Others (11)
Namibia offers all standards and ranges of accommodation*. The standards are generally good, and the prices quite high (compared to South Africa, but much cheaper than e.g. in Botswana). It is recommended to pre-book any accommodation in Etosha and at Sesriem/Sossusvlei at any time as well as in Swakopmund and surrounding towns and villages during December and January. Due to the recent tourism boom many of the most popular lodges are fully-booked 9–12 months in advance.
The following prices should give you a very broad idea to plan your holiday budget:
- Hotel: from N$ 2000 (double room incl. breakfast)
- Pension: from N$ 1500 (double room incl. breakfast)
- Guest Farm: from N$ 1800 (per person incl. breakfast & dinner)
- Lodge: from N$ 2500 (per person incl. breakfast & dinner)
- Tented Lodge: from N$ 2000 (per person incl. breakfast & dinner)
- Tented Camp: from N$ 2000 (per person incl. breakfast & dinner)
- Glamping: from N$ 1000 (per person)
- Camp Site: from N$ 150 (per person)
- Rest Camp / Backpacker: from N$ 500 (per person bed only)
All accommodation establishments mist be registered with the Namibia Tourism Board (NTB), however, especially self-catering (“Airbnb”) are mostly not registered and thus formally illegal.
Namibians love their beer which is of highest international standards and is winning prizes every year. It is all brewed according to the German Purity law of 1516. Besides beer, South African wines are very popular and sometimes you even get wines from the five Namibian wine farms (by the way the driest in the world).
Imported alcoholic beverages are quite pricy, however, especially Jägermeister and Kleiner Keiler are very popular. So are ciders (e.g. Savanna Dry) as well as “Rock Shandy”, a mix of soda water, lemonade, angostura bitters and loads of ice cubes.
Alcohol (except for wine, beer and ciders) may only be sold in special liquor stores (called “bottle stores”) and only weekdays and Saturday before lunch. Wine and beer are also available in supermarkets, nevertheless, the time restrictions are the same. Check the opening hours of the bottle stores.
Namibia is a campers’ paradise. By law it is allowed to camp wild at any place except national parks, however, in practical this is only allowed with permission of the land owner, so the farmer, local community, etc. It is difficult to find out who owns the piece of land and thus it is recommended to camp on camp sites only. Basically only in the Kaokoveld “real” wild camping is possible.
Camping costs between N$ 150 and N$ 500 per person per night depending on location of the camp site and infrastructure. Some charge extra for the vehicle and a flat fee for the site itself. It is, different from e.g. Botswana, not standard to share a camp site.
It is becoming more and more often that “luxury” camp sites offer a private bathroom per site. Generally all camp sites have a braai (BBQ) area, some have running water and electricity on site.
Most of the camping tourists in Namibia travel with 4×4 vehicles with roof-top tents, but also ground tents are readily available.
Namibia has one of the best medical systems in Africa. It is one of only three countries on the continent where operations on the open heart are done. Throughout the country one can find basic public health clinics and hospitals as well as many first-class private hospitals. There are governmental ambulance emergency services in Namibia, however, especially in rural areas it is recommended to find another way to get to an hospital, as due to long distances the ambulance might take hours after call-out. Private ambulance services are the best choice, as they also offer medivac.
An international health insurance is strongly recommended!
Hundreds of public hospitals, clinics and health centres can be found throughout the country. For international visitors it is recommended to visit any of the private hospitals, to get the helped by the highest international standards. Examples of private hospitals are:
Windhoek
- Windhoek Medi-Clinic
- Rhino Park Private Hospital
- Roman-Catholic Hospital
- Lady Pohamba Private Hospital
- CMC Private Hospital
Other cities
- Grootfontein: Grootfontein Private Hospital
- Katima Mulilo: Enkehaus Private Hospital
- Nkurenkuru: Nkurenkuru Private Hospital
- Okahandja: Okahandja Private Hospital
- Ondangwa: Ondangwa Private Hospital
- Ongwediva: Ongwediva Medipark
- Oranjemund: Namdeb Private Hospital
- Otjiwarongo: Otjiwarongo Medi-Clinic
- Outapi: Omusati Private Hospital
- Rundu: Rundu Private Hospital
- Swakopmund: Swakopmund Medi-Clinic
- Tsumeb: Tsumeb Private Hospital
- Walvis Bay: Welwitschia Hospital
Throughout Namibia a flying-doctor service can help in cases of emergency. A special insurance to cover these costs might be needed. Please note that due to new regulations the rescue aircraft are not allowed any more to land outside lighted airports during night time: eMed 24 Rescue: 081-924, www.emed24.com.na
Many doctors, hospitals etc countrywide can be found on medpages.info.
Vaccinations
Please consult your doctor or your nearest institute for tropical diseases for detailed and current information!
No special vaccinations are required for Namibia and you do not need to bring your vaccinations card along. It is, nevertheless, recommended to have all vaccinations that are needed in your home country, e.g. Tetanus and Diphteria. For special groups (e.g. hunters) it can although be worthwhile to think about an anti-rabies inoculation. Yellow Fever vaccination is required if you travel to Namibian within a short period after staying in a WHO recognized Yellow Fever area.
Malaria does exist in Namibia. Broadly speaking the areas along the rivers in the north and the Caprivi strip are malaria risk areas throughout the year, other areas especially around Etosha and Gobabis in the east are malaria risk areas during and shortly after heavy rainy seasons. By WHO Namibia is considered as being a “low transmission country” in the 2025 World Malaria Report. Namibia was on track to become malaria-free, however, in the last years above average rainfalls lead to increasing numbers.
