World Borders: How To Get From Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to Kasane, Botswana (At Kazungula)

In February 2020 just before COVID lockdown, I crossed a lot of borders in southern Africa and never wrote about them. Here is a guide on World Borders: How To Get From Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe to Kasane, Botswana (At Kazungula). We left the Shoestrings Backpackers hostel in Victoria Falls City, Zimbabwe by shared car (Malina, Russell and I) and headed straight for the border post at Kazungula bound for Kasane.

I lost most of my photos from this trip – totally my own fault, as the trip was in February 2020, I returned home to Warszawa and despite sitting at home during lockdown, I never once saved those photos and ended up losing them in June 2020, the night I lost my phone in the freak accident. Also in Zimbabwe, pick up some souvenirs of old banknotes, with banknotes for millions, billions and trillions of dollars!

Crossing the border from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, to Chobe, Botswana, can be done by road through the Kazungula Border Post. Here are the general steps:

Documentation: Ensure you have all necessary documents like passports, visas (if required), vehicle documents (if driving), and any other permits that might be needed. Northern Irish passports don’t need a visa to exit Zimbabwe (I did need one to enter though – $55 US!)

Transportation: You can hire a taxi or use your own vehicle to reach the border post. Taxis are usually available in Victoria Falls for this purpose, we got a shared taxi and it was cheap enough as this is not a long trip.

Kazungula Border Post: Head to the Kazungula Border Post, which is the border crossing between Zimbabwe and Botswana. It’s about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from Victoria Falls town. Our driver got us there quickly. This was my third Botswana crossing of my life, having crossed from Tlokweng in South Africa to Botswana and back the same way in 2011 when I was a somewhat novice backpacker and hobby blogger. Glory days gone by…

Customs and Immigration: At the border post at Kazungula, you’ll need to go through immigration and customs for both Zimbabwe and Botswana. Make sure to complete exit formalities for Zimbabwe and entry formalities for Botswana. Here’s my stamps for both. Botswana, as I wrote is visa free. It was my Mum’s birthday here, so priority was to find a bar with Wi-Fi and call her from Kasane.

Vehicle Crossings: If you’re driving, there might be specific procedures for vehicle crossings, such as customs declarations and vehicle insurance requirements for Botswana. No issues for us, I was hand luggage only. Here is the only photo that remains of me on that crossing, though the videos are below. Once across the border, we saw baboons and then torrential rain came.

Fees and Charges: Be aware of any fees or charges for crossing the border and ensure you have the necessary currency to pay them.

Transportation in Botswana: Once across the border, you can hire a taxi or arrange for transport to your destination in Chobe or continue your journey in your vehicle if you’re driving. However, our driver had an agreement to drop us off in Kasane.

From here, Russell and Malina booked a safari tour to Chobe, while I backpacked the Baobab Prison tree and went for lunch in Hunter’s Bar and Grill.

Hunter’s was in the town centre of calm and small Kasane, where I also found a working ATM and waiting around doing blogging until Russell and Malina finished their Safari tour and we headed to the Crocodile Cottage to sleep. The next day I got a tour of the Crocodile Farm.

As always, please double-check the latest travel information and requirements before your trip, as regulations and procedures can change. It’s also a good idea to allow plenty of time for border crossings as they can sometimes be crowded or have lengthy procedures. This for us though, was a smooth one.

Although I lost all my photos, the videos from that trip are on YouTube: