Plan fuel, water, dump options, tyre repair and communication before leaving main towns, especially on sand or park tracks.
Camper Rules Assistant
Build a country route and get compact allowed/do-not-assume/check cards for overnight rules, LEZ, tolls, documents and winter requirements.
Botswana
Botswana is a high-value self-drive motorhome country when you plan around national-park bookings, border permits, livestock and wildlife roads, long fuel gaps and rainy-season track conditions.
Use booked campsites, lodges, community camps and private permission rather than treating roadside bush stops as automatically allowed.
Foreign and commercial vehicle paperwork can involve transport permits, border insurance, road charges and park or campsite fees. Botswana has no broad low-emission sticker for touring motorhomes, but access is strongly shaped by protected-area rules, road conditions and vehicle capability.
South Africa
South Africa has strong road-trip infrastructure, but motorhome planning needs toll classes, SANParks gate and campsite rules, foreign licence documents, guarded overnight stops and weather or wildlife-route timing.
South Africa has many caravan parks and park camps, but gate rules, booking windows, wildlife behaviour and vehicle size must be checked before arrival.
Use formal campsites, caravan parks, SANParks rest camps, private reserves or guarded parking rather than informal roadside overnight stops.
Toll roads are common on major national routes, and charges vary by plaza and vehicle class. There is no broad low-emission sticker for touring motorhomes, but access can be limited by city safety rules, private estates, passes, beaches and park roads.
Overnight and wild camping
Botswana
Use booked campsites, lodges, community camps and private permission rather than treating roadside bush stops as automatically allowed.
- Government park and campsite booking rules matter for Chobe, Moremi, Central Kalahari, Nxai Pan, Makgadikgadi and other protected areas.
- Wildlife areas can restrict night movement, fires, noise, pets and leaving the vehicle outside camps.
South Africa
Use formal campsites, caravan parks, SANParks rest camps, private reserves or guarded parking rather than informal roadside overnight stops.
- National parks and reserves can enforce gate times, campsite boundaries, speed limits and vehicle restrictions.
- In cities and along long-distance routes, security and daylight arrival are part of overnight planning.