FOOD & CUSTOMS RESTRICTIONS

Meat. If you’re travelling from SA to Namibia, each person is allowed to bring in 25 kg of meat (beef, mutton, venison) and 25 kg of raw chicken. Returning to SA, you can take back 10 kg of biltong and 25 kg of red meat per person. (You must be older than 12 to “carry” meat and no more than three people per vehicle may transport meat.) If you’re travelling via Botswana back to South Africa, the quantities reduce from 25 kg per person to 25 kg per vehicle. You also need a letter from the farmer who supplied the meat.

Hunters need an invitation from the owner of the farm if they are taking rifles across the border. You may bring 500 kg of raw meat and 100 kg of biltong

back across the border provided you have a hunting permit and a South African Veterinary Import Permit for quantities exceeding 25 kg (R157; fee will increase at the end of March; 012 319 7514).

No pork may cross the border either way.

Important: The above regulations may change at short notice.

Fish. You need to buy a Recreational Import Permit (R505) from the SA Department of Fisheries ( 021 402 3634) to bring up to 30 fish back into SA.

Gifts, alcohol and

cigarettes. Gifts worth up to R200 and personal items are duty-free. Each person may bring into Namibia: two cartons of cigarettes; 50 cigars and 250 g tobacco; 2 ℓ wine and 1 ℓ spirits; 50 ml perfume and 250 ml eau de toilette.

You may not take braai wood or mealiemeal across the border. You’re not allowed to pick up stones in Namibia and smuggle them back across the border.

Write down the serial numbers of your camera, lenses, cellphone and GPS devices beforehand, to make it easier to declare at the border. Make sure you leave nothing out – sometimes you run into an official hell-bent on giving you trouble. An undeclared camera is just what he’s looking for.