Languages in Namibia

Eye see africa himba women Himba women | Credit: Eye See Africa

Namibia has a remarkable diversity of spoken languages: around 30 in total.

English is the official language in Namibia, and almost everyone that you’ll meet on your travels will speak English, even though it’s the first language of less than 1% of the country’s population. Nearly half the population speaks Oshiwambo dialects, while the other main languages are Khoekhoe, Afrikaans, Kwangali, Herero and German.

Travel tips for Namibia

Namibia is one of the easiest and safest African countries to travel in, but due to huge distances between destinations and remote locations, a successful trip does usually require some advance planning and research. In terms of communication, many hotels do not offer WiFi and cell phone coverage can be sparse in remote areas. Credit | Kunene River Lodge In the peak season of July to October and over the Christmas holidays lodging and campsites in Namibia get booked up well in…

Travelling in Namibia

Namibia is a huge country without many public transport options, so hiring a car is by far the best way of getting around. Namibia’s roads, both tarred and gravel, are in good condition and are well maintained, making it easy to do a self-drive holiday. It’s a good idea to have both a GPS (or offline map on your smartphone) as well as a paper map for navigating. You don’t need to hire a 4x4 to drive around Namibia – 2WD sedan cars are able to drive on the gravel roads – but…

Namibian culture

Herero women are known for their colourful attire | Credit: Travel Notes Namibia’s sparse population of only 1,8 million people in a land area of 830 square kilometres makes it one of the most sparsely populated countries in Southern Africa. The San Bushmen are descendants of Africa’s Stone Age tribes and are considered Namibia’s oldest inhabitants. Confined to the desert and semi-desert regions of Namibia, their survival skills in such a harsh climate are renowned the world…