Victoria Falls from Kasane in a hire car: Kazungula, Zimbabwe or Zambia

Kasane sits about ten kilometres from Kazungula, one of the strangest spots in southern Africa: Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe almost converge on a single point where the Chobe joins the Zambezi. In practical terms, that means Kasane gives you a choice between two separate borders, minutes apart, with different opening hours, different taxes and different rules.

The Kazungula road post takes you into Zimbabwe. According to the hours published by Botswana Tourism Organisation, it operates from 06:00 to 20:00. The second option is the Kazungula bridge into Zambia: a structure of more than 900 metres, built at a cost of roughly 259 million dollars and commissioned on 10 May 2021 alongside a one-stop border post. It replaced the old pontoon ferry, which could only shuttle a handful of vehicles per crossing.

The bridge changed status again recently. On 24 February 2026, at the joint launch of the Kazungula Bridge Authority, Botswana's President Duma Boko announced that the post would move to 24-hour operation for both passenger and freight traffic. Several official pages still show the old 06:00–18:30 hours, so confirm locally in Kasane before setting off late in the day.

From Kasane, the Zimbabwean side draws the most day visitors, for a simple reason: the town of Victoria Falls is roughly 80 km away, an hour to an hour and a quarter of driving before border formalities, and it faces the larger share of the curtain of water. The Rainforest path runs along the cliff opposite the falls through a string of viewpoints, and the Main Falls keep a visible flow all year, including at the end of the dry season.

The Zambian side, around Livingstone, is a similar distance, roughly 70 to 80 km from Kasane via the Kazungula bridge. It offers the Knife-Edge Bridge, the plunging view into the gorge and, at low water (broadly September to December), access to Livingstone Island and Devil's Pool. The trade-off is that part of the Zambian curtain dries up in October and November: if you are travelling late in the dry season with only one day to spare, Zimbabwe is the safer bet.

This split is not just a traveller's impression. A study by Erisher Woyo and Elmarie Slabbert, published in 2019 in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, shows that the marketing of Victoria Falls remains highly fragmented, with each country promoting the attraction separately, and that visitors' cross-border experience differs significantly depending on the access point used, the main barriers being economic and policy related (study available on Google Scholar: scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Woyo+Slabbert+Cross-border+destination+marketing+of+attractions+between+borders+Victoria+Falls).

This is the point most travellers discover too late. A hire vehicle is not yours: to take it out of the country you need written permission from the owner, known as a cross-border letter or permission letter depending on the company. Without that document, customs will refuse to let the vehicle leave Botswana or enter the neighbouring country, and you turn round after queueing. It is not something you can talk your way past at the counter.

The letter normally states the authorised driver's identity, the registration and description of the vehicle, the chassis number, the travel dates and a named list of countries you may enter. It is usually signed and stamped, sometimes certified, and many companies charge extra for it. Request it when you book, not the night before: allow several working days, and longer if the vehicle is still financed and a bank letter has to be attached.

Two specific traps. First, some large rental firms exclude Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola from their cross-border policy entirely, whatever you are willing to pay: it is written in the terms and conditions, so read them before booking. Second, Zambia additionally requires a police clearance certificate for a foreign vehicle, specific to the vehicle and the travel period, which the hire company has to obtain for each rental.

A foreign-registered vehicle pays several separate charges, at different counters, and cash dollars are often the only reliable option. On the Zimbabwean side you will typically face carbon tax scaled to engine size (roughly 6 USD below 1,500 cc, 11 USD from 1,501 to 2,000 cc, 15 USD from 2,001 to 3,000 cc and 30 USD above that), local third-party insurance of roughly 30 USD for one month, and road tolls. One piece of good news: the 10 USD road access fee, in force since 2009, was scrapped by Statutory Instrument 113 of 2026, gazetted in late July 2026, because it duplicated the national tolling network.

On the Zambian side the principle is the same but the stack differs: temporary import permit for the vehicle, carbon tax by engine capacity, third-party insurance, a council levy paid on entry and again on exit, road toll and bridge toll. In 2026, the commonly reported order of magnitude for a private car is 40 to 60 USD per entry, much as in Zimbabwe. Treat these as indicative figures rather than official tariffs: amounts are revised regularly and should be checked with the relevant authorities before you travel.

Allow generous time. A full crossing, including exiting Botswana, routinely takes one to two hours in each direction, and longer in high season or when a convoy of trucks has arrived ahead of you. Travellers have reported spending more than two hours at the Kazungula road post alone with a hire vehicle. Build that into your plan if you intend to be back in Kasane before closing time.

