Travelling from Lilongwe by road
Take the Mchinji Border road out of Lilongwe. After just over an hour you will reach the border where you can complete exit formalities. You can walk across to the Zambian side of the border, called Mwami, where you will need to complete Zambian entry formalities, including Carbon tax payments and vehicle insurance.
If you are driving yourselves, there is a new requirement that you get police clearance for your vehicle to prove it is not stolen. To do this, you will need to take your vehicle and vehicle papers to the police headquarters, opposite Ufulu Road, and go to Interpol to get the clearance. It will cost you MK5000.00. It can take at least half an hour for them to give you the clearance, so do leave yourselves plenty of time to do this.
At the border, you will also need to purchase 3rd party insurance for Zambia and also Carbon Tax on arrival in Zambia. The Carbon Tax along with all other payments in Zambia now have to be made in Zambian Kwacha, but there is a Bureau de Change at most border posts now so you do not have to deal with the moneychangers who are often fraudsters.