Border Post
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Jan 14, 2009
Botswana - Zambia
Crossing the border with a vehicle is quite time consuming and pricy.
As soon as you pass the Botswana border, there are several guys who offer you help to fill in all the paper work on the Zambia side. They say it will cost you only ZAR 10.00 but we compared it with a fellow camper who took their service. He ended up paying three times as much as what we paid doing everything ourselves!
As there is no bridge over the Chobe River we had to take the pontoon. We thought that they are planning to build a bridge but by the time we arrived we were told that the responsible minister of Zambia decided to sponsor two more ferries instead of building a bridge. At the moment there are two pontoons from which most of the time only one is running. The best part is that each ferry can only take one big truck, and in the best case four vehicles. So be prepared to wait…
There is a long queue of trucks, but if you have a small vehicle, you can just pass them all, otherwise you are stuck for two weeks!
After an hour it was our turn to board the pontoon (which you are not allowed to call ferry or boat without starting an argument with the locals). Only the driver is allowed in the vehicle, in case the boat sinks! The passengers are only granted permission to board once all vehicles are parked. As the river was quite strong, the pontoon had to turn twice, otherwise it will turn over. This apparently happened before and a lot of people died in the incident.
Fees (2008)
After the short ride, we had to do all the paper work. You end up paying US$ 20.00 for the pontoon (this has to be paid on the Zambian site).
200’000 Kwacha (can not be paid in any other currency. Fee depends on the engine size) for the Carbon Emission Tax (this has to be paid in the same building where you get your visa)
10’000 Kwacha for the Council District (this has to be paid in the police office)
112’500 Kwacha for the Third Party Insurance (in one of the small little wooden block huts just in front of the gate)
Once we have mastered the paperwork and paid the fortune we were ready to leave the dodgy place. From here it takes about 60km to Livingstone, where we stayed at the campsite of the Livingstone Safari Lodge (US 6.00 pp). It’s nothing special, but was alright to crash for the night.
Crossing the border with a vehicle is quite time consuming and pricy.
As soon as you pass the Botswana border, there are several guys who offer you help to fill in all the paper work on the Zambia side. They say it will cost you only ZAR 10.00 but we compared it with a fellow camper who took their service. He ended up paying three times as much as what we paid doing everything ourselves!
As there is no bridge over the Chobe River we had to take the pontoon. We thought that they are planning to build a bridge but by the time we arrived we were told that the responsible minister of Zambia decided to sponsor two more ferries instead of building a bridge. At the moment there are two pontoons from which most of the time only one is running. The best part is that each ferry can only take one big truck, and in the best case four vehicles. So be prepared to wait…
There is a long queue of trucks, but if you have a small vehicle, you can just pass them all, otherwise you are stuck for two weeks!
After an hour it was our turn to board the pontoon (which you are not allowed to call ferry or boat without starting an argument with the locals). Only the driver is allowed in the vehicle, in case the boat sinks! The passengers are only granted permission to board once all vehicles are parked. As the river was quite strong, the pontoon had to turn twice, otherwise it will turn over. This apparently happened before and a lot of people died in the incident.
Fees (2008)
After the short ride, we had to do all the paper work. You end up paying US$ 20.00 for the pontoon (this has to be paid on the Zambian site).
200’000 Kwacha (can not be paid in any other currency. Fee depends on the engine size) for the Carbon Emission Tax (this has to be paid in the same building where you get your visa)
10’000 Kwacha for the Council District (this has to be paid in the police office)
112’500 Kwacha for the Third Party Insurance (in one of the small little wooden block huts just in front of the gate)
Once we have mastered the paperwork and paid the fortune we were ready to leave the dodgy place. From here it takes about 60km to Livingstone, where we stayed at the campsite of the Livingstone Safari Lodge (US 6.00 pp). It’s nothing special, but was alright to crash for the night.
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