Tips for Namibia
Namibia notes
We are currently in Namibia, our second time in six years.
Tauck starts tours to Namibia in 2025. I hope these notes might be helpful to people traveling to this fantastic country.
We have visited Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia in the past, some more than once. Namibia is definitely our favorite country in Africa for its rugged beauty and its people.
I would suggest that this is not the first country you should visit in sub Saharan Africa because if your priority is to see lots of animals, you will be disappointed. Once you get the excitement of seeing animals out of your system, visit Namibia for it’s scenery.
Namibia is the second least populated country on the planet for its size with around a population of 2.6 million people. Windhoek is the capital.
Our tour began in Windhoek This time we chose to relax before our tour as we have been here before. I recommend the History/ Independence museum, open less than ten years. It’s displays include the genocides which took place by the Germans who held the colony before it’s independence. The building locally is known as the coffee machine , it’s a sort of rose gold color and certainly looks like one.
There is a picturesque church nearby and a parliament building. There is a large craft center which one of our group visited on her own so I known it’s still there, we have also been there on the past, it’s pretty good for souvenirs.
We ate at Joe’s beer house in Windhoek, a lively, indoor/ outdoor restaurant and bar. Very interesting decor all over and good food. You definitely need to make reservations even though the place is huge. All our meals on this tour are included so it was not something we had to worry about. Swokopmund had some great seafood restaurants. All kinds of game can be found on the menu in most restaurants and lodges kudu, zebra, springbok,eland etc we tried a good variety, all really good and tender. Vegetables are plentiful with most dishes, I’ve always found that to be the case in African countries and the soups particularly good and not over salty
When you visit the Sossusvlei Sand dunes area, be wary of protecting large camera mechanisms from the wind and sand. Closed toe shoes are a must here. I partially climbed Big Daddy dune, too hot but no wind like when we climbed Dune 45 six years ago when the wind was so fierce that is how the sand ruined my camera despite me being so careful keeping it in a plastic bag. I suggest a cell phone camera for the dunes.
Many of the roads consist of coarse gravel and therefore it’s really noisy in the vehicles. Our Toyota safari vehicle had great air conditioning, the tour guide used a microphone and each seat had a phone jack….I have no idea what Tauck uses. The roads are mostly empty in this large low populated country and they are mostly gravel out of Windhoek and Swokopmund.
Our tour six years ago, was mainly small plane flights. This time is was awesome to do the journeys by road.
Water is very very precious, be mindful of the country you are in, drink every drop of bottled water and take short showers. Just like our last visit, one of the lodges had a bucket in the shower to catch water before the shower got up to temperature. The water was then used for cleaning the room floors or for watering the grounds.
Money. The Namibian dollar is on par with the South African Rand and either can be used. When we arrived, the driver suggested it was easy to exchange money there, no commission. Not sure whether it was a good exchange rate, but we didn’t care, it was convenient and we used the money a lot. American dollars cannot be used. You need cash for trinkets.
What to buy. The Himba people make colorful bracelets out of tightly woven corn sacks and seeds. On the streets and roadsides they might be 20 Namibian dollars. At the Himba village we visited, 100 to 150 dollars, we bought them there to support the community. Wooden animals and bowls, little Herero dolls. Namibia has its own gold and precious stones if that is your thing. Shoes made of kudu leather are popular. I bought ankle boots last time, the style most popular are desert boots. Sizes are difficulty to figure out. Our hotel In Swokopmund had some gorgeous ones including red white and blue design. I tried several pairs on and just could not find the right fit this time. Swokopmund has some nice gift stores but be aware if you visit on Saturday, most stores close on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday including some of the gift stores. I was lucky to find a store I particularly liked last visit, so sorry I can’t remember what it was called. I bought a nice buff there for the equivalent of $6 US. They are up to $24 in the US. Namibia is cheap to shop. Wine at the resorts can be as little as $4 US for a large pour.
Electricity. It’s 240 vaults electricity and round pin, three hole in a triangle pattern. We stayed in a variety of accommodations. Some had plenty of outlets some did not. One lodge had no electricity between 6pm and 9am except for lighting. If you are a CPAP user, it might be worth checking with Tauck that all your lodges and hotels have nighttime electricity. Some places had short blackouts. Some places had no outlets by the bed for CPAP machines.
Wifi.. some lodges only had wifi in common areas, not in the rooms. Even in the best lodgings, wifi would be out for hours or all night. Don’t count on always having it available.
Comments
Part 2
Game drives are dusty and cool in the morning but it gets hot! You can drive for miles In Etosha and not seen a thing, partly because there are vast areas of dense vegetation, bushes and trees, but when you do find the animals, there is a good variety. My favorite here is the Oryx, a majestic animal. You will see black rhinos, yellow mongoose, springbok, steenbok, lechwe, less common in other countries, as well as ‘the usual’.
Safari vehicles. Most of the lodges we visited favored tall open vehicles which are tricky to climb into. You climb up steps and over the high door lip to get in. Be aware I am talking about our experience, I don’t know what Tauck will find at their resorts.
We visited Himba people, Zemba and Herero people, joined in a bit of dancing and ‘chatted’ with sign language type actions. We supported them by buying their crafts and taking sacks of maize meal, oil and Demerara sugar.
We took about a two hour walk with San bushmen, seeing their survival skills, making jewelry and bows, shooting bow and arrow and the sign language motions to understand and laugh with each other. We visited a kindergarten school sponsored by a charity and observed a lesson and singing. We visited a couple of villages, saw the homes, were shown how homes were constructed. We saw the farming areas, drove through numerous cattle farm gates. We saw charcoal prep areas. We had bathroom stops in service stations and went into the convenience stores, all super interesting. We had the school charity guy tell is about how international projects can fail if they don’t understand the cultural differences or consult the people. We saw successes and failures.
We learned how the increased population puts pressure on the landscape. Trees are cut down for homes, fencing and fire and clearing for crops. Large areas are now open and it does the soil no good. Water is a scarcity. Many people have no electricity or water. Water has to be taken from the river or standpipes in large 20 liter containers. Many wash themselves in the rivers if they are near one.
This trip, we just about went to every area of the country.
Our entire 17 days, we never came across another American, British, Canadian or Australian anywhere, whether it be resorts, shops of tourist spots. Most tourists we saw were German, French or South African.
Thank you British. Your comments and the time you take to share them are so appreciated.
Excellent overview, British; thank you. We are looking forward to the beauty of Namibia, and your comments are most helpful.
Excellent report British, thank you for sharing.