Windhoek Namibia

My first solo travel experience to Windhoek Namibia and visiting Swakopmund

With the lack of travel that is happening all around right now, I wanted to do a throwback of my very first solo travel experience.

Now, in all my planning and putting together of itinerary I never thought that my first time leaving South Africa would be by myself. Was it by choice? Definitely not, I am too much of a scaredy-cat! I was going away on a work assignment and was being sent to Windhoek Namibia. For a month!

The first problem right off the bat. I had never even been to the international departures side of O.R Tambo airport so I was really (really) nervous about my trip and making it to my destination in one piece. Honestly? I had nothing to worry about, I had such a smooth trip. I arrived at Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek where I was met by the shuttle driver and taken to Hilton Hotel.

First thoughts? It was so quiet, not like busy Johannesburg with all the traffic. Perhaps a little too quiet, but really beautiful as I had a really cute view from my hotel room window.

I did not feel like I was in another country, the thing about Windhoek is that it feels like you’re still in South Africa just a safer part! It also doesn’t help much that they speak Afrikaans so yes, I did feel at home. Soon enough I made some friends at work. Thank goodness because I thought I would spend the month alone. A huge highlight of the city is how super friendly everyone is, especially when they realize you are not from around there.

Fun Fact about Windhoek Namibia

You can use your South African license as well as South African Rands in Namibia. The rand is equivalent to the Namibian Dollar so this is not a problem.

Again, as I said, I didn’t even feel like I was in a different country.

Me being the little tourist I was now exploring Windhoek Namibia as a solo traveller I had been to a couple of different tourist attraction spots such as the Christuskirche, Independence Museum, and Zoo park. I visited a local spot called Joes Beerhouse and even made it to the township to enjoy some local street food Kapana! All my pictures up on my Instagram page. There was so much to see, but, I had probably seen all there was in Windhoek Namibia, so I started looking up things I could do in the rest of the city. To my surprise Swakopmund came up, at this point, I discovered I was just 3 hours away from the desert. I had never been to the desert and I did not know if I would ever return to Namibia again, so yes, mission Swakopmund began right there!!

Windhoek

Swakopmund

Walvis Bay

I started looking at how I would get there and what I could possibly do when I got there. Now I had befriended my shuttle driver, obviously lol, he drove me to and from work every day. He was very helpful in organizing my trip to the desert.

Leaving Windhoek Namibia to Swakopmund

There are multiple things you can do in Swakopmund such as:

Aquarium
Museum and old sites visit
Explore Dune 7
Camel rides through the desert
Quad biking through the desert

It was such a lovely trip and I honestly thank myself for the memories I created in the moment of being brave and taking a leap. Much like my trip to the Elephant Sanctuary! The one thing I regret was not going on the quad bike on the dunes. definitely on my to-do list if I do go back.

The rest of my trip was so much fun, I forgot I was even there for work. I saw a lot and made the most meaningful friendships. If there’s one thing, I can say about Namibians is that those people DRINK their alcohol. I had a blonde moment in discovering that that’s where the Windhoek beer originates from so it honestly makes sense!

Solo travel Safety travel tips not specific to Windhoek namibia.

With all that time being spent away from home by myself I was grateful that I had remained safe. Even though Namibia is a fairly safe place I made sure to remain vigilant at all times!