Driving in Africa: Essential Tips for an Unforgettable Road Trip

Nov 06, 2025 0

Driving in Africa is one of the most exciting ways to experience the continent’s natural wonders, diverse cultures, and rich history. From wild coastal drives to rugged mountain passes and cultural trails, the continent has road trip routes to explore. Whether planning a self-drive vacation or a cross-country expedition, driving around Africa allows you to chart your path through its scenic landscapes.

This article will answer all the logistical questions you might have about driving through South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. If you are looking for a detailed 8-12 week itinerary, have a look here.

Before embarking on your journey, it's crucial to understand the essential aspects of planning and preparation. One inspiring example is an epic motorcycle journey from the northernmost tip of Scotland, south through the UK, France, and Italy, crossing into Tunisia by ferry. From Tunisia, they continued riding south through the entirety of Africa, ending in Cape Town after three months on the road.

Another group chose a route starting in South Africa, heading up through Namibia, Botswana, crossing into Zambia at Victoria Falls, and over to Tanzania. They arrived in Africa feeling a little underprepared, highlighting the importance of thorough planning.

Key Information at a Glance

Price for rental: 30 - 60 EUR / day, depending on car type and time of year
Itinerary length: 3 to 10 weeks
Documents needed: International drivers’ license
Best time to travel: depending on region, for whole tour best is July to December
For you if: you love an adventure; you are a seasoned driver
Not for you if: you are uncomfortable driving on non-tarred roads; long times spent in a car isn't your thing
Important Notes: Especially a longer trip through all three Southern African nations should be planned beforehand so you don't run into problems with border crossings or hiccups on the road
Country Overview: Head here for a general overview over South Africa and Namibia and Botswana
Looking to do a roadtrip in just South Africa? We've got you covered here.

For a longer trip through all three Southern African nations, planning is essential to avoid problems with border crossings or hiccups on the road.

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Do I Need a 4x4?

The short answer is no, you do not need a 4x4 for a roadtrip through South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

The longer answer is, it depends on what type of trip you are looking for. The majority of travel blogs I came across said to just go for a 4x4 to be on the safe side as this means you do not have to restrict your route to certain areas.

That being said, I am also not known to be happy with compromises when it comes to the destinations I want to visit (which usually tend to be all major ones in a country, plus a fair share of some out-of-the-way, unusual ones :-D). So I listed all the destinations I planned on including in our trip and went on to research their feasibility without a 4x4 individually.

The result, you would have guessed it, is that you do NOT need a 4x4 for most of the destinations along the drive we did. There are two caveats though.

Firstly, I had to leave out one destination that I would have liked to visit from our list: Skeleton coast, the eerie desert area that is the Northern part of the Namibian coast. However, this was only partially due to our vehicle. I had read that there are frequent sand storms and the road does get quite bad the further north you drive. Also, accomodation becomes very scarce, very basic and only operates seasonly. To be honest, when we arrived in Swakopmund and drove a small part of the Skeleton Coast to Hentiesbaai I felt we had made the correct decision. By that time I had seen so much desert that the thought of driving several hours just to see more of it was not particularly appealing. Watch out for wildlife!

The second caveat is Botswana and the National Parks there. We had the impression that Botswana is great for two types of travelers: Either you are filthy rich and can afford to pay upwards of 800EUR/night for a luxury tent somewhere in the Okavango Delta - in which case transportation (usually by way of the private plane belonging to the resort) is included or only adds insignificant cost to the total. Or you are travelling in a large 4x4 vehicle that comes with its own tent on the rooftop.

We went with neither of these two options, and this meant that we had to mainly rely on (day) tours to explore the National Parks of Botswana. For us this was perfectly fine, but if you would like to be completely independent in exploring Botswana, you should think about renting a 4x4 vehicle with a tent on the roof. This will of course also allow you to sleep wherever you find a parking spot / camp ground in the other two countries.

