VISITING BOTSWANA (NORTH): A SHORT LIST OF REQUIREMENTS AND THINGS TO REMEMBER FOR 1ST TIMERS (Quick Check list)

 

Following a 10-day visit to the northern part of Botswana (Victoria Falls (Zambia) & Chobe), herewith a brief list of important things to remember!

 

1. Passports are needed by all adults and children alike. Passports must not expire within 6 months of the visit. Must have 3 blank pages as well( ??!!)

2. Your vehicle registration papers (also for trailers). Note that if your vehicle is under finance from a bank, you need a letter from the bank authorising it to be taken cross border. Many South African banks take in the vehicle registration documents when financing vehicles—a faxed letter from the bank authorising the cross border together with a faxed copy of the actual registration certificate were accepted in Botswana, Namibia and Zambia. Remember to make a plain paper copy of any thermal fax paper versions. If your vehicle is not under finance you MUST still bring its original registration document(s) with. Same applies to rental cars.

3. Your insurance company confirming by letter (fax) that your vehicle is insured and for which countries. This will typically cover all Southern African countries excluding Zambia, Tanzania and Angola (you will have to get special insurance for your vehicle when visiting those countries).

4. You MUST pay local insurance AND road tax in ALL countries—these are obtained at border posts and cost approximately the equivalent of R60—R200 per vehicle depending on where you want to travel to. Trailers cost an additional R30 to R100. If the officials don’t offer the insurance & road tax, ask for it, because you will have to show the document at the many road blocks you will come across (and will be fined if you don’t have it.)

5. All vehicles (including trailers) must have a “ZA” sticker on the back. Moz requires special triangle stickers on trailers/vehicles. You must also have two red warning triangles inside your vehicle (especially for Zambia). Apparently some checkpoints are now asking for fire extinguishers as well (you should have one anyway!!!)

6. Border posts have different open times during summer/winter. In winter Martin’s Drift border post opens at 08:00 and closes at 18:00. Things go SLOWLY in Africa and you must in general plan for at least 1 hour to pass through any border post. The South African side of the border is ironically the slowest, most inefficient and dirtiest, especially when returning to SA during holiday periods (it took us over 2 hours then). I understand that Zimbabwe/SA at Beit Bridge is even worse.

7. When travelling to Martin’s Drift we recommend that you leave Johannesburg by 04:00 to be there by 08:00.

8. Petrol and diesel are both less expensive in Botswana than in SA (lower taxes)—there is an excellent garage (with convenience shop) just across the border in Botswana where you can fill up for less than in SA. On this topic, diesel and petrol are sourced from South Africa and are widely available in all major towns in Botswana—one must however remember that some of these towns are more than 300km apart and it is important that you plan your routes and fuel. At least one 20 litre emergency can is strongly recommended (remember to declare it when leaving SA). There are occasionally smaller filling stations in between towns, but they are likely to have low pump rates and dirty tanks—so don’t risk using them if not an emergency (we came across three Dutch intern doctors stuck with a dirty diesel problem in Zambia!). You can sometimes pay for petrol with your credit card in bigger towns. South African Petrol/Garage Cards are NOT accepted.

9. Avoid driving alone in Botswana as a breakdown can be tough to deal with on these long stretches of road. Always have a good quality tow-rope with you (not a local hardware shop “nylon ski rope”!).

10. AVOID travelling in Botswana at night as it is very dangerous. There are literally hundreds of cattle and game roaming free (no road-side fences) and hitting such an animal at night is not only very dangerous, but can ruin a nice holiday before it starts. If you have to drive at night you may want to constantly note the open area next to the road—if grass is short for appr 30 metres next to the road, you can likely drive safely at appr 70 - 80 km.h. and if not, certainly not more than 60 to 70 km.h. Good quality driving lights are essential. North of Nata we twice came across pitch black elephants in the road—be careful!

11. Speed limit on open roads is 120 km.h but you will often come across speed limits varying between 60 km/h. to 80 km/h. when approaching villages and crossings. We have come across MANY speed traps (all radar based) in these lower speed zones - so be careful—you will get caught if ignoring them (even in very small villages!) and fines are rather hefty I understand (i.e. > R300). Insist on a receipt.

12. Main roads are mostly tarred and in reasonable condition (you don’t need a 4x4 to travel between major towns). Watch out for occasional pot-holes!

13. Lesser roads are virtually all 4x4 (lots of sand) and I don’t think you should risk it with a 4x2 vehicle (not even with a diff-lock). Also never drive remote roads alone! I understand that Unimogs and other big 4x4’s have damaged some smaller roads to such an extent that low clearance soft roader 4x4s can not drive on them anymore.

