routine), it’s urgent to seek help: severely disrupted sleep, significant weight loss or gain, dark thoughts, massive social withdrawal, feelings of worthlessness, frequent panic attacks. This is no longer just “normal nostalgia” but a potentially severe disorder.
Staying Connected to Your Home Country Without Getting Stuck There
The major psychological challenge for an expat in Botswana—or anywhere—is finding the balance between two poles: not cutting ties with your home country, but not clinging to it so much that you never truly live in the present.
Research clearly shows that maintaining regular contact with loved ones reduces the feeling of uprootedness. In a world where WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype, and the like are everywhere in Botswana, using these tools is almost a given—as long as you use them in a balanced way.
Set up regular check-ins—like a weekly video call with family, a monthly virtual hangout with friends, or asynchronous voice messages—to structure and maintain the long-distance relationship. To avoid misunderstandings due to time zone differences, schedule these slots using a time zone management tool like World Time Buddy.
Standard international call costs to Botswana can be high, but that mainly affects your loved ones calling you, not you calling from Botswana via internet. Several services—phone cards, VoIP providers like Bitcall or Pingo—offer reduced rates for people calling from abroad to Botswana. Using these services can reassure family and friends who don’t have a smartphone or stable connection.
Cost in euros per minute for calls to Botswana from France, excluding plans that include international calls.
| Type of Service | Indicative Rate to Botswana (landline) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Prepaid card “Top Value” | ~22.6 to 30.4 US cents/min | No weekly fees, per-minute billing |
| Pingo Platinum Service | ~18.2 US cents/min (landline) | No monthly subscription |
| Traditional mobile service (regional example) | ~R2.99/min (Southern Africa) | Varies by provider |
In practice, most expats in Botswana now prefer calls via WhatsApp, Messenger, or Zoom, which only cost data. For your loved ones, the rates above show that, if they don’t use the internet, options exist to maintain regular voice contact without blowing the budget.
The most valuable advice here is psychological: stay in touch, yes, but avoid spending every evening glued to your phone. Otherwise, every call becomes a painful reminder of what you no longer have, instead of support for what you’re living now.
Creating “Home” in Botswana
Homesickness rarely fades if your home remains an impersonal space, closer to a hotel room than a home. Yet in Botswana, many expats live in secure houses, residential complexes, or subdivision villas—sometimes very comfortable but emotionally cold.
To fight nostalgia, turn your new place into a real base. Put up photos, add personal items, cook dishes from your home country with ingredients from immigrant stores or local supermarkets (like Choppies, Spar, Pick n Pay, Woolworths), and create a morning ritual—for example, on the terrace. These actions help anchor your body and mind in the new environment.
Celebrating your national holidays, religious traditions, or family customs with friends—local or foreign—also contributes to this blending. Preparing a “Botswana-style” Christmas with seswaa and pap alongside your traditional dish, or hosting a dinner to introduce your home country’s cuisine, creates positive memories linked to Botswana.
Batswana themselves, in studies, show a strong attachment to their places of living, especially elderly people who prefer to “age in place” in their villages despite material hardships. Drawing inspiration from this emotional relationship to place, and cultivating it in your home in Gaborone, Maun, or Francistown, is a way of making the space your own.
Anchoring Yourself in Culture: Festivals, Arts, Botho in Daily Life
An effective strategy against homesickness is to stop thinking in terms of “substitution” (what you’ve lost) and shift to a logic of “added value” (what you gain here). Botswana, beyond the safaris, offers a cultural richness that’s largely underestimated.
Participating in festivals like Maitisong (performing arts), Kuru Dance (San dances and music), Domboshaba/Tjilenje (Kalanga culture), or Maun International Arts offers a unique immersion. Watching dances, listening to marimba, or joining a *boma night* (songs and stories around the fire) provides far more than entertainment: it’s an affective collective experience that compensates for being far from your own cultural references.
Visiting museums—National Museum & Art Gallery in Gaborone, Nhabe Museum in Maun—frequenting places like Botswanacraft (crafts, restaurant), attending shows at the Maitisong Cultural Centre or the Alliance Française builds a new “mental map” of the country. Having favorite spots, local artists you enjoy, and habits (Saturday morning coffee at the Main Mall Market, a monthly concert outing) reduces the feeling of being perpetually passing through.
Gently integrating the values of botho into your own way of being—for example, being available for a neighbor in need, accepting an invitation to a kgotla, supporting a local project—lets you move from observer to participant. It’s often in these quiet gestures that the healing of homesickness takes place, without fanfare.
Taking Care of Your Body to Lighten Your Mind
Studies on homesickness show a close link between mental and physical state. Botswana, with its often hot and dry climate, vast distances, and outdoor activities, adds an extra adaptation challenge for the body.
For maintaining well-being, establishing a stable routine is essential: regular sleep, balanced diet, good hydration, and physical activity. Activities like daily safe walks, joining a sports club or gym, or participating in hikes help release endorphins (feel-good hormones) and create opportunities for social encounters.
Beware, however, of excesses linked to the “drinking culture” described in some Botswana contexts. Alcohol might seem to temporarily ease sadness or loneliness, but it worsens depressive and anxiety symptoms in the medium term, ruins sleep, and complicates integration. Research shows that the “over-medicalization” of emotions (whether through alcohol or self-medication) tends to make homesickness worse rather than better.
Allowing yourself a social drink, yes; turning the bottle into a daily antidepressant, no.
Adjusting Expectations: The Gap Between Fantasy and Reality
Another important factor in homesickness is the gap between pre-departure expectations and lived reality. Many arrive in Botswana with an image of a stable, welcoming country, a “simpler” life, sometimes an easy career launch. When jobs are scarce, bureaucracy weighs, and solitude creeps in despite social networks, disillusionment can be brutal.
It’s not reality alone that makes us happy or unhappy, but the gap between reality and our expectations. The more unrealistic those expectations were, the higher the hurdle. Becoming aware of this, without judging yourself, is a first step toward readjustment.
Psychologists
This means asking honest questions: were my initial expectations realistic? Did I confuse “standard” (what I consider acceptable) with “certainty” (what I assumed was guaranteed)? Did I clearly communicate my needs to my employer, family, loved ones, or did I just assume they understood?
Easing up a little on your demands on yourself—accepting that the first few months are mainly for observing, learning, and fumbling—lets you be less hard on yourself for not “fully enjoying” the country or not immediately having “ticked all the boxes” you imagined.
When Homesickness Persists: Dare to Ask for Help
For most expats, homesickness has ups and downs, often peaking around the third month—when novelty fades but anchors aren’t in place yet—and then again around the first year. Usually, symptoms eventually ease, especially if you’ve built a network, created routines, and found activities that bring joy.
If nostalgia evolves into persistent depression or an anxiety disorder, it’s not advisable to stay alone out of pride or fear of bothering someone. Seeing a professional (psychologist, online therapist, or a general practitioner familiar with these issues) can prevent the situation from worsening.
Studies show, for example, that expats experiencing intense homesickness make more mistakes at work, have more conflicts with colleagues, and some cut their assignment short to go “home” without really resolving the underlying issue. In these cases, input from a specialist in expat experience can help distinguish what’s legitimate suffering, what stems from older patterns (perfectionism, difficulty asking for help, fear of judgment), and build an exit plan.
For effective support, prioritize local resources like the Botswana Network for Mental Health, helplines, and public clinics. You can supplement this with online follow-up in your native language. Finally, it’s crucial to talk to at least one trusted person in your circle. These three concrete actions can make a real difference.
Making Botswana a Full Chapter, Not a Parenthetical
Managing homesickness in Botswana means neither denying what you left behind nor forcing yourself to “love everything” about your new country. It’s about accepting a kind of dual belonging: your former self and the person you’re becoming here.
The country presents certain challenges like limited mental health services, regional inequalities, a restricted job market, and possible loneliness for expats outside Gaborone. However, it also offers notable strengths: a society based on respect and community, a good level of safety, a rich cultural life, and an exceptional natural environment.
By gradually turning unknowns into anchors, replacing simple nostalgia with active curiosity, and building human connections that cross borders, it becomes possible to see this country not as the place where you “left everything,” but as the place where you also gained a great deal.
The goal isn’t to stop thinking about your home country, but to one day be able to say, without betraying yourself, that you have several places you call “home.” And despite the blue evenings, Botswana can very well be one of them.
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Cyril Jarnias is an independent expert in international wealth management with over 20 years of experience. As an expatriate himself, he is dedicated to helping individuals and business leaders build, protect, and pass on their wealth with complete peace of mind.
On his website, cyriljarnias.com, he shares his expertise on international real estate, offshore company formation, and expatriation.
Thanks to his expertise, he offers sound advice to optimize his clients' wealth management. Cyril Jarnias is also recognized for his appearances in many prestigious media outlets such as BFM Business, les Français de l’étranger, Le Figaro, Les Echos, and Mieux vivre votre argent, where he shares his knowledge and know-how in wealth management.
