These are notes of our border crossings, the formalities and the currency requirements/availability. We have no secret formula for the perfect, hassle-free border crossing, but see our blog-story at ‘The snake worked again!‘ which may be amusing if not totally helpful!
Obviously the detail below is limited to our personal experience as Brits, with a Cuthbert-sized truck, at specific border posts and on the stated dates. Being Africa, it cannot be concluded that the same rules will apply in 6 months time to, say, US Nationals with a smaller vehicle at a different border post (even if it is between the same countries).
At the bottom of this page is ‘Pre-Border Checklist‘ which we find helpful to refer to before approaching a border, just to check that we have got all the documentation ready before joining the inevitable queues.
1. Arrival in South Africa May 2014
Personal Visas – As British nationals we did not need a visa to enter South Africa as tourists. On our arrival at O.R. Tambo Airport, Johannesburg, we were issued the ‘visitors permit’ for 90 days (no fee).
[Note added 21 Jan 2015: since May 2014 there are new South African immigration laws. These effectively mean that if a British national (or a national of several other countries) has travelled to SA under a 90 day visa, and that visa expires whilst you are out of the country, then on a return visit to SA you will receive only a maximum 7 day visa unless on the return visit, you arrive from your country of residence. This is apparently aimed at preventing border-hopping by workers to renew visas, but it inadvertently catches out the unwary over-land traveller. The new law does not seem to have any stated time-lapse for absence from SA, after which the ‘clock is re-set. So for us, even though we will have been out of SA for 8 months, because our original 90 day visa expired whilst we were outside of SA, it means that unless we catch a flight back to UK and re-enter SA directly from UK, we can now only have a 7 day visa to re-enter SA. This short period will not give us much time to: (i) get Cuthbert across SA from the border to PE; (ii) sort the port arrangements to put him on the ship back to Europe; and then (iii) get ourselves to Johannesburg or Cape Town to catch our international flight out of SA! We intend to approach a border-post and see if there can be any exceptions to this rule. If not, we will have to spend the last few weeks of our trip outside of SA in the neighbouring countries, instead of spending money in the restaurants, shops and campsites of SA!].
Vehicle formalities – Cuthbert arrived in Port Elizabeth (PE), South Africa from Bremerhafen, Germany with Wallenius.
Unlike with many other countries, there is no compulsory Third Party Insurance to be taken out on arrival of the vehicle in South Africa; this is covered for all drivers by a Government levy included in the fuel price at the pump. However we preferred not to rely on this State insurance scheme and took out our own separate insurance cover (see Insurances).
The temporary import process for Cuthbert was greatly facilitated by having a Carnet de Passage. With Adrian’s help (of JFA in Port Elizabeth), the whole process took just an hour or so at the docks. We understand that had we tried to bring a UK registered vehicle into South Africa with a Temporary Import Permit (TIP) instead of a Carnet, it could have taken several days, possibly weeks, to finalise.
We arrived in PE to collect Cuthbert as the ship arrived. Had we not been there and Cuthbert had been stored in the docks to wait for us, we would have been charged per day storage fees.
2. South Africa to Namibia July 2014: Kgalagadi – Mata Mata Border
We exited South Africa into the Kgalagadi Trans-frontier Park at Twee Rivier. Entering this park with an intention to leave into another country (i.e. Namibia or Botswana) requires at least 2 nights staying in the Park. We exited South Africa, then stayed in the Park ‘no-mans-land’ for 5 days before entering Namibia at the Mata Mata gate.
Personal visas – no visa fees for UK nationals. 90 day ‘tourist permit’ issued at the border free of charge.
Vehicle formalities – retrospectively (hindsight always being 20:20 vision 🙂 ), we now understand that South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland have formed the Southern Africa Customs Union (the SACU) and are effectively ‘one-country’ for vehicle import purposes. There should therefore be no special vehicle formalities to driving over the borders between these countries, even for vehicles registered outside of the SACU). However we were not aware of this at the time, and neither it seems, was the officer at the RSA exit gate at Twee Rivier, who erroneously completed the ‘exit section’ in Cuthbert’s Carnet de Passage.
When we arrived at the Namibia entrance gate some 125 km away and 5 days later, the officers refused to sign—off the ‘new entry’ section of the Carnet as the vehicle was still within the SACU. We therefore had an ‘exit’ stamp in the Carnet for RSA, but no new entry for Namibia.
There was a road-fund fee to pay for Cuthbert’s arrival in Namibia. It was based on the vehicle weight, but unfortunately the document had to be handed back as part of the exit procedure from Namibia, so we have no record of how much we paid! It was not an extortionate amount.
