Your guide to borders Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana

Before Immigration, guests will present themselves to Port Health and show their vaccination certificate or negative PCR Test. Children below age 12 are exempt.

They will then present themselves at Immigration for photographs, passport scanning and other formalities.

Possible queues at Immigration and customs control, especially during the high tourist season (July to October) may cause delays.

A Few Things to Keep In Mind for Botswana

If you have E-Visa online, you will be asked for a hard copy of your visa receipt. Digital receipts will not be acceptedso you must bring a printed copy to present at the border.

Upon entering Botswana, before immigration formalities, you will be required by Port Health to show your vaccination certificate or negative PCR test and then step onto a treated mat for foot and mouth disease control. At this point, they will also be required to disinfect all shoes on this mat. With this in mind, we suggest that shoes are packed separately or carried as hand luggage in a separate bag for the border crossing.

When entering Botswana with a minor, parents must present an Unabridged Birth Certificate (Birth Certificate containing the particulars of a minor and those of their parent or parents).

You can download an outline of Botswana’s regulations when travelling with a minor from the button below. 

 

Visa Requirements for Zimbabwe

Upon arrival in Zimbabwe, you need to present your invitation letter (which will be sent to you before arrival), your passport and funds to cover your visa, which should be a 30-day Business Visa.

The stamp in your passport will say “BV30D”. If it says ‘HV’, you may have been given a holiday visa mistakenly and should ensure that you ask that immigration amends this accordingly.

Your visa payment needs to be made in cash to the immigration officer processing your visa.

Please see below current pricing on Visas for Zimbabwe:

 

 

Nationality Single Entry Double Entry
American US$30 US$45
Canadian US$75 Not an option
British and Irish US$55 US$70
EU Countries US$30 US$45
Australian /

New   Zealand

US$30 US$45

Double Entry visas are not issued for Canadian passport holders, so please ensure you buy an additional single-entry visa if you plan on going on an excursion across the border into Zambia or Botswana. These activities are offered in both countries and are very common.

We suggest a multiple entry visa if you intend on taking part in optional trips that involve leaving Zimbabwe during your initial 30 days.

If you are staying longer than four weeks, you will be required to apply for a TEP (Temporary Employment Permit) before your visa expires, the TEP is valid for either six months or a year.

You will be assisted by our staff in applying and the cost of a TEP is US$500.

To apply for the TEP, please ensure that you have the following documentation with you (already printed out, or readily available on a USB or hard drive):

  • 6 passport size photographs (35mm x 45mm)
  • 3 copies of your passport
  • 3 copies of your resume/CV
  • 3 copies of your qualification certificates
  • 3 copies of your police background check

Additional paperwork that is required will be supplied by Wildlife Encounter/Antelope Park as the operators of the projects.

These documents will need to be presented to immigration as well as an application letter from yourself.

We know this may seem daunting, but you will have the support and assistance from the team on the ground to fill in all paperwork requirements. Don’t worry!

Please also note that you will be required to pay an additional US$70 – US$100 to have a consultation and chest X-ray carried out at a local clinic as part of the procedure.

This is necessary for a Tuberculosis check up and you will be accompanied by a team member.  If you would prefer the X-ray done in your home country before you travel to Zimbabwe please ensure you bring it with you and that it is clear for Tuberculosis screening.

    

 

Caves

In an effort to broaden activities at tourist attraction centres countrywide, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) is introducing lions at Chinhoyi Caves, 129km from Harare, along the Beitbridge-Chirundu road.

Zimparks Public Relations Manager, Tinashe Farawo, says the authority wants to increase tourism activities at Chinhoyi Caves in addition to the traditional cave viewing, to attract more tourists to the site.

Farawo says two adult lions have since been relocated to Chinhoyi Caves from Antelope Park in Gweru. The other two lions will be relocated soon. “Zimparks is enhancing the destination by increasing activities. Tourist are no longer limited to one activity, but can now also do game drives,” he continues.

For now, Farawo says, Zimparks will only keep four lions at the caves, but the number is subject to review, depending on how the first phase of the project goes. He says options to bring other big wildlife species to the area are also being considered.

Prior to the introduction of the lions there were virtually no large animals, although monkeys, baboons, warthogs and rock hares were occasionally spotted.

The caves consist of a system of tunnels and caverns that are slowly collapsing due to time and erosion, leaving sinkholes and depressions in the surrounding area. The Wonder Hole, which is the main feature of the caves, is in fact a ‘swallow hole’, or a large cavern with a collapsed roof.

The Wonder Hole drops vertically for 46 metres to the Sleeping Pool, which is 80-90 metres deep depending on the rainfall patterns that particular season.

Thousands of tourists, both local and international, visit Chinhoyi Caves annually.

Wildlife my Adventures

The day started early on winter’s dark morning in Victoria Falls, the sun had not risen, and I ventured out to the teak forest to work with our horses, with the sounds of the lion roaring in the background. 

Come ride through the fuller forest and local villages, and experience the natural experience of horse and rider.

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Vulture Restaurant Won’t Win a Beauty Contest

Vultures play a critical role in keeping the environment from crashing. However, these vital birds are under siege in Zimbabwe as poachers are killing elephants using poisons which are also killing vultures which fed on the poisoned carcasses.

Though elephant poisonings are well documented in Zimbabwe, many people in the country are oblivious to the threats poachers pose to vultures, or just how important these birds are to the environment. Even though efforts to save the country’s vultures are underway, experts are worried about the growing carnage and fear that these vultures face extinction not only in Zimbabwe but across southern Africa.

Against this backdrop, the Victoria Falls Safari Lodge has come up with an innovative way of protecting vultures. It has developed a ‘vulture restaurant’, providing leftover meat as safe food and attracting as many as 200 vultures at a time.

Visitors who come to see the spectacle of these birds swooping down to feed also learn about the threats vultures face and about their ecological importance. The tourists are encouraged to make a donation towards vulture conservation and research.

“Vultures are sentinels of the skies with eyesight to 100km, and therefore poachers have identified them as a threat or tell-tale for Victoria Falls Anti-Poaching Unit scouts and National Parks scouts to know where poachers are operating, as they are attracted to the kill. Thus, poachers will kill an impala or kudu 5km away from their target elephant or rhino to distract surveillance.”

Whilst in Victoria Falls why not Visit the Vulture Restaurant at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge.