Everything you need to know about border crossings with a (rental) car between South Africa, Namibia and Botswana

This article gives a detailed account of how to cross the border posts at Vioolsdrift (South Africa to Namibia), Ngoma (Namibia to Botswana) and Martin's Drift (Botswana to South Africa). If you are looking for general information on organising this type of self-drive journey through Southern Africa, have a look at our article about exactly that. We also wrote a detailed 8-12 week itinerary article.

Even though this article is about specific border posts and how to cross them, your experience of using other border posts between the countries mentioned here is bound to be very similar, so the take-aways would probably be the same :-)

Know before you drive

Make sure you get an international driver’s license before doing this route! It’s required for South Africa and Namibia if your home license is in a language other than English, and it’s a must for all foreigners driving in Botswana. For border crossings, you also need to buy a ZA sticker for the car if it doesn’t already have one. You can usually get this at certain petrol stations, “AA” agents, or outdoor retailers before you reach the border.

Before you start driving, it’s also important to clearly communicate your planned route to the rental company, because they will issue you a border crossing permit that you’ll need to show at the border posts. They charge a fee for this (ours was 1330 Rand per border we crossed) and you’ll also need to pay an additional fee directly at the border itself.

Always double-check the opening hours of the border posts, as some operate 24 hours while others are only open during the day. It’s also worth looking up the most up-to-date customs regulations if you’re planning on bringing goods across. In many cases, fresh fruit and vegetables are not allowed due to Hand, Foot, Mouth disease.

Make sure you plan enough time for the border crossings! Usually we were very quick (not taking more than 30min), but we heard that traffic jams, especially at Martin's Drift / Groblersbrug are very common.

Even though there have been reports of corruption from other travelers, I did some research on this topic and these instances are rare. Overall, we had a professional impression of all three border posts, and being friendly and smiling at the agents goes a long way.

Crossing the border from South Africa into Namibia

Vioolsdrift is the main border post if you are driving from South Africa and into Namibia. It is open 24 hours.

Upon arriving, you will be handed a piece of paper on which you need to get stamps from all the relevant offices at the border in order to be able to cross. This includes customs, immigration, road and vehicle department, and as we were travelling during COVID-19, a health screening. The whole process of emigrating from South Africa and immigrating to Namibia took us around 40min.

The documents you will need in order to cross the border are the vehicle papers, insurance and permits (all provided by the rental insurance), your passports (make sure to check visa requirements for your nationality before travelling!), the ZA sticker as mentioned above, your drivers license, some cash, and - depending on the regulations when you will be travelling - COVID test results.

The road user fee you have to pay for your car is around 220Rand. Even though you can theoretically pay by credit card, in South Africa rand or Namibian dollar, it is better to have enough cash with you just in case.

Vioolsdrift was the only border post where our trunk was examined and our luggage was briefly checked. They took a look into our suitcases, but did not bother really unpacking them.

If you are carrying groceries, make sure to quickly check the regulations regarding bringing products into Namibia. I did not find the official list, but this article should give you an idea.

Crossing the border from Namibia into Botswana

If you’re driving the Caprivi Strip like we did, the Ngoma border is the one that will take you from Namibia into Botswana. Just keep in mind that this border post is only open daily from 7am to 6pm.

At the Ngoma border post (and also several times along the road if you continue through the Caprivi Strip into Botswana and then onwards into South Africa), you’ll have to drive your car through a water basin and disinfect all of your shoes. That is, not just the ones you’re wearing, but also any you have packed. This is part of the prevention measures for Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. It’s also the reason why you’re not allowed to bring any kind of meat from Namibia into Botswana, so don’t stock up for a braai right before the border crossing!

On the Namibian side, you’ll once again need to collect stamps on a piece of paper from customs, immigration, road, and (during COVID) the health offices. For us, this was super quick and took only about 15 minutes. The Botswana side took a little longer because we ran into a few hiccups (more on that below) and they also checked our car for meat products — but overall, it was still pretty fast at around 30 minutes.

This was the only border where we had a bit of a "problem" on the Botswana side: We were about to pay the border crossing fee (around 45 EUR) and they insisted we pay this in Botswana Pula. Also in hindsight, we think that this is a ridicoulous rule. We asked whether we could pay by card - the machine was not working. We offered to pay in EUR, USD and Namibian Rand - no, only Botswanan Pula accepted. We asked for an ATM - no ATM at the border post. We asked whether we could change the money somewhere - the closest money exchange service on the Namibian side was 8 hours drive from the border post. It took all I had to not laugh in their faces.

In the end, we just stood there and told them that they needed to tell us what we should do - the border officer then just stamped our passports, and shooed us out the door. So this situation fortunately did not end up being a real problem for us, but it did upset Cordt and my efficiency-oriented and rule-abiding German brains. How could they not have thought of a solution to this problem? They must be loosing so much money!

After the border, you will pass a checkpoint at the Ngoma gate entrance to the Chobe National Park. We were a bit confused about whether we needed to pay something to use the road, but when we told them we were just driving to Kasane, we did not need to pay anything.

Once you are in Botswana, keep your eyes open for any wildlife! We were insanely lucky and came across a leopard just casually sitting by the road. We were later told that there had been no leopard sightings for a few months!

Crossing the border from Botswana into South Africa

The Martin's Drift / Groblersbrug Border Post will get you from Botswana and into South Africa. Note that the border is open from 6AM to 10PM daily.

Again, you passports will be checked, you will get your exit stamp on the Botswanan side, as well as entry stamps on the South African one, and you need to pass customs. As with the other border crossings, you should make sure you don't bring any forbidden goods into the country - often, fresh fruit and vegetables are completely forbidden due to Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (however this seems to change from time to time).

At Martin's drift, you will also have to desinfect all your shoes and drive your car through the aforementioned "puddle" to disinfect the wheels.

Martin's Drift was the only border post where there was quite a bit of traffic when we arrived - but as soon as we entered South Africa, we saw that our direction of crossing was nothing in comparison to the long line of vehicles - above all trucks - that were waiting to cross into Botswana. It took us around 45min to cross from South Africa to Botswana and get all documents checked as well as our exit and entry stamps. That being said, we read online that the border can get quite busy, so it's better to alow enough time for your crossing.

If you're like us and have pushed through the 9 hour drive from Maun to Martin's Drift in one single day, a good option to stay directly behind the border would be Klippan River Lodge. It's nothing fancy and we found it a bit overpriced, but it is very clean and the staff is friendly, so it's a good option to rest after a long day driving. We also did not find any other good options that were as close to the border - it's literarly a few 100 Metres from Botswana! Make sure you bring something for dinner though as options in the area are quite limited (there is a kitchen you can use at Klippan).

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