Kazungula Border Post (Botswana-Zimbabwe) | Customs and Immigration

August 11th, 2023 by tl27650520

easy border crossing from zim to Botswana.
officer at last barrier (Zim) asked for a gift, food or money so he could buy something himself. at least he was friendly! we gave him 3 old cookies we had in front of the car. shame on him!
next guy on Botswana side was responsible for disenfection. very unfriendly that guy! checked our car. oranges not allowed he said. he found firewood and said not allowed, so we had to put it on the side. he checked our fridge and said avocados not allowed. he took one of two (the better one) and just disappeared. Found him sitting behind a wall throwing small stones on it. asked if we are allowed to leave and we were. that was the first impression of Botswana for us.

May 24th, 2023 by Seth Wing

Border post between Zimbabwe and Botswana

May 23rd, 2023 by Seth Wing

Zim to Bots, single US citizen with a rented vehicle.

Overall quick and easy, maybe 30 minutes total.

Zim side: they checked my passport and visa at immigration. Upon exiting, the gate guard asked for a “gift”. I gave him a few oranges I’ve been using for just this type of thing. He opened the gate right afterwards. I highly recommend bringing a bag of oranges and some coca colas to either Zim or Moz, it’s not the best practice, but it will really help speed things along with corrupt officials.

Bots side: clean and efficient, not a whiff of corruption anywhere. You have to sanitize your shoes and tires, then get a health screen (they really don’t do anything here), then onto immigration where they check your passport, then to customs where I had to pay a BWP 280 fee for my vehicle. They didn’t check any other paperwork but did ask for my vehicles registration number and how many days I would be in the country.

April 5th, 2023 by Joelle_Overseas

Zim-Bots(Nam): very easy border crossing, entry Botswana you drive through a pit for "cleaning" the tires and had to take all my shoes out for the same procedure. If you transit through Botswana to get into Namibia same day, it is free and very easy.

January 17th, 2023 by anne.bonfert

BOTS - ZIM
Very quick and easy border crossing.
Botswana side to stamp out done in 2-5mins. no queue for us during lunchtime and low season.

Zimbabwe side also easy without a queue but we did not know you have to do the TIP online beforehand. A guy was helping us to do it on the spot on his laptop and charged 10 US$. Save the money and fill in the form online beforehand.
Other than that we paid 50 US$ for all the car fees (road tax, Tip and vehicle insurance).
I wanted to get a multiple entry visa but they only had single and double entry visa (45$).
They requested our vaccinations but accepted one shot of Johnson&Johnson.

Just a heads up. After entering Zim, after 500 meters is a poor roadblock with police. They check what you have but the guy made no effort going through our stuff after seeing how packed our vehicle was. Got then waved through.

January 15th, 2023 by Jan Kybelka

new Regulation: for Zimbabwe you have to fill in the TIP in the internet in advance, this is the address: ecustoms.zimra.co.zw/etip/
no carnet

November 17th, 2022 by shasta8086

From ZIM to Bots: fastest and easiest border in Africa so far. New and fully air-conditioned building on Bots side, did not see a single tout.

Total time needed: less than half an hour (both sides).

Vet lady was rather lazy and waived the chance to climb into the camper and look into fridge.

July 13th, 2022 by Ratz

Friendly border
Lots of people, the officers messed it up the password but the solved everything out ( so be patient )

With EU passport we paid our visa 30$ per person
It's one month visa, if you want more you need to extended in the city you are before it expires ( max 3 months )

For the car ( Portuguese car with CPD ) we paid 70$ for 2 month
It includes insurance in Zim, carbon foreign and road taxes

July 8th, 2022 by Wyld Eagle Adventures

NOTE: KAZA Visa valid only for entry in the Vic Falls area. Any other border post you need to pay again.

May 29th, 2022 by h_wuensche

ZIM to BOTS
Not as smooth as expected, in total 1 1/2 hours!
Lot of safari vehicles passing through from/to VicFalls!

ZIM Immigration: a friendly helper w/o uniform takes our passport, and brings it back with the exit stamps.
Immigration is in a white container outside the main building. When I look around the corner, plenty of people milled around the only window, without a visible line. This could be a challenge for entering Zimbabwe!
Customs: No problem to stamp the CdP out!