Currency: The Namibian $ is tied to, and interchangeable with, the South African Rand. No money exchange necessary and all fees could be paid in either currency.
3. Namibia to Botswana August 2014: Mohembo Border
Mohembo border: on the west side of the Okavango, between Divundu in Namibia and Shakawe in Botswana. This is a nice, quiet border that we had used before on a previous holiday.
Personal Visas: No visa fees for UK nationals. Tourist permit issued free of charge at the border.
Vehicle formalities: Carnet not required (see above regarding the SACU). Compulsory fee for combined road-fund and third party insurance for Cuthbert: P290 (lighter vehicles are cheaper).
Currency: We did not have any Pula, but SAR were accepted at a poor exchange rate.
4. Botswana to Zimbabwe August 2014: Plumtree Border
Plumtree border: between Francistown in Botswana, and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. This is not a quiet ‘back-road’ border post as we usually prefer, but we chose it because we were advised by the RAC (the UK issuer of our Carnet) that this was the only border between the two countries that would be accepted to stamp our Carnet. By reputation, this border is quieter and easier than the ‘infamous’ Beitbridge crossing into Zim from RSA.
Personal Visas: US$50 per person for a 30 day single entry tourist visa. Apparently we could extend this period, free of charge, for up to 90 days at any immigration office in the country, but we did not test this.
Vehicle formalities: Compulsory fee for combined road fund tax, carbon tax and insurance of US$55. [Note: Zimbabwe also has road tolls payable on many of the highways between the large towns; the price depends on vehicle size. For Cuthbert it was US$5 on most sectors].
Currency: All fees paid in US$ (the ‘official’ currency of Zimbabwe). The desks at which payments are due have ‘Visa’ credit card signs, but the system was apparently ‘broken’ on the day that we went through! Probably best not to rely on this! Presumably to avoid allegations of corruption, the border officials at Plumtree were meticulous about ensuring that official receipts were issued for all payment that we made.
5. Zimbabwe to Zambia September 2014: Kariba Dam Border
Interesting to drive across the Kariba Dam Wall, but in addition to the border fees noted below, there was US$30 fee for Cuthbert to drive over the dam wall (this would be only US$1 for a vehicle under 3 tonnes).
Personal Visas: US$50 per person for a single entry, 30 day tourist visa issued at the border. A double-entry visa would have been US$80, but the second entry needs to be made within 3 months of the first entry.
Vehicle formalities: Carbon/Emissions Tax US$30, Road Tax US$20, compulsory third party insurance 130 kwacha. A few miles down the road after entering Zambia at Kariba, is an official road block at which local Siavonga council tax is due of 30 kwacha.
Currency: The taxes and visas could be paid in US$ if you have the right notes/bills. We did not have any kwacha to pay the insurance, but the Zambian customs officer behind the desk referred us to a guy outside the door who could change our US$ into kwacha (this was obviously at an exchange rate to his advantage, but not outrageously so). We would normally not consider any ‘unofficial’ transactions to change money, but under the circumstances this was really our only choice to pay the necessary border fees. Also, the ‘money man’ had been specifically recommended by the officials behind the desk, so on this occasion we decided to do it (just for the necessary amount to get us through the border). A few km down the road in Siavonga is a bank with an ATM to get Kwacha.
6. Zambia to Malawi September 2014: Chipata Border
Border between Chipata in Zambia and Mchinje in Malawi. Far easier and quicker than we expected!
Personal visas: Visas are not required for UK citizens. Free visitor permit for 30 days issued at the border.
Vehicle Formalities: Our Carnet was quickly and efficiently processed on both sides of the border. Third party insurance is required for Malawi, unless you have a COMESA Yellow Card (we obtained this in Chipata on the way to the border crossing – see Insurances and Moving on… now with a Yellow Card). On entering Malawi there is a ‘Road Toll Tax’ of US$ 51 valid for 30 days.
Currency: Before we obtained our COMESA Yellow Card (see above) we understood that we would have to buy Malawian third party insurance at the border and that only Malawian Kwacha would be accepted. Legitimately obtaining Malawian currency in Zambia is apparently quite difficult and there are many touts on the streets of Chipata offering travellers “a very good price my friend”! Once we had the insurance sorted, we decided that we probably wouldn’t need any cash at the border and set off from Chipata without any Malawian Kwacha in hand. The ‘Road Toll Tax’ (see above) was a surprise cost for us, but we were able to pay in US$. Just over the border in Mchinje there are many banks and most have ATMs, but none that we found accepted international cards. We therefore had to drive to Lilongwe to find an ATM that would accept our bank cards.
