Zimbabwe
The information below is provided by Lonely Planet readers and is not verified by Lonely Planet. For the official lowdown, contact your nearest embassy or check out our Travel Links.
Visas, Embassies & Border Crossings
When you leave Zimbabwe at the airport you will be asked how much money you have on you. If you are leaving Zimbabwe through the Road Port terminal, be sure to still have some Zimbabwe dollars on you as you will need to pay a departure tax of approximately ZW$5000.
Bart van den Eijnden, Netherlands (Mar 04)
As a British passport holder arriving from London at Harare (28th September 2003 for 8 days), I had to buy a visa for £35 on entry. The airport tax which used to be payable on exit was included in my BA flight cost (a welcome suprise after the shock on entry).
Anon, UK (Oct 03)
Zimbabwe has imposed visa charges on Brits entering Zimbabwe from Zambia. The charge is US$55 as of last week.
Kevin Cranston, UK (Feb 03)
30 euros or US dollars are required to enter Zimbabwe and also 35 to leave! Paying in local currency is not permitted, therefore it is necessary to be sure you have US dollars or euros before entering and leaving the country. Also, local banks will not exchange local currency into euros or US dollars.
Giorgia Naccarato, Italy (Dec 02)
Travel Tips
Things are tense over most of the city and travellers are a potential target for pickpockets and muggers. Another serious problem (I would please advise to have this posted in a warning sign on the web site) is a current law that has been in vigor for the last 3 months or so, where it is strictly forbidden to be caught with Zimbabuean dollars at the frontiers.
The law is to 'prevent illegal exportation of zim dollars'.
Travellers must NOT try to leave the country with anything more than Zim$300, 000
(about US$5 dollars) or they may be arrested and taken back to Harare and the money confiscated
(or may have to expensively bribe their way out of big trouble).
Fabio Barros, Brazil (Oct 05)
At the South African/Zimbabwe border be careful changing money as the rate fluctuates rapidly and
the queues are long when going overland. We took 3 hours sweltering on our overland truck. Make sure you have plenty of South African Rand if you are travelling through Zimbabwe to Victoria Falls. SA Rand was not easily available and nothing is open on public holidays and Sundays.
Christine Ingemorsen, Canada (Feb 05)
There is nowhere where you can buy unleaded fuel in Zimbabwe. And there was no fuel at all at some more remote spots!
For visiting Matobo National Park foreigners have to pay US$10 (or ZW$550) and locals ZW$40. Normally you can visit all the sites in the park. But the park guides want you to pay another US$10 for visiting Rhodes' grave. But if you walk back along the main road you can walk to the grave without paying.
Gep Aadriaanse & Teun van Metelen, Netherlands (Feb 03)
You will need to have hard currency (SA rand and Botswana pula count) and change your money in bureaux de change using the "parallel market" - don't change directly on the street. Make sure you go into an office where you can see exactly what you are getting, don't change a lot at once, as the rates can go up daily.
If you are coming from Botswana and are short of hard currency and can use ATMs get a load of Botswana pula out. They are a very sought after currency in Zim, and if you are in Vic Falls and running low on cash, you can always get a bus to Maun in Botswana and back just to get some more pula.
Tom Walker, UK (July 02)
Do not change money at any banks (in particular the airport bank), only use official exchange bureaux. Ask for their best rate and you get five to six times the bank rate. Only change as much money as you need, as you will have trouble changing Z$ back. Ask for the price in Z$ for everything (much cheaper) except accomodation and the taxi from the airport (they will only take US$) They stopped the airport bus a while ago, share a taxi with others- approx. US$20. Hotels can arrange taxis for you much cheaper than getting one in the street, they WILL rip you off, and won't let you haggle much!
Julie & Mike Price, UK (Jan 02)
Cashpoints - there are plenty of Visa ATMs in the major towns.
Ian Burton, London (Oct 01)
Scams & Warnings
I have just come back from Zimbabwe, and I must say everything is much safer than I had expected. I got a double entry visa at the airport for US$45. There is enough fuel in the country, although you may have to wait in queue sometimes. Also, the upmarket areas of Harare, e.g. Westgate & Avondale are very safe. The only thing you have to pay attention to is the amount of money you can have on you when leaving the country. For US dollars it is US$500 or US$1000. For Zimbabwean dollars it is only ZW$50,000.
Bart van den Eijnden, Netherlands (Mar 05)
Fuel shortages (both diesel and petrol) have been a common feature through out the whole country. What ever fuel comes is only available on the black market and its quality is questionable. Any trip must be carefully planned and all the fuel must be procured prior to commencement of the journey as there is no question about availability of fuel, in the holiday resorts in particular.
There is an acute shortage of local currency notes in Zimbabwe. People queue as early as 6am at the banks (if there is some cash) until the end of the working hours in the hope of getting their own money. All tourists must bear in mind the fact that there is no local currency in the banks let alone foreign currency. Credit cards are accepted but cash will be needed at some point and there is none at the moment.
