Walking Across the Kazungula Bridge from Botswana to Zambia

If you can deal with the heat and love a bit of adventure, you can walk across the Kazungula Bridge, over the Zambezi, crossing the border from Botswana and Zambia.

Frequently Asked Questions: Kazungula Bridge Crossing

Can you walk across the Kazungula Bridge?

Yes, pedestrians are permitted to walk across the Kazungula Bridge. Dedicated, protected walkways are available on both sides of the bridge, making it safe and easy to cross on foot between the Botswana and Zambia border posts.

How long is the Kazungula Bridge?

The Kazungula Bridge is approximately 923 meters (3,028 feet) long and features a distinctive curved design over the Zambezi River to avoid entering neighbouring Zimbabwean territory.

Where do you clear immigration for the Kazungula Bridge crossing?

The Kazungula border operates a One-Stop Border Post (OSBP) system. You clear Botswana immigration on the Botswana side of the bridge. You clear the Zambia immigration on the Zambia side of the bridge.

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After doing the Big Game Safari at the Chobe National Park I headed to Katima Mulilo in Namibia to see my buddy, Nick.

A few days later, I headed back the same way, staying once again at the Elephant Trail Backpackers in Kazungula.

When I travelled from Zambia to Botswana, I took a shared taxi from Livingstone and paid the driver extra to take me across the bridge.

This time I walked across it.

Cheerios all around at the Elephant Trail Backpackers, I walked to the Four-Ways crossroads and took a shared taxi for 8 Pula to Choppies Supermarket.

The shared taxis have fixed routes, and Choppies is as near as one can get to the bridge.

From there, I simply hit the road. I had Googled it. It was 6 km from Choppies to the One-stop Border Post at Kazungula on the Zambian side.

6 km is not far. I have walked 20 km on little adventures like these before. They give me so much satisfaction, but you have to prepare to suffer a little. Hell, it was 38 degrees Celsius, and it was only 8.20 in the morning.

Only in Botswana:

The Kazungula Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that links Zambia and Botswana. The construction began in December 2014 and opened for traffic in May 2021.

Daewoo oversaw the construction, which was funded by Japan and the African Development Bank.

It replaces the small pontoon ferry that previously was the only way to cross from Zambia to Botswana.

It was built in a curved shape to avoid crossing into Zimbabwean and Namibian territory.

The total length of the bridge is 923 m, though at the narrowest point, the two countries are only 135 m apart.

It’s a One-Stop Border Post in that the immigration offices are in the same office. If you are crossing from Zambia to Botswana, both immigration offices are on the Botswana side. Likewise, crossing from Botswana to Zambia, you’ll find both together in one building on the Zambia side. They are 3.7 km apart.

The point of no return:

The Kazungula Bridge stretches before me:

In the centre of the Kazungula Bridge. On the left side is Botswana. In the middle, that’s Xakumba Island, Namibia. On the right is Zambia:

Spoiler-Alert:

This is NOT a single quadpoint where Namibia, Zambia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe meet.

It is, in fact, two separate tripoints connected by a short shared border between Zambia and Botswana that is roughly 150 meters.

You can see this on the map below:

Looking back at the way I have come:

Arriving at the Kazungula Immigration Post in Zambia, having walked across the Kazungula Bridge:

Botswana Exit and Zambia Entry Stamps:

Then I took a taxi to the Kazungula taxi rank near the Kazungula Market (it was a complicated walk) for 50 Zambian Kwacha (ZMW), and then a shared taxi to Livingstone for another 80 ZMW.

Just another day at the office for Nomadic Backpacker.