Recently came got my Tanzanian visa at the Kenya border with SA passports (near Arusha) and it was a very standard procedure so I would be very surprised if you can't do the same on the Malawi side. You should contact one of the overlander trucking companies (check out the back pages of Getaway magazine in SA) in SA for advice as they do this route all the time.
A 1 month tourist visa was $60.00 but you can also get a 1 week transit visa for $30.00 if 1 week will be long enough for you.
|