About Namibia

Namibia covers about 825 000km2, making it about half the size of Alaska, three times the size of the UK, and as big as France and Germany combined. The country measures about 1 500km north to south and about 600km west to east.

Namibia, which straddles the Tropic of Capricorn, shares borders with Angola and Zambia in the north, Botswana in the east and South Africa in the south. The Caprivi Strip juts out of its northeastern corner into south-central Africa.

The entire western border of Namibia is the Atlantic Ocean, which abuts the Namib Desert with its sand seas, gravel plains and bare rock. The flat, sandy Kalahari Basin with its fossil rivers and salt pans lies along the eastern border of the country. Between the two is the highland plateau, also running roughly north-south.

The major rivers of the Kunene, Orange, Zambezi, Okavango and Kwando, together with their branches, the Chobe and Linyanti, all flow along international borders. The country’s longest river, the 600km Fish River, flows only after rains.

The saline desert pan of Etosha lies in the north, while the monumental red dunes of Sossusvlei are in the south.

A population of 2.2 million people occupy this vast southern African land. The capital city is Windhoek. The official language is English, but Afrikaans, German, Oshivambo, Wambo, Herero, Damara and Nama are also all spoken.

Time zone: West Africa Summer Time (UCT+02:00) in summer, West Africa Time (UTC+01:00) in winter.

Most is safe to drink although caution should be exercised in rural areas.

220/230V AC running at 50Hz; plug type D. You will find the standard European 220 V two-pin outlets at Omujeve Hunting Safaris main lodge, where there’s a fulltime electricity supply and a backup generator.

Typically for a desert country, the days are warm to hot and the nights are cool to cold. Rainfall is low and irregular, with unpredictable dry and wet cycles. Generally, though, northeast winds bring rain in summer (October to April). The northeast gets the most rain (500-700mm per year, falling mainly as afternoon thunderstorms), while the Namib coast gets the least (less than 50mm).

The interior is blue-sky country, with an average of 10 hours of sunshine a day.

The hottest months are October in the north, December in the central interior, January in the south and February on the coast. Summer temperatures can reach 104 F / 40°C.

Winter lasts only two or three months and even in midwinter the days are still pleasantly warm, although the evenings can be chilly and temperatures occasionally drop to zero. The coldest months are August on the coast and July in the interior. Frost is rare and snow is unknown.

The best time for trophy hunting is during the cooler, drier months from March/April to October/November.

Although Namibia is generally a safe country, take sensible precautions. Don’t wear conspicuous jewellery, don’t carry large amounts of cash or important documents in a handbag or backpack, don’t behave like a tourist, and don’t leave belongings in an unattended car (not even if the car is locked and a security guard is present).

Cash: The Namibian dollar is equal in value to the South African rand, and both currencies are accepted throughout Namibia.It’s a good idea to carry some small-denomination US dollars and/or Euros.

Cards: We accept both debit and credit cards at Omujeve Hunting Safaris. If you intend to pay by card, remember to tell your bank that you’ll be travelling abroad, so that they don’t block what they may consider to be an unusual charge on your card.

Most shops and hotels in Namibia also accept credit/debit cards.

In order to ensure you can use your debit, credit and ATM cards throughout Namibia, make sure you have a four-digit PIN number for each card. If you don’t, speak to your bank.

ATMs: All Namibia’s bigger cities have ATMS but most have daily cash limits, which vary from bank to bank. It may be more expedient to go into the bank to draw larger amounts.

Namibian banks are open from 9am to 3:30pm on weekdays and from 9am to 11am on Saturdays.

Cellphones are now more common than landlines in Namibia and the cell reception at Omujeve Hunting Safaris is quite good in most parts of our territory. If you’ll be using your cellphone, remember to organise international roaming with your service provider prior to departure.

We have free WIFI in the common areas of the main lodge at Omujeve Hunting Safaris. The office at the lodge has a computer with an internet connection which our guests can use free of charge.

Namibia’s dialing code is 264.