7. Malawi to Tanzania October 2014: Songwe Bridge Border
As far as we are aware, this is the only land-border crossing point between Malawi and Tanzania.
Personal visas: US$50 per person for a 3 month visa. It is not technically a ‘multi-entry’ visa, but we have been assured that it is valid for re-entry to Tanzania from Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya (the East African Community countries).
Vehicle Formalities: The Malawi side was slightly confusing, with a lack of signs to offices/desks and various semi-official-looking chaps trying to tell us to pay US$250 in road charges. We eventually found the Customs desk for the Carnet process which was then handled efficiently. In the end, no $250 was due but we did have to go to some other office to show that we had previously paid the $51 Road Toll Tax on arrival in the country. On the Tanzanian side, the Customs officers seemed less familiar with the Carnet process, but managed to do it in the end. They also completed a ‘Temporary Import Permit’ form for us. We understood that this was not required with a Carnet, but as it was provided free of charge, we decided not to challenge this. Two road-related fees were due: $25 and $5 (see The Border to the End of the Lake for the story). Insurance is required, but as we have the COMESA Yellow Card (see Moving on… now with a Yellow Card), we did not need to buy this specifically for Tanzania.
Currency: All visa costs and road fees can be paid in US$, so no local currency is required for the crossing. If you need cash to buy insurance in Tanzanian Shillings, there is a Forex and Bank with ATM on the Tanzanian side.
8. Tanzania to Rwanda November 2014: Rusumu Falls Border
Slightly confusingly, as you approach the border there is a sign “One-stop Boder Post”, but it is not open yet, so a full 2-stage border crossing is still required. Other than this misunderstanding, it was a fairly quick and efficient crossing.
Personal visas: As of 1 November 2014, British citizens (and several other nationalities) now need a visa costing US$30 per person for 30 days.
Vehicle Formalities: the Carnet was efficiently handled on both sides and no additional taxes or fees are due. Insurance for Rwanda is due if you don’t have a COMESA Yellow Card.
Currency: Visa can be paid in US$, so no local currency is required for the crossing. There did not seem to be any ‘official’ money changer (Bank or Forex) so if you need cash to buy vehicle insurance in Rwandan Francs, you will probably need to use one of the touts (of course with the usual cautions). ATMs up the road in Kibungo accept international Visa cards.
9. Rwanda to Uganda November 2014: Gatuna Border
Not the best organised border, but look amongst the randomly parked lorries for the signs on the buildings at both sides for Customs and Immigration. There were no queues and staff processed the paperwork efficiently.
Personal visas: For British citizens a 30 day visa costs US$50.
Vehicle Formalities: the Carnet was efficiently handled on both sides. A road fund tax for Cuthbert of UGX 52,000 was due and this had to be paid in Ugandan Shillings. The officer checked the Carnet for Cuthbert’s size/weight to determine the amount due (we understand that this fee would not be due for an ordinary car). Insurance for Uganda is required if you don’t have a COMESA Yellow Card.
Currency: Visa fee can be paid in US$, but the road fund tax needed local currency. There did not seem to be any official money changing office, so we had to use one of the touts outside, but they gave us a reasonable exchange rate. For more cash, a Barclays ATM for international Visa Cards is available around 20 km up the road at Kabale.
10. Uganda to Kenya December 2014: Malaba Border
Probably the worst organised border that we have crosses so far. The Ugandan side was quite bad, with a lack of signs to offices and some disorganised queueing; but at least there were only 2 desks to find – immigration and customs. On the Kenyan side however, the organisation showcases the very worst of African bureaucracy. With several desks to be visited, shuttling between (un-marked) offices to make payments, collect receipts etc. The whole process took around 2 hrs.
Personal visas: For British citizens a 30 day visa costs US$50. There are ebola health checks (taking temperatures) for entering Kenya and we had to show our Yellow Fever Certificates.
Vehicle Formalities: the Carnet was efficiently handled leaving Uganda. Entering Kenya, it was less organised: first visiting the customs officer who works out the duties payable according to your vehicle and exit border-post, then going to another desk to make the payment, then returning to customs to sign an acknowledgement slip, then back to the payment desk to collect a receipt, then finally back to customs for the Carnet completion. For Cuthbert, with a declared journey between Malaba and Namanga borders (exiting into Tanzania north of Arusha) the road-tax fee was US$56, but payment was due in Kenyan Shillings – just over KSh 5,000. Insurance for Kenya is required if you don’t have a COMESA Yellow Card.
