ACTIVITIES
What can I do in the capital - WINDHOEK?
1. Camping
2. Bird Tours
3. Caving
4. Cycling Tours
5. Gaming & Casinos
6. Dance Classes
7. City Tours & Cultural Tours
8. Festivals & Carnivals
9. Shopping & Souvenirs
10. Day Trips
11. Exhibitions and Trade Shows
12. Flights
13. Visit Monuments & Historical Sites
14. Parliament Tours
15. Horse Riding
16. Industrial Tours
17. Hiking Trails
18. Visit the wild cats
19. Art Galleries
20. Sundowners
21. Star Gazing
For more info on the above activities please visit:
Windhoek City Council at www.windhoekcc.org.na
E-mail: kaf@windhoekcc.org.na
Phone+264 (0 )61 29 02321 / 2416 / 2568
Galleries, Theatre and Museums
The history of Namibia’s many people and present-day life are reflected in the nation’s art. A permanent exhibit and changing exhibitions
in the National Gallery or the Omba Gallery give a general idea of the work of Namibian artists. The history of the country and its people
come across vividly in the Alte Feste, the National Museum and
the Owela Museum.
Railway enthusiasts will be drawn to the TransNamib Museum at the railway station, whereas Namibia’s exciting geology and its
mineral riches are on show at the Museum run by the Directorate Geological Survey of Namibia.
Concerts, musicals and ballet performances produced in Windhoek, as well as neighbouring countries (mostly South Africa) are staged
at the National Theatre - mostly towards the weekend, although not every week.
Much more intimate, is the atmosphere of the
Warehouse cabaret theatre in the Old Brewery. The Warehouse offers local and international theatre and cabaret productions, as
well as concerts. When a music group performs it usually does not take long before the whole, cheerfully mixed audience is on its feet.
Other cultural offerings are arranged by the Franco-Namibian Culture Centre and the Goethe Zentrum / Namibisch-Deutsche Stiftung
(Goethe Centre / Namibian-German Foundation). Strolling through
Yesterday and Today
It was probably about 160 years ago that the first Orlam Nama, led by Kaptein Jonker Afrikaner, settled at !Ae-gams - the site in
today’s suburb of Klein Windhoek where water bubbled from the ground at a temperature of more than 70 degrees Celsius. They
simply called the place ‘hot springs’. Not far from there German Schutztruppe
Commander Curt von Francois built the Alte Feste fort
in 1890. Since then Windhoek has been the seat of varying administrative bodies governing the area of today’s Namibia.
The traces and the influence of German colonial times and later on South African mandatory rule are evident everywhere
in the capital: here the equestrian monument, the Tintenpalast and the railway station, there the town hall and municipal offices
built in the sixties, the post office and the bombproof complex of the national
boadcasting company. Among the latest additions are the imposing Supreme Court and statues of leaders of the liberation struggle
against decades of oppression by South Africa’s apartheid regime.
Today’s people pursue their daily tasks between all these relics of the past without taking much note of them.
In Namibia’s capital, yesteryear merges with yesterday and today, and Africa mixes with Europe in a way which
is full of contrasts, not always without tension, but always stimulating. In downtown Windhoek it is often the many
examples of German colonial architecture under the dazzling blue African sky, which are selected as subjects for photos:
the equestrian monument commemorating the casualties of the 1904 uprising; behind it the Alte Feste fort, lined by palm
trees; Christuskirche (Christ’s Church) in front of the well-kept gardens of Tintenpalast (Ink Palace),
the House of Parliament;
and the neatly preserved railway station northwest of the city centre. African trends are provided by the statues of the leaders
of the liberation movement - Hosea Kutako, Hendrik Witbooi and Theophelus Hamutumbangela - at the flight of stairs leading up
to Tintenpalast, and by the many people who spend their lunch hour relaxing on the lawns of Zoo Park.
The Botanical Gardens on
the slope behind Alte Feste are much quieter. Under expert guidance visitors are given a good idea of the country’s manifold flora.
In the pedestrian area of Post Street Mall you come across a fountain, without water, which features pieces from the famous meteorite
shower of Gibeon. Should you be looking for souvenirs - this is where you find them: the wellstocked street market around the fountain is a
treasure trove of wood carvings, baskets and plenty more.
Scores of shops in the city specialise in high-quality jewellery,
gemstones, minerals