Located 367 kilometers from the famous Sossusvlei, Windhoek is the starting point for many safaris in Namibia. It is also the country’s capital and largest city, where English is the official language, making it a great stop on any tour of Africa.
With no public transportation, shared taxis called combies can be flagged down anywhere. These taxis follow a route, but they are flexible if you have a destination close by, usually costing about 8 NAD. Let the driver know where you want to go and he’ll give you a rate depending how far it is; out-of-the-way destinations are priced around 16 NAD. If you don’t want to share a taxi, private drivers can be pre-booked or hailed down around popular gathering spots.
Christuskirche © Demerzel21 | Dreamstime
Start your day with a photo op at Christuskirche, the unofficial symbol of the city where Robert Mugabe Avenue and Fidel Castro Avenue meet by the gates to the Parliament building. For a late breakfast/early lunch, pick up a takeout box at the nearby Craft Café, dedicated to serving healthy Namibian and continental food like Kudu salami, milch kaffee and matanga jam. A meal and freshly squeezed juice will run you around 100 NAD.
Parliament Gardens © Grobler Du Preez | Dreamstime
You’ll find many Windhoek residents eating their lunch in the nearby Zoo Park where you can sit by the pond and enjoy the open-air theater. Parliament Gardens is another popular spot among locals and tourists, beautifully designed by landscape architect Hugo Stössel. A short walk from the park is the National Art Gallery of Namibia, a free public museum that aims to preserve Namibian, African and European art.
For dinner, the Namibia Institute of Culinary Education is an upscale, but not too expensive place to splurge on a meal. The restaurant is a classroom for the country’s apprentice chefs, serving a variety of traditional and avant-garde dishes. Dinner will run a few hundred NAD, but you’ll have enough to close out the night at Joe’s Beer House, Windhoek’s beer garden that’s popular with locals and back-packers alike.
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