BOTS:
1. Check off vaccination certificates, but no scanning of the QR code.
2. Foot and mouth disease control: a friendly inspector checked our fridge. He was not happy with our vegetables, but we could keep them!
You need to walk over disinfection mats, and drive the car through a disinfection solution.
3. BOTS immigration: we needed to explain why we wanted to get 90 days, and where we wanted to go. Better to be prepared!
4. CdP: no problem, but stamped on the wrong side!
256 Pula paid by VISA card!

May 29th, 2022 by dnt.222

Easiest border crossing in Africa ever (unsure if we just got lucky, or that it's always like this, but we'll take it)!

Steps:
1 - show proof of vaccination
2 - get visa (I paid 50 USD for the Zim/Zam multi entry visa, Dutch nationality)
3 - pay 50 USD for the commercial vehicle costs (Hilux with alucab roof tent), and another 50 USD for the 3rd party insurance, road tax and carbon tax.

There are runners that the 3rd party insurance goes through, it's weird but legit. They just look like regular fellows in t-shirts without uniforms and walking outside of the office, so if feels dubious, but many safari operators mention the above-mentioned costs, so either it's a scam that everyone is included in... or legit.

150 dollars makes one of the more expensive countries to entry, but everything went with smiles, jokes and interest,and generally easy going vibes. Much more organized than Zambia.

Just make sure you have dollars coming in.

May 14th, 2022 by thestoryteller83

Easy exit from Zimbabwe. Had to show vaccine certificate for Botswana.

February 1st, 2022 by ultra4x4

From Bots to Zambia there is now an official bureau de change, but the guys are still hassling to change your money, when I was there under cover police were arresting bogus clearance agents
The new fee of K50 Council tax is now paid in one go with all payments do not pay additional fees else where.
When driving from this border post to Livingston you'll come across the 1st police check, sadly one short fat guy of the traffic devision was clueless about interpol form and hassled me.
it was obvious he was after a reaction......other police intervened and assisted and was on my way after he was told off, all in all on a busy day it will take you at atleast 2 hrs, sometimes you'll be done in 30mins

November 27th, 2021 by Stephan & Maria

Entering Botswana from Zambia is very easy. The border is equipped with new buildings. All fees for Botswana are payable with the visa card. Do not believe the illegal money changers in Zambia. They are lying when they say you absolutely need cash!

November 18th, 2021 by nstroebitzer

Came without a car here and Border crossing is very smooth. Very friendly staff at zimbabwean side.

We travelled Zimbabwe by public transport & it totally amazed us.
People are as friendly & helpful as it gets, landscapes are beautiful and bulawayo can be counted as one of the nicest cities in africa. Also public transport is quite ok, bus companies operating are citylink, extracity, CAG.
Really recommend visiting real Zimbabwe (apart from vic falls which is just not how the reat of Zim is)

March 9th, 2020 by Geri

Easy passing. We delivered our rented car at Kasane airport and booked a one way transfer to Victoria Falls with Nkwe Booking Agency in Kasane. We paid 800 pula's for 2 persons. The driver helped us to cross the border where a Zimbabwan collegue was waiting for us. We paid 30 US$ at the border. Cash, because the card machine was out of order.

February 16th, 2020 by /blogs/68611

MODERATOR NOTE: Check-in removed because of inappropriate language.

December 23rd, 2019 by 2nomads.nl

Crossing the border from Botswana to Zambia is very chaotic. You need to pay five times and there are three currencies involved (Pula's, Kwachas and USD). The chance of getting ripped off is very realistic. On top there are lots of touts offering and pushing for taking their services. The crossing might be done by yourself independently but taking one these touts is very temping to help you cross the border. We found a very reliable one. He was recommended by other travelers. He helped us in a great way. Everything that needs to be payed in Kwachas he payed for us because you cannot get Kwachas in Botswana except with those touts offering a bad rate. After crossing the border we withdrew Kwachas from an ATM and payed him back. Our left over Pula's we changed to Kwachas with him at a one to one rate. He was asking 20 USD for his service but we negotiated 15 USD. Only the fact that he payed the ferry in Kwachas for us instead of USD saved us 10 USD because of the bad exchange rate for dollars.
In case you also want use his service, his name is Noble Kalunga. We called him the day before to make the arrangements (telnr +260-976511330) or WhatsApp.