For French, Belgian, Swiss and most other European passports, Zimbabwe places these nationalities in Category B: the visa is issued at the border post or online in advance. The reference rates are around 30 USD for single entry, 45 USD for double entry and 55 USD for multiple entry. Zambia has gone much further: France is among the nationalities exempt from a tourist visa since the 2022 liberalisation, extended on 1 January 2025 to dozens of additional countries. Check your own nationality, because the list keeps moving.

The KAZA UniVisa, launched in 2014, costs around 50 USD, lasts 30 days and allows unlimited movement between Zimbabwe and Zambia plus day trips into Botswana — although an overnight stay in Botswana invalidates it. It is issued at the Victoria Falls bridge, Livingstone airport and the Kazungula post on the Zambian side, among others. From Kasane the maths often works against it: if you are already visa-exempt for Zambia and only making one return trip into Zimbabwe, a 30 USD single-entry visa is cheaper than the 50 USD UniVisa.

The sticking point is rarely the price. A study by Jaume Rosselló and María Santana-Gallego, published in 2024 in Economic Modelling, uses a structural gravity model covering 194 origin countries and 163 destinations to show that visa requirements substantially reduce tourism flows, while travellers are relatively insensitive to the fee itself: it is the formality, not its cost, that deters people (study available on Google Scholar: scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Rossello+Santana-Gallego+The+effect+of+visa+types+on+international+tourism). Applied to Kazungula, that sums the problem up: the rental letter weighs far more heavily than the 30 USD visa.

These are tickets entirely separate from your visa, paid at the park gates. On the Zimbabwean side, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority raised its rates in February 2026 following the application of VAT to tourism services: Rainforest entry for an international day visitor went from about 50 to 58 USD, the VIP gate from 150 to 174 USD, and moonlight viewing from 100 to 116 USD. Many commercial sites still quote 50 USD, so budget for the difference.

On the Zambian side, entry to Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park for the falls section remains noticeably cheaper: of the order of 20 USD per non-resident adult and 10 USD per child in 2026, with reduced rates for SADC residents. Gates generally open from 06:00 to 18:00 on both sides. Payment is in US dollars or local currency; cards sometimes work but not reliably, so carry cash in small notes and keep your receipt.

One reminder that applies to this whole article: these amounts, like vehicle taxes and visa rules, change several times a year in this region. Re-check them on the official sources — ZimParks, Zambia's Department of National Parks and Wildlife, and both countries' immigration services — in the days before you travel, and leave some slack in your budget.

The serious alternative is to leave the 4x4 in your lodge car park in Kasane and book a transfer or a day excursion. Private transfers start at around 50 USD per person each way, and group day trips cost less, driver included, with assistance through the immigration queues. You then cross the border on foot or in a local vehicle: no authorisation letter, no carbon tax, no third-party cover to buy at a counter.

The maths depends mainly on how many of you there are. For two people, one country's vehicle taxes plus fuel often work out cheaper than four transfer legs, but you pay that difference in paperwork and waiting time. For four, the car is clearly more economical — provided you have the letter. And if your rental company excludes Zimbabwe and Zambia, the question does not arise: it is the transfer, or nothing.

Botswana guards its livestock disease status very strictly, and you will see it on the road. On the way back, expect a foot-and-mouth veterinary control: wheels driven through a disinfectant dip, impregnated mats you are asked to walk across, sometimes an inspection of your cool box. Importing fresh meat, untreated dairy and certain animal products is banned or restricted — in 2026 Botswana again adjusted its prohibitions after suspected outbreaks early in the year. Empty the cool box before the border rather than have an officer do it for you.

On logistics, leave early. The Kazungula road post closes at 20:00, and arriving in the final hour with a hire vehicle to clear is the surest way to spend the night on the wrong side. Avoid driving after dark as well: the road between Kasane and Victoria Falls runs through areas where elephants, buffalo and cattle regularly stand on the tarmac. Fill up in Kasane, where fuel availability and pricing are more predictable.

Finally, ignore the informal money changers who approach you near the posts: the rates sound attractive and short-changing is the classic scam, as are the self-appointed fixers who offer to speed up your clearance for a commission. Pay taxes at official counters and take receipts, keep every document until you are back in Botswana, and hold a reserve of small dollar notes for the charges you did not see coming. Tell your Kasane lodge roughly when you expect to be back.