For a longer version of which parts of the countries you would need a 4x4 and if you want to craft your own itinerary, I wrote a dedicated article on which areas and types of experience would require a 4x4.

Top 5 Overland Vehicles I considered for Africa

Which Car Type to Rent and What Insurance to Get

Having established that you do not necessarily need a 4x4, the question is what type of vehicle DO you need? I would definitely suggest getting a car with higher clearance, and you should get insurance. But let's go step by step.

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You will drive a substantial chunk of the way on non-paved roads, and a non-neglible amount of them have quite some potholes in them. In order to not be able to drive with a normal speed without damaging the car, you need to have a higher clearance vehicle. We drove a Hyundai Tucson for most of the way, and got a new car supplied in Durban (unfortunately I forgot what type it was, but it was in the same car class). This served us well in all terains we encountered.

Before arrivng in South Africa, I worried about car insurance. In general, it saves you a lot of money to get your insurance from a third-party company not associated with your rental company. But all insurances I encountered did not insure non 4x4 cars for offroad use. That makes sense - but it took me some time to realize that off-road does not refer to a really bad path that can hardly be calles road, but - according to the insurance T&Cs - to a "public highway". Upon digging a bit further I learned that this is basically all "official" roads of a national road network. So if you are driving on official, government-designated roads - no matter how shitty they are - you are not driving off-road.

We had many animal sightings just driving along the roads.

Where to Rent Your Car

If you are not concerned with getting the lowest price for your rental, I would suggest to rent with bigger car rentals like Avis and Europcar. They have offices in all countries you'll be travelling through and can assist you faster and also get a replacement car to you if needed.

We rented our car with Around About Cars and we had a mixed experience. In the end it was fine, but we did go through a lot of stress when we were picking up our car at the airport: It was 11pm by the time we got out of the airport and the office of Tempest (their partner at the airport) was already closed, so we ended up having to go to Avis. At Avis we learned that Around about Cars had not only not transferred our general information - so we had to fill all forms in again - but also indicated the wrong car class. The car we initially booked and paid for was not available, and the car they offered us was way too small to fit four people plus their luggage (we were travelling with friends).

They did in the end resolve the issue but we had to stay longer in Cape Town for them to sort the situation out. We were very annoyed with Around About Cars because of that, but in the course of our 2 month rental there were no more issues.

Know Before You Drive

Make sure to get an international drivers license before driving this route! It is required for South Africa and Namibia if your countries' license is in another language than English and it is a must for driving in Botswana.

It is a must to make your route transparent to the car rental company before you drive, as they will provide you with a border crossing permit that you need to show at the border posts. They will charge a fee for that, ours was 1330 Rand per border we crossed. You will also have to pay an additional fee at the border itself.

Do not forget to check that the car you are renting has a spare tyre and that it is in good condition. A burst tyre is very common when driving through Southern Africa - our tyre did not burst, but before crossing into Botswana from Namibia, we noticed one of them was loosing considerable air. We stopped at a garage and they fixed it for a very small amount (it cost us 25 EUR).

Make sure you always have enough water with you wherever you are driving! This route includes some very remote areas, and you do not want to be without water in case something unanticipated happens. We just made sure we always had a 5 - 10 litre canister in our trunk.

It is also a good idea to keep an eye on the availability of gas stations in your area and to fill up your tank when you encounter one, even though it might not yet need a top-up. In some areas of Namibia and Botswana, gas stations are hard to find. If you are planning to venture into very remote areas, consider having a spare canister with petrol with you.

You will drive veeeeerry long stretches through the desert on this trip. We picked out a few audiobooks before starting to drive and that made 8-hour-driving days so much more bearable. We can highly recommend "The memory of light" and "Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets".