You may get a general impression on what is needed and recommended for Namibia from these web sites: Fit for Travel
The Namibia Dollar (N$ or NAD) is the only legal tender in Namibia. However, the South African Rand (R or ZAR) is also an accepted mean of payment throughout Namibia. The exchange rate is 1:1. Namibia Dollar exists in notes of 200, 100, 50, 20 and 10 as well as coins of 5 and 1 dollar and 50, 20, and 10 cent. A specially minted coin is the N$ 10. Special notes are N$ 30 and N$ 60. All prices that cannot be paid with the smallest coin of 10 cent will always be rounded down.
No other currencies may be used for payments. Tourism establishments may (but it is very uncommon unlike e.g. in Botswana) also accept other currency, but must also always accept Namibia Dollar.
Nearly all formal shops, supermarkets as well as accommodation establishments and restaurants accept credit cards, mostly VISA and MasterCard. Amex, Digners and JCB is uncommon.
Foreign Exchange legislation is very strict and thus it can take an hour or more to change cash into Namibia Dollar at a Bank. The worst exchange rate you will get trying to get Namibia Dollar or Rand in your home country! Rather draw from an ATM which can be found throughout the country. Use those that have a security guard on site. All four major banks (Bank Windhoek, Standard Bank Namibia, FNB Namibia, Nedbank Namibia) accept MasterCard and VISA as well as their respective debit card sister companies like VISA Electron. Daily or withdrawal maximum is between N$ 500 and N$ 4000, depending on bank, card as well as your home bank.
The National Heritage Council (NHC) is responsible for a few of the registered heritage sites in Namibia. The entrance fees and further info are in this PDF.
Namibia does not have opening hours set by any law. Nevertheless, the below mentioned opening hours should give you a broad overview of operating hours of supermarkets, offices, banks, government, etc. Generally the larger a town is, the longer large supermarkets are open.
- Shops / small supermarkets: Mon-Fri 8.00–17.00 (8am–5pm), Sat 8.00–14.00 (8am–2pm)
- Large supermarkets (e.g. Superspar in Windhoek): Mon–Sat 7.30–19.30 (7.30am–7.30pm), Sun 7.30–18.00 (7.30am–6pm)
- Malls: daily 9–19 hrs (9am–7pm); Sunday sometimes until 15 or 18 hrs (3pm or 6 pm)
- “Potschies” (small convenience stores): daily up to 24 hours
- Banks : Mon-Fri 9.00–15.30 (9am–3.30pm), Sat 9.00–13.00 (9am–1pm)
- Post offices: Mon-Fri 8.30–12.30 (8.30am–12.30pm) and 13.30–18.30 (1.30pm–6.30pm), Sat 9.00–11.30 (9am–11.30am)
- Government: Mon-Thu 10–16 (10am–4pm) with generally a one hour lunch break, Fri 10–12 (10am–12pm); generally closed between beginning/mid December and mid January
- Bottle Stores (Liquor stores): Mon-Fri 9.00–19.00 (9am–7pm), Sat 9.00–13.00 (9am–2pm)
Keep in mind:
- Alcohol may never be sold weekdays after 19.00 (7pm) and Saturdays after 13.00 (1pm) and under no circumstances on Sundays or public holidays.
- A public holiday is seen as a Sunday.
Namibia has 13 public holidays. In case a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is considered a public holiday. The president may at any time declare other days as public holidays, e.g. the day of parliamentary and presidential elections (last Wednesday in November every 5 years; last in 2024).
- 1 January: New Years Day
- 21 March: Independence Day
- 1 May: Workers’ Day
- 4 May: Cassinga Day
- 25 May: Africa Day
- 28 May: Genocide Remembrance Day
- 25 August: Heroe’s Day
- 10 December: Day of the Namibian Women and International Human Rights Day
- 25 December: Christmas Day
- 26 December: Family Day
- Good Friday
- Easter Monday
- Ascension Day
Tipping is not compulsory in Namibia, however, it is recommended for different areas of life and even expected in some. The following should give a broad overview. Please always keep in mind, that Namibians in the service sector generally do own very little. If you give a car guard N$ 10 as a tip, it is worth about 2-3 hours of work! Unfortunately, tourists quite often destroy “prices”, as the next time this car guard would also expect that money from a Namibian.
- Car guards (only if they are present on arrival and departure): N$ 2–3, at night up to N$ 5, in misty Swakopmund or so up to N$ 10 at nights
- Service station: N$ 2–3
- Porter in a major hotel: N$ 5
- Restaurants: 10 %, if service was outstanding even more, but also less is possible
- Cafés (if you drink e.g. only a coffee): round up to a maximum of 10 %
- Beggars: N$ 0.00 – they do not deliver any service
Veterinary Fences are set up throughout Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It is generally not allowed to bring things like meat, milk products, skins, etc. across those fences.
Within Namibia it is allowed to bring those products from South to North through the fence, but strictly not vice versa. By violating this you risk Namibia’s status as “foot-and-mouth-disease”-free country!
Transport (1)
Veterinary Fences are set up throughout Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It is generally not allowed to bring things like meat, milk products, skins, etc. across those fences.
Within Namibia it is allowed to bring those products from South to North through the fence, but strictly not vice versa. By violating this you risk Namibia’s status as “foot-and-mouth-disease”-free country!