Nasir Ali Shah Syed, Zimbabwe (Aug 03)
If travellers to Zimbabwe are not aware of what is happening it could seriously dampen their enjoyment of the country. The official rate of exchange is currently US$1 to ZW$52. However, the exchange rate offered by bureau de changes is anything between US$1 to ZW$500 or ZW$1000 - quite a difference. This is not a black market rate but the rate which official bureau de changes will offer. They will provide you with a receipt at the official rate notwithstanding the better rate which may be given to you. We found that you could virtually state your own exchange rate because they were so desperate for foreign currency from the hotel. Taxi drivers and people selling souvenirs would always ask for US currency first. Sterling, euros and rand would also be accepted in preference to Zimbabwe dollars. The locals we spoke to said that the Zimbabwe dollar was not worth the paper it was written on.
My tips/warnings to anyone visiting Zimbabwe would be:
1. Take US dollars in cash (sterling, euros and rand are also popular but the US dollar is king). Take 10 and 20 dollar notes. They do not like 100 dollar notes due to counterfeiting problems. Travellers cheques will be accepted at the bureau de change but you may not get such a good rate.
2. Never put anything on your credit card. You will be charged the official rate. This includes withdrawing cash from a cash point.
3. Do not charge anything to your hotel bill unless you can settle it in foreign currency. The currency will be converted at the official rate, therefore it is not a good idea anyway. You will not be able to obtain foreign currency from the hotel. We heard of people being unable to pay their hotel bills because of this. Pay all hotel expenses in Zimbabwe dollars.
4. Change money at a bureau de change and get a receipt from the bureau.
5. We are UK citizens and we were charged US$30 to leave the country. Sterling, euro and rand were also accepted but no credit cards, US$100 notes and travellers cheques. This tax has been in place since August 2002 and seems to apply to all nationalities. There was a sign up at the airport suggesting that from 1 November 2002 this tax would be incorporated in to the airline ticket. This may or may not be the case.
6. All adventure trips and tours are to be paid in foreign currency.
Alison Westbrook, UK (Oct 02)
I have just returned from Africa two days ago. Part of my trip was spent in Bulawayo in Zimbabwe. Admittedly, news reports should suffice to make a traveller to Zimbabwe wary, but I would like to impart some specific advice based on what happened to my friend and I there a week last Friday.
The political situation there is really hotting up in the run up to the March elections. From information we picked up from locals, President Mugabe is not looking for a democratic solution to holding onto power. His current tactic is to goad the opposition MDC into violence using violence himself. If civil disorder erupts he can declare martial law and avoid the election. To that end he sent approximately 150 Zanu PF thugs to Bulawayo, an MDC stronghold to incite trouble. The first evidence we had of it was a burning MDC building around lunchtime on 16th November.
Later that day my friend and I were taking a taxi through central Bulawayo when we spotted a burnt out car. With hindsight foolishly, we asked the taxi driver to go back and I took a photo. It turned out that this was a retaliation by MDC and the car was outside a Zanu PF building. We managed to get a couple of roads away before we were pulled over by an unmarked land rover and five plain clothes guys got out. In short they took our cameras and arrested us, taking us down to the Central Police Station. Fortunately they were actually police officers, in the current situation they could have easily been something much worse.
I think we soon convinced them that we were only tourists and not photo journalists but they nonetheless held us for three hours which included some casual intimidation (playing with their guns while they chatted idly). In short the problem was sorted out quite well the following morning when I got my film developed and the police took away the photo I took of the burnt out car.
The advice I would like to impart is that tourists should not underestimate the volatility of the situation in Zimbabwe at the moment (which will only get worse over the next few months). On the face of it, Bulawayo is a very pleasant place and most people are just getting on with their lives but tourists need to be clued up. The events of the 16th included a rampage by the Zanu PF rioters through the centre of town and led to indiscriminate violence, visited on, amongst others, women, children and foreign tourists. Specifically I would like to warn that visitors contemplating taking any photos outside of the National Parks should not do so without seeking local advice. You just cannot be confident that common sense is prevailing there at the moment.
Rob Collier, UK (Nov 01)
Gems, Highlights & Attractions
Visiting Victoria Falls from the Zambian side is nice when you walk on the Falls itself to Namakabwa (or Livingstone Island) for a swim, a picnic and great spots for photographs. There are boys from town who will guide you to some nice photographic spots (but it is free to do it on your own). One drawback: you have to pay for crossing the border and to enter the park from the Zambian side. But they sold us a ticket with fee for locals to give the vendors another opportunity to sell their goods.
Gep Aadriaanse & Teun van Metelen, Netherlands (Feb 03)
Going to the Victoria Falls early: As I stood before the entrance at 8 am I realised I had missed the sunrise over the falls but between 8 am and 9 am I saw several rainbows and around 10 am I saw the raft boats get put in on the Zambia side at Boiling Point ( if you are at Danger Point you can see it excellently). Around 9 am most of the rainbows had already vanished due to changing light. The next day I was there for the sunrise and saw a multitude of rainbows, even rainbows that circled around me! Going to the falls early really pays off. The opening time for Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side is 6.30am.
Anneke Naerebout, Netherlands (Oct 01)
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