We had asked our guest house how to cross the border and were quoted a price that we thought was too high. During our trip to town, we asked at the gas station how we could get to Victoria Falls. They told us to wait under the nearby tree at 8 am and someone would come. We decided to ask around for more information and asked the grocery store employees on their lunch break behind the store. They were able to provide us with a number of someone who shuttles people across. We booked our seats with him and would need to be under the tree at 2 pm.
After spending hours consolidating our stuff and repacking all of our belongings into our bags after weeks having the truck, we were ready. We strapped them on us and made the 1 km walk to the gas station. It was the hottest part of the day and are packs felt like they weighed double what they did when we started.
Walking with a loaded backpack
We arrived to the tree about 20 minutes early as we didn’t want to miss our ride. After about an hour of waiting, someone came over to tell us that they were fixing a few things with the car and our driver would be right over. It took some organizing to get everyone’s belongings in the car, but after a bit we managed. There were seats for 6 people, including the driver, but we squeezed 7 of us in. Meaning Tico and I shared the middle row of seats with 2 other passengers.
Waiting for our ride
The car smelled strongly of gasoline and as they’d just filled up we figured that was why. As we drove out of the parking lot, the guy in the back starting speaking in what I would assume was Shona to the driver. He immediately pulled over and went to the back. On the floor of back seat was a container that was holding at least 50 liters of gasoline and the seal wasn’t working. They managed to tear apart a garage bag and Tico donated a rubber band to the cause and we were off again. We passed a herd of elephants and impalas on our way out of Kasane and reached the border quickly.
Our ride was packed!
The Botswana immigration official asked why Tico didn’t have a visa in his passport. After explaining that they never asked for it when we entered, she spoke with her supervisor who then called the Mohembo border post. We had the visa with us so it wasn’t a problem, but they wanted to understand why it wasn’t placed in the passport. Our driver came to check on us as we waited and after several minutes we were free to go.
A few kilometers down the road while passing the large number of parked commercial trucks waiting to cross, we reached the Zimbabwe border. This time we decided to present Tico’s passport with the pre-approved visa to avoid problems later. I was informed that I could get the Kaza visa, which would allow me to go to Zambia and not have to pay again. We paid our fees and piled back into the car.
The trip to Victoria Falls town took another hour and we passed an elephant looking like it wanted to cross the highway on the way. Our first stop was to our driver’s house to drop off the gasoline. The group stood on his porch as they unloaded 5 smaller cans of gasoline that were also in the back. They were going to have to syphon the big container as it was too heavy to remove while full. Then, one-by-one he took us to our final destinations.
He dropped us off at Shoestrings Backpackers and we still didn’t have the address of the place we were staying at. We’d arranged to stay with Paul through Couchsurfing so needed to get a local number to contact him. With our bags in the locker, we walked into town to sort out a new SIM card. The shops were closed, but we asked around and were able to get a card from a street vendor. We made contact with Paul and headed back to the hostel to wait for him to pick us up.
Dinner at Paul’s house
Our welcoming committee arrived (Paul had a full house) and we headed to the store to pick up food. That night we all sat around talking about our experiences and giving recommendations for different places. It felt like a hostel with everyone there and we could hear the falls in the background as we went to bed in a tent in his backyard.
Helpful tips:
- Make sure you have your Botswana visa (if necessary) placed in your passport on arrival for ease when leaving.
- If you need to apply for a Zimbabwe visa prior to arrival, make sure you have at least 48 hours to get the confirmation letter and have it printed. The process can be done online.
- The price of the taxi from Kasane to Victoria Falls should be $8-10 USD even though many will quote you much more.
Me encanto que el sitio “oficial” de la parada del transporte sea bajo un arbol… conveniente la sombra