Before you go, catch up on the current state of loadshedding in South Africa (you can simply Google this and there will be plenty of information available). Loadshedding are planned power outages that affect almost all regions of the country. More and more accommodations rely on Solar energy or generators during this time, but it is still good to know when you might not have electricity. If you spend a long stretch of time in South Africa, it might be a good idea to download a Loadshedding schedule app

Border Crossings

If you do the whole itinerary proposed here, you will cross several borders in Southern Africa with a rented car. Yes, it is possible, and it is not as hard as it sounds, although it does involve some paperwork.

Make sure you have the papers from the car rental agency (both the car papers and the border crossing letters) with you when you cross the borders. You also need your passport and drivers license.

In order to cross the borders, you need to buy a ZA sticker for your car if it does not yet have one. You can obtain that at several petrol stations, 'AA' agents or at outdoor retailers before the border.

On all border posts you will have to pay a fee - the amount depends on the border you are crossing. Usually, this is payable by cash and card, although the card machines sometimes are not working / offline.

Always check the current import regulations. Oftentimes, it is not allowed to bring fresh fruit and vegetables due to Hand, Foot and Mouth disease. Don't be surprised if you need to disinfect all your shoes and drive through a puddle with your car - this is also to prevent the spread of the disease.

Even though there have been reports of corruption from other travelers, I did some research on this topic and these instances are rare. Overall, we had a professional impression of all three border posts, and being friendly and smiling at the agents goes a long way.

Is it Safe to Drive Through Southern Africa?

The region - and especially South Africa - has a very bad reputation when it comes to safety. However, if you adhere to a few safety rules and apply common sense, you will be perfectly safe.

If you can prevent it, don't drive at night. The reason is less the increased odds of getting carjacked (although this also rises) and more that you cannot see who or what crosses the road. There is a real chance you hit wildlife or people that use highways to walk home during the night.

Never leave valuables in your car, especially not in sight, but if you can, always take everything with you. If you need to park your car outside of your accommodation, quickly research parking and safety of the area you plan to leave your car in.

Always lock the car from the inside while you are driving. Do not fully roll down the windows of your car while you are parked somewhere, also not at a red light.

Although this is a bit sad, we always adhere to the rule that we never stop the car for anything while driving from one point to the other, except if it is clearly the police waving us down.

When to Go

We started in Cape Town in mid October and returned mid December. (Unfortunately our trip was cut short due to COVID - originally we had planned to stay 10 weeks, but it ended up being 8.5.) As you will be covering such a large area, there is no single best time to do the whole trip. It really depends on what you are looking for and what's most important to you. In order to help you decide, I made a short list about which areas are best when:

Cape Town, Cape Peninsula, Wine region: The best time for this region is March to May and from September to November. You avoid the peak season from December to end February, and the temperatures in spring and fall are pleasant, with lots of sunshine hours. March is best for the wine region, as this is when the harvest season begins. If you are looking for an itinerary of this region, check out our article on spending 7 days in and around Cape Town.
Cederberg Mountains: There is not really a bad time to visit, but it does get very hot from November to March. This means if you would like to get some hikes in, they're best done early in the morning. Autumn (April, May, June) is a great time to visit the Cederberg mountains, with milder temperatures but still plenty of sunshine.
Namibia: The best time to travel Namibia is from July to October, when it is not as hot. August and September are the best months for game viewing, but the country is very dry then, it might be very dusty and you won't see much green. If you are interested in bird watching, the wet season from October to April is best. It does get very hot in the country from October to February, but the coasts remain pleasant.
Botswana: Dry season in Botswana is from May to October, and this is also the best time to visit - the days are warm (22°C to 35°C) and sunny and nights are chilly. After the preceding rainy season, the water levels in the Okavango Delta are at their highest, which makes it the optimal conditions for a water safari.
Kruger NP, Pretoria and surroundings: The best time for Game Viewing in the Kruger National Park are the dry winter months from May to September. That being said, we were there in November and still had a good time, although wildlife sightings were a bit rare. August to mid October is best for Pretoria and the general area.
Drakensberg and Durban: Drakensberg does can get a quite rainy and stormy summer (from November to February) - that was when we were there and a lot of the days were definitely rainy, but we still managed some hikes. The best time to visit for hiking is autumn (mid-March until mid-June) and spring (September and October). It can get very cold in winter (July and August). Durban is very hot and humid in summer from October to February. As you can see, days were quite cloudy with occasional rains when we visited Drakensberg in November.
Down the South African Coast: The South African Coast is beautiful all year around. Rainfall peaks in the time from December to February, but even then it does not usua...