14. Road side toilet facilities (i.e. at garages) are in general very poor and most of the time filthy. Remember your own toilet paper (for the whole trip!) and some physical hygiene protection for toilet seats (important for females!). When driving through Nata I would recommend that you stop at Nata Lodge (appr 10 km before Nata) and rather have the courtesy of buying a cup of coffee in their restaurant just to use their clean facilities (after 200 km from Francis Town you will want to do it anyway!). We found clean toilet facilities at Martin’s Drift Petrol Station, Francistown, Nata Lodge (NOT the town itself), Maun, Kasane (look out for well known garages (such as Engen, BP) that appear looked-after).

15. There are many veterinary check points (road blocks) and you will often be checked for meat or dairy products. This is important as Botswana is serious about protecting itself against Foot and Mouth Disease (found in Zimbabwe, etc). Do not bother to have lots of meat with you—it will be confiscated, especially when driving back from the north! There are veterinary “zones” inside Botswana and you will sometimes not even be allowed to move meat bought inside Botswana, i.e. from the north to the south (and vice versa at times). We did however manage to take all our meat from SA all the way to Vic Falls. There are very strict controls close to the northern borders of Botswana and all our meat (even vacuum-packed) and milk/cheese were confiscated when entering Botswana from Katima Molilo (Namibia). Buying meat inside Botswana is unfortunately not that easy and we could buy meat only in bigger towns (there are a few but nice Spar and Shoprite shops, etc in the major towns (i.e. Gabarone, Palapye, Kasane, Maun, Katima Mililo).

16. It is quite possible to drive from Johannesburg to Nata during day time (winter), but then you must leave Martin’s Drift by not later than 12:00. If you want to drive to the north (Kasane) you will need another 3 hours. As most of the 300km road between Nata and Kasane is dead straight, be careful that tiredness don’t overcome you! It is recommended that you don’t try to drive further than Nata!

17. The ferry between Botswana (Kazangula near Kasane) and Zambia is notoriously unreliable and often broken down. Plan for delays of up to 4 hours at the ferry/border post! It costs appr R130 (no trailer) to R150 per vehicle with trailer. Nowadays it is perhaps better to consider going round from Kasane to the VicFalls Bridge via Zimbabwe (you have to pay a “Carbon tax” of appr. R125.00 or in US$)

18. I occasionally had problems using my MasterCard and had to use my wife’s Visa card twice (nice!). It appears that Visa cards maybe more widely used.

19. There are a limited number camping sites along major routes and one doesn’t have to make reservations ahead of time (although you can if you want to, especially in peak periods). We can recommend the following camp sites (which all have warm water showers): Martin’s Drift, Itumela (Palapye), Nata Lodge, Toro Lodge (Kasane), Drotsky’s Cabins, Maramba Lodge (Livingstone, Zambia).

20. Take your own bottled water or sterilising tablets. Bigger towns have safe drinking water from taps, but I don’t think it can be relied upon to be always safe...don’t risk upset stomachs!

21. There are only a few pharmacies in Botswana/Zambia—rather buy your medicines in South Africa.

22. Malaria is a BIG problem in countries north of South Africa and it is strongly recommended to consult your doctor before leaving South Africa. We came across surprisingly many mosquitoes for mid-winter—so be careful! Prevention against being bitten by mosquitoes is important and you are urged to use anti-mosquito spray (or cream lotion) which must be used generously in the morning but especially in the afternoon and evening. Also wear long trousers, closed shoes and long-sleeved shirts after dusk . We also burnt mosquito coils/candles every evening.

23. Although it is difficult to give guidelines on how much cash you need, I would recommend at least 2,000 Pulas per week for a family of 4 (excludes accommodation and fuel). Border crossings must be paid in Pulas (cash only) and varies between 35 and 60 Pulas per person. Pulas can be obtained from some South African Banks. Zambia Kwatchas can not be bought from SA banks and you have to change money in Zambia (be careful of road side money traders—they will rip you off if you don’t know the exchange rates!). South African Rands are widely accepted in Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe (also a bit in Zambia although they prefer US$), but again you must check the exchange rate offered! We could pay the ferry at Kazangula to Zambia with Rands.

24. Keep ALL receipts/documents in a file as you can be required to return them when leaving a country.

25. We found winter night temperatures to be a lot colder than expected—remember warm clothes/jackets and extra blankets to put on top of sleeping bags.

26.  A map-based GPS is recommended for everything but driving on main roads. I have found it useful to check our position in remote areas and even to check for poorly marked turn-offs on main roads. You will need a good map to use with a GPS. Unless the full map is loaded into your GPS, you MUST double check that you know how to plot your position on a paper map. Practice with the actual GPS unit that you will use on your trip. I have found InfoMap maps useful although they do not always have very good GPS accuracy (come-on Infomap—we need better accuracy for your nice maps!). See : http://www.infomap.co.za

 

Plse let me know if you have found this info useful! Any omissions/updates or things you want to have changed? (especially after your trip!?) 

Christiaan Mostert

Mostert@comsim.co.za   mostert@comsim.co.za