Passport pages

you must have 2 totally free, clean pages for SA. I'm not sure if they have to be facing or not... I would have thought probably. The airline will not board you if you dont have the 2 pages. the SA entry stamp itself is quite small, adn they might even put it on a page with other stamps - but we were denied boarding because my friend didn't have 2 perfectly clean pages. We faxed copies to the consulate, but they wouldn't allow it. The airline gets fined if you're denied entry, and you're apparently kept in detention.

When you enter SA, you'll be given a 90 day temporary entry permit. If you return to SA from Namibia within this 90 day period, you will re-enter on that same permit. You won't get a new one (bad if you want more days) but good if you're out of space in your passport.
Found this link that has some info. http://www.worldtravelguide.net/country/255/passport_visa/Africa/South-Africa.html
Can you contact the SA Consulate wherever you are now?

Hey there,

That's a really useful link, thanks.

About the SA consulate, it's actually more complicated than I probably made out at first. Maybe if I put it this way it would be better:

These are my (simplified!) plans: arrive in South Africa from India; depart by boat for Namibia the same day; across Namibia to the end of the Caprivi Strip and into Zambia to the Victoria Falls; cross into Zimbabwe just for an overnight - back to Zambia the same day; across Caprivi (Namibia again) and into Botswana; through there and back into Namibia; south, back into South Africa; return to India. All of this will be completed in around six weeks. Do you think it's doable? I notice from the Zimbabwean page of the site you mentioned that they want (for some reason) THREE free pages! And I'd only be there for 24 hours... .

Thanks again,

Robin

you'll need a new passport mate.South Africa will end up taking a whole page, Zimbabwe's visa is a full page sticker, bostwana's is small and they might pop it a bit of space, but you'll need 2. Namibia is 3 stamps each time - more than 1/2 a page each time. You'll have that twice. And Zambia too.
Do i think it's doable - all that travel in that time, yep. but not with 4 pages. you'll have to try to get a passport in india or Pretoria. My british friend (who was denied boarding en route to SA) got a 12-page temporary passport overnight that's valid for a1 yr. This was in Australia though... and he'd already got a previous passport here, so he was on the system.

12-page temporary passport? I'm pretty sure that this is not possible for Brits, as I've enquired about it in the past. Could you put me in touch with your British friend?

Hi again. I did some more research following your reply. It seems that these passports DID exist, but no longer do - see http://ukinsudan.fco.gov.uk/en/passports/temporary-passport. I am now trying to find out more about the Emergency Travel Document this article speaks of. Part of my anxiety is that my existing three-year Indian research visa (which took a year to get cleared) should not become invalid if my old passport is cancelled. That was why I was hoping to do my trip (which was initially supposed to be only to South Africa and Namibia) on four pages.