Suggested itineraries

From wild coastal drives to rugged mountain passes and cultural trails, the continent has road trip routes to explore. Here are some suggested itineraries:

The Garden Route: This road trip covers almost 300 kilometers and would take 5-7 days, depending on your stops.
Panorama Route: This covers almost 160 kilometers and only takes 2-3 days. You can also combine this road trip with a visit to Kruger National Park, extending the trip for one more day and giving you an authentic African Wildlife experience.
Route 62: This iconic roadtrip asses through vineyards, ostrich farms, hot springs an chamring small towns in South Africa, giving you the best authentic South African experience.
Wild Coast Route: On the road trip, you will pass some rural areas which require a 4×4 to get through. You will also pass traditional Xhosa villages, which are one of the great tribes in South Africa.
Namibia Desert Circuit: This fun desert circuit trip spans over 1200 kilometres and would take at least 10-12 days. The best time might be during May to October, when temperature variations are not as extreme as in other months.
Etosha National Ark Drive: The road trips include game drives, which come to about 400 kilometres of pure wildlife fun and take almost 3-5 days.
Skeleton Coast Drive: Spanning over 500 kilometers, this drive would take at least 3-5 days.
Rwanda and Uganda Adventure: Along the road trip, you will pass iconic locations like Lake Bunyonyi and Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This road trip covers over 450 kilometres and would take 7-10 days. The best season for this road adventure is December to February.
Kenya Wildlife Safari: It is over 500 kilometres long and could take 5-7 days to complete.
Malawi Lake Shoreline: During the road trip, you will pass locations like Lilongwe, Nkhata Bay, Cape Maclear, and Monkey Bay. Along the way, there are beautiful beaches where you can relax and even engage in snorkelling.
Tanzania Wildlife Circuit: It expands over 600 kilometers and will require at least 5-7 days. You will need a 4×4 vehicle for this road trip, and you will have fantastic wildlife viewing opportunities.
Victoria Falls to Chobe National Park: This iconic road trip allows you to explore the Moremi Game Reserve in Botswana.
Moremi Game Reserve Route: Spanning over 500 kilometers in length, it will take at least 7-10 days to complete this road trip. To go on this road trip, you will need a 4×4 vehicle and an experienced driver who can conquer sandy roads.
Cape Verde Island Hopping: You will have to travel by ferry and 150+ kilometers on both islands during this road trip, so it would take at least 5-7 days for you to complete it.
Atlas Mountains Road Trip: The beauty of the road trip is truly unmatched.

Additional Tips for Driving in Africa

Vehicle Choice: Many popular roads while driving in Africa, like the Garden Route or Route 62, are accessible by common vehicles. But some roads require 4x4s to get through.
Driving Side: Most countries drive on the left side of the road when driving in Africa, so you might have to think about that before going on a road trip.
Night Driving: As for your safety, it is better to stop at night when going on these road trips.
Navigation: Make sure that you have downloaded offline maps to navigate the areas easily. Having a paper map could also be advantageous.
Fuel: It’s advisable to fill up as much as you can when going on this road trip.
Driving Permit: It is necessary to have an International Driving Permit to drive in almost all African countries.
Vehicle Insurance: Make sure that your vehicle has insurance if you are planning to go on a country road trip.

Driving in Africa is not just a way to get around-it’s an immersive experience through vibrant cultures, untamed wilderness, and soul-stirring landscapes. Every journey brings magic, whether cruising the Garden Route or tackling the Sani Pass.