September 19th, 2019 by williams4x4

Be advised if you are entering Botswans they will only take their currency in Pula or Card, good luck getting Pula in Zimbabwe, changed with zim immigration guy and was extortionate, if you are in Zambia and returning to bots via zim get pula there but juggle hard for a good rate, vehicle to enter bots for a van was P365

September 2nd, 2019 by vanderful.org

Nice and smooth, no problems at all. We crossed the same border 2 years ago and it was a different story. There have been a lot of improvements, here and other places! They only accept Botswana Pula or Cards; no more foreign currency.

July 13th, 2019 by lettinglifehappen.com

Can pay fees with visa, MC, or cash (US dollars, euros, GBP, pula or SA rand). No ATM there.

July 13th, 2019 by lettinglifehappen.com

Easy checkout of Bots. Long line to check into Zim but moved quickly and the employees where very nice and helpful. Credit card machine not functioning to pay visa fee $30pp but functioning next door to pay vehicle fee $50 (for our Toyota Hilux). We had our car papers ready but the guy didn't check.

June 27th, 2019 by flipfloppingtheglobe

WARNING: KAZA Visa (combined Zim-Zam visa) is NOT valid to enter Zambia with at the Kariba border post.
The explanation we were given at the Kariba border post, by the Zambian officers, is that the combined visa was created for tourists that want to see the falls from both countries, not for travelers transiting through Zimbabwe. There is no logic to it, but the guys at the border post in Kariba weren't trying to scam us and felt ashamed for the weird limitation of the KAZA visa and the fact that they had to charge us for a completely new Zambian visa...

June 2nd, 2019 by jj.228

in case you don't want to or you can't cross with your own car for a day trip to the vic falls: we left our land rover at the botswana border parking space (come early as there are not too many parking lots)
get your stamps in botswana (very easy and fast)
then walk to the zimbabwe border post (approx. 3 mins walk)
don't let the guy who stands in between the border posts let you "sell" any taxi drives to the falls as he overcharges you, he wears a badge which says something about immigration
get your visa (30$ for european passport) at the zimbabwe border post (didn't take too long in june, approx. 30mins waiting time in the morning)
now either you can negotiate with the taxi drivers or ask one of the tour operators if they have space for you. we drove with caprivi tours (his name was mike) and paid 10$ pp
the guy between the border post said taxis are 20$ pp but before we went one taxi driver offered to drive us for 15$ both ways pp (which we didn't take as we didn't trust them to take us back again as we couldn't make any calls or anything)
on our way back we drove with our last 17$ (for the both of us) with a taxi driver back to the border post, they are willing to take you for a few dollars if they can fill up the car.

March 1st, 2019 by laradelaro.nl

very easy border. exiting Zimbabwe was easy, no fees. entering Botswana also very easy. payed 321p for the car (50 p motor vehicle insurance, 50 p national road safety fund, 221 road transport permit). you can pay in Pula, US $ or with credit card (visa or MasterCard) no raw animal products allowed. smoked bacon was no problem. we were allowed to cook our eggs so we could take them with us.

February 17th, 2019 by Moto Migrants

Kaza visa available for $50usd. Motorcycle TIP was $61usd (exact change please), didn't care about our carnet. Will have to pay another amount for moto TIP when we enter Zambia....yay! On Sunday at noon it was pretty empty, took us 20min going from Botswana to Zimbabwe.

August 11th, 2018 by Khayaonwheels

Come early before the hordes of tourists arrive and the queue is plus 2 hours long. 10 USD extra made it possible to jump the long queue and be done in 30 min.

Multiple entry visa 45 USD and 90 USD for my car for 3 months.

June 23rd, 2018 by veroiryviajar.com

This post is just a tip for those who want to visit Victoria Falls in a day trip and don’t want to pay a safari company or cross the border with their own car just for one day.
We left the car in the Botswana side of the border (completely safe). We crossed the border by walking and payed our visa (350BWP or 30USD for Spanish citizens).
Then we took a taxi from the border to the Victoria Falls entrance gate and payed 100BWP per person. We tried to hitching, but it was too early in the morning and nobody was around.
For coming back we asked some drivers at the parking area in the Falls and finally we got a car. For free. But some drivers of the Botswanan lodges are also willing to accept extra passengers if they are getting back empty or with few clients (they will ask you for some money).

At the moment of writing, the border is open from 6am to 8pm. Very friendly people.

April 26th, 2018 by stravancer

Botswana Exit was easy as mentioned earlier. Passport got stamped out.
Entry in Zimbabwe required 30 US $ Visa single entry (for 30 days) per person for EU nationals. For the car, 50 $ for road tax and insurances plus 50$ for Commercial Vehicle Guarantee as we had a rental car. We got an official “Temporary Import Permit for Visitor’s Vehicle” from the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority with zero value noted on it and a “Commercial vehicle Guarantee by Agent” that cost 50$. The agent here is TINADY Clearing and Forwarding Company. The first document we got from the man behind the counter, the second one from the agent standing next to me before the counter and working hand in hand with the official. The latter document still seemed a bit dodgy to us. Is it really required or just a method to extract some extra cash? They had a lot of previous Britz vehicles on his logbook, but the Britz office in Windhoek did not have a clue if this was required or not.

October 3rd, 2017 by afrika-drimslar.de

Easy and friendly Border.

Exiting Botswana:
Passports got stamped out. TIP was not looked at. No Vehicle Inspection. No costs. Done in 5 Minutes.

Entering Zimbabwe:
Filled out Visa Form and paid 30 USD per Person for a 30 Day Single Entry Visa (EU Citizens). The Kaza Uni Visa which would also be valid for Zambia is not available at the moment at this Border! Customs gave us a free Temporary Import Paper (EU Number Plate), no Carnet needed. Then we had to pay 50 USD for our Car (Carbon Tax, Road Permit and Insurance - all valid for 30 Days). We already had a valid Insurance from Namibia covering Zimbabwe but they wouldn't recognize it. If you already got a COMESA Yellow Card they will accept it and cut off 30 USD for the Insurance (hence it would only be 20 USD instead of 50 USD for your Car). No Vehicle Inspection. All in all it took us 30 Minutes, friendly people.

September 26th, 2017 by tenkss

Very easy to exit Botswana. Zimbabwe side was a bit of a wrought as they claimed the Kaza visa ($50USD for Zim/Zam) is no longer available, despite the sign outside advertising it. $55USD for British passport single entry into Zimbabwe, $30 for European and US passports. If you're driving your own vehicle it will be $50 in road taxes and insurance, however if driving a rental vehicle it will cost $100USD ($50 for tax and insurance, then a further $50 for commercial vehicle guarantee). It sounds like the CVG should be refundable on exiting Zimbabwe, but good luck trying.

Side note; there is a police checkpoint about 2km after the border checking vehicles. They specifically asked to see use of headlights, indicators, hazard lights. They also wanted to see two red triangles, a hi vis vest and red reflective tape on the rear of the vehicle with white reflective tape on the front.

Welcome to Zimbabwe.

July 31st, 2017 by Phil & Angie

Easy, pleasant border. No costs to exit Botswana.
Entering Zimbabwe. . . . . Smiling faces and a welcome chat, one office has both immigration and customs. VISA cost 50US$ and vehicle cost (carbon tax, insurance, road permit) also 50US$, all valid for one month. Visa is the "kazauni" visa which is valid also for Zambia. Whole crossing took less than 30 minutes, no vehicle inspection. We crossed last day of July 2017

December 1st, 2015 by mmartinh

when we enterered zambia, both immigration offices didnt have a queue. while people were waiting to enter botswana. ferry cost 2kwacha or 4pula from botswana to zambia

January 1st, 2015 by 2xperience.nl

Border between Zimbabwe and Botswana.