Currency: The visa fee can be paid in US$, but the road tax needed Kenyan Shillings. There did not seem to be any official money changing office, so we had to use one of the touts outside. The exchange rate was not great, but it wasn’t a rip-off scam. We had plenty of Ugandan Shillings left over, so we changed it all into Kenyan Shillings, even though it was more than we needed for the road tax. For more cash, there are towns with ATMs just over the border, but we went all the way to Iten (on the east side of Eldoret) before needing any more cash.
11. Kenya to Tanzania – December 2014: Namanga Border
Extremely confusing border due to extensive road and building works going on all around the area. We arrived in the Namanga town on the rough back-road from Amboseli. According to our sat-nav we were already well over the borderline into Tanzania before we saw anything resembling an official building. We feared that we may have inadvertently left Kenya by-passing the formalities on the main road, but it turned out that the border buildings were being moved around!
The border area for leaving Kenya was equally as disorganised as the arrival from Uganda a couple of weeks ago (see above), but was reasonably efficient once we found the correct office to report. The arrival in Tanzania was fairly clear and efficient, but see notes below on vehicle formalities.
Personal visas: Temperature taken for Ebola health check. After some discussion, the officials agreed that we could rely on the visas that we had paid for on our previous arrival in Tanzania from Malawi a few weeks ago (see Border – Malawi to Tanzania). This multiple use of a ‘single entry visa’ applies for the original issue period, but only if you don’t leave the East African Community. Since leaving Tanzania we had stayed within the EAC (only visiting Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya) so the currency of the visa had not expired. Had we exited the EAC, we would have needed to pay for a new visa.
Vehicle Formalities: the Carnet was efficiently handled on both sides. On entering Tanzania we showed our receipt for the road tax that we had paid previously for 3 months. The officials at Namanga contradicted what we had previously been told – apparently the validity lapses immediately on leaving Tanzania and has to be paid again for another 3 months on entering again. We are suspicious of this explanation because the decision to charge us again required some discussion amongst the officials and the conclusion was not reached until they had seen our truck. It is possible that this was due to Cuthbert’s size, but we were left with the definite impression that the charge may not have been raised had we been driving a cheaper, more run-down vehicle! Anyway, it was only US$25 and we received an official receipt, so the money probably went to the government coffers rather than an officer’s pocket.
Insurance for Tanzania is required if you don’t have a COMESA Yellow Card.
Currency: The fees can be paid in US$, so no Tanzanian shillings are required unless you need to buy insurance. On the Kenyan side there is an ‘official’ money changing office who gave us a reasonable rate to convert our remaining money into Tanzanian Shillings. For more cash, there didn’t seem to be any ATMs until Arusha a couple of hours down the road.
12. Tanzania to Malawi – January 2015: Songwe Bridge Border
This is our second time entering Malawi. Curiously, the same road tax rules were not applied here for entering Malawi as we had found when entering Malawi from Zambia at the Chipata border in September 2014 (see above).
Personal visas: No visa or fee required for UK nationals entering Malawi.
Vehicle Formalities: Straightforward to leave Tanzania, the desks are all well signed, no queues and officials were reasonably helpful. The officials here confirmed that the officers at the Namanga Border (where we last entered Tanzania from Kenya see above) had – as we suspected – wrongly charged us the additional $25 road tax! The original $25 that we had paid to the Songwe border when we first entered Tanzania in October 2014 should have covered us for the whole 3 month period!
Entering Malawi side was also fairly quiet and straightforward. There was some confusion regarding road tax: when we previously entered Malawi from Zambia in September 2014, we had been charged $51 road fund for 30 days and this was carefully checked again when we left the country to make sure that we had paid the right amount. This time on entering Malawi, the desk officer who processed the Carnet told us to go pay the road tax, but when we got to the office, the officer waved us straight through and told us nothing to pay! We can only anticipate that this will be checked again when we leave the country and we will have to pay then… watch this space!
Insurance is required for Malawi, but our COMESA Yellow Card (see above) is still valid, so we did not need to buy this at the border.
Currency: We had no costs at this border and we still had some Malawian Kwacha left from our previous time in Malawi, so we did not need any new currency. But note that currency options are a bit limited heading south over this border. There is a Forex and Bank with ATM on the Tanzanian side and there are also plenty of money touts outside the gate on the Tanz side, but nothing on the Malawi side. If you need to buy insurance for entering Malawi, you may need to use the money touts to get Kwacha before you leave Tanzania. The first banks in Malawi are some 40km down the road in Karonga, but importantly, they will not exchange Tanzanian Shillings – either buying or selling. Also, we did not find any ATMs in Karonga that took international Visa cards. The nearest town that we found with an ATM taking international Visa cards is Msuzu!!! If you don’t get Kwacha from the touts at the border, you should be able to exchange US$ for Kwacha in the banks in Karonga (provided you arrive during bank opening hours).
13. Malawi to Mozambique – January 2015: Dedza Border
This was all rather a palava! See the full story at ‘The Moz Diary‘.
Personal visas: Visas are apparently not issued at the borders any more. We obtained ours at the Mozambique High Commission in Dar Es Salaam (see: Dar de dah dah dah (The visa story)). We paid $100 each for same-day service. It would have been $60 each for a five-day service, but we didn’t have the time left on our Tanzanian visas to wait for this. We wanted a multiple-entry visa, but were told that these are only issued for business travel, not for tourists.
Vehicle Formalities: Leaving Malawi was straightforward. Unlike the last time we left Malawi into Tanzania at Songwe a few months ago, this time no one checked whether we had paid any road tax. As they had not charged us the tax on entering this time, we were not required to pay any road tax in Malawi this time (on our previous trip there, we had paid US$51 tax, which was rigorously checked again on leaving the country).
Entering Mozambique was less straighforward…. first, it is not a COMESA nation, so we had to buy third party insurance for 700 meticals. Our Carnet was not accepted and we had to buy a TIP (Temprary Import Permit) but it was only 150 meticals. The final insult was a ‘special’ road tax for vehicles over 3,500kgs. The amount depends on how far you plan to drive in the country; we paid US$75 for400 km (more detail at The Moz Diary)
Currency: There are no ‘official’ money changing facilities at the border so you will almost certainly need to engage at some point with the touts. You will need to have enough Kwach to exchange into Mozambique Meticals to buy insurance and your TIP (unless you can persuade them to accept your Carnet, which we have since heard from other travellers is possible!). Here the touts negotiated harder than any other border we have crossed and the rate was not as advantageous to us compared to the deals we had struck at previous border crossings. The first ATM banks in Moz are some km away in Tete.
14. Mozambique to Zimbabwe – January 2015: Cuchamano Border (Tete corridor)
This crossing was the final part of the ‘Moz Debacle’ – see the full story at The Moz Diary.
Personal visas: 30 day visas issued at the border for US$51 each. Very efficient. We don’t understand why Zimbabwe can issue a visa ‘on-demand’ at the border for $51, whilst Mozambique charges US$100 and requires a full day of tortuous bureaucracy at an Embassy (see: Dar de dah dah dah (The visa story)). Top marks to Zim for a speedy, reasonable and efficient visa service at the border!!
Vehicle Formalities: Leaving Moz was reasonably straightforward. They checked that we had paid the correct road tax, took the TIP off us, stamped our passports and waved us through. Entering Zim, the Carnet was handled efficiently. Carbon tax of US$15 was due. Otherwise, no fees. Zim is a COMESA nation, so our Yellow Card was valid and we did not have to buy any local third party insurance.
The main highways in Zim have sector tolls ($3 for a car and $5 for a truck) payable at toll booths periodically around the country. It seems from comments we have received at the toll booths that we should have been able to pay a cheaper ‘fixed fee’, but we never managed to find out exactly how or where to pay this! The sector tolls are not charged very frequently and it does not work out very expensive to drive across the country. And if you stay mostly on the back roads, you can almost avoid the tolls altogether.
Currency: The Zim currency is US$, so you can easily have currency ready beforehand and avoid the touts. Try to have used-up all your meticals before arriving at the border to leave Moz. If you have any meticals left over, you will need to exchange with the touts, who will probably try to tempt you with Rand instead of US$. We had some surplus meticals to get rid of and could not negotiate a good rate for US$ here. We guess it depends which tout you get on the day!
15. Zimbabwe to Botswana – February 2015: Plumtree Border
All pretty straightforward, but note that after you are done with the formalities below, the final stage of entering Botswana is a Vet Gate to confiscate (amongst other things) any ‘raw meat from cloven-hoofed animals’ and any fruit. The officer there was going to do a thorough check of Cuthbert, inside the living cabin etc, but luckily our trusty ‘snake’ did the trick of diverting her attention (see The Snake Worked Again!)
Personal visas: No visa required for UK nationals entering Botswana. A visitor permit was issued on the spot for our requested 21 days. We believe we could have had longer if we wanted (probably up to 30 days), but as we only plan to stay 7-14 days, we only asked for 21 days.
Vehicle Formalities: Both sides were straightforward and handled the Carnet efficiently, but note that on the Bots side, the Customs desk to process the Carnet is in the vehicle shed away from the main office building. Entering Bots, a road tax and ‘national insurance’ of Pula 190. was due. Curious because the last time we entered Bots we were charged Pula 290. Not sure why it is now a different amount. No insurance is required other than the above compulsory national fee – although whether you want to rely on this is a different matter – it is probably sensible to have additional insurance (see our notes on this at Insurance)
Currency: The compulsory road tax/insurance must be paid in Pula, but there is an official forex office that exchanges US$ to Pula at a reasonable rate.
16. Botswana to South Africa – February 2015: Platjan Border
Leaving Bots was very simple – we were the only people going through. Very friendly chap. The Limpopo river crossing ‘bridge’ is very narrow and low over the river (see picture), so the border is only open when the river is not in flood.
Personal visas: We were very uncertain about our visa situation under the new (2014) South African immigration law. See full details and story at: ‘Arrival in South Africa’ and ‘Can we come in Please?’
Vehicle Formalities: No Carnet process is required on either side as the vehicle is travelling within a single customs union. Customs officers for entering South Africa were very thorough (but professional) in checking for other imported items and this was the first time in the whole of Africa that ‘The Snake’ failed to do his thing (see The Snake Worked Again!) No vehicle insurance is required in South Africa; a Government insurance scheme covers this with a levy on fuel at the pump (although whether you want to rely on this as your sole insurance cover is a different matter – we think it is sensible to have additional insurance – see our notes on this at Insurance)
Currency: No fees were due on entering South Africa so we didn’t need any Rand at the border. There is no currency exchange of any kind on either side. It is a 30-40 min drive to the first town of Alldays to find an ATM and shops.
17. South Africa to Lesotho – April 2015: Sani Pass Border
A 4×4 vehicle is required under South African law to drive up Sani Pass to make this border crossing, but it is not a very challenging drive if you have a capable vehicle. You leave South Africa at the base of the Sani Pass, then drive up the pass and enter Lesotho on the top. The Lesotho arrival office is a very basic and simple hut with minimal formalities.
Personal visas: None required for UK citizens
Vehicle Formalities: No Carnet or TIP process is required on either side as the vehicle is travelling within a single customs union. 90 Rand tax/insurance was payable on entering Lesotho.
Currency: The Lesotho Maloti is tied to the Rand and the two currencies are used interchangeably in the country. ATMs are rare in Lesotho, so take enough Rand with you to last your time there.
18. Lesotho – South Africa April 2015: Telebridge Border
As with the entry (see above) the border crossings are very simple. This is our last land border crossing with Cuthbert in Africa 🙁
Personal visas: Our visas obtained on entering South Africa at Platjan were still valid (see above), so no new visa required. They simply stamped our passports with the entry date.
Vehicle Formalities: No Carnet process is required on either side as the vehicle is travelling within the customs union. No tax or insurance was due as this is covered via fuel tax in South Africa.
Currency: None available at the border, but it isn’t far to the nearest town to find an ATM.
We found the basis of this list on the internet (sorry to whoever we stole it from, we have lost the source information) but we have also amended it in accordance with our own experience. Not all of these apply to every border, but it is a useful reminder list.
Before you attempt to cross a border, consider the following documentation:
- Passport (current and valid for at least six months)
- Current/valid visa for the country departing
- Current/valid entry visa for the country entering
- No visas that would preclude your entry into the country you are entering
- Valid drivers licenses (from your home country and International Drivers Licence)
- Valid/current international immunization record
- Title to your vehicle and current vehicle registration document (try not to present the original, use a good quality colour copy)
- Vehicle Temporary Import Permit (TIP) or Carnet de Passage valid for the country you are exiting and the country you are entering
- Vehicle VIN and engine number
- Local currency of the departing country (for any exit taxes, fees, etc.)
- Local currency of the entering country (for visas, insurances, taxes, fees, etc.) and/or $100 in U.S. Dollars in $10s or $20s (some countries require payment in USD, also useful if no local currency available before entering the country, for visas, insurances, taxes, fees, etc.)
- List of items carried, prices & serial numbers (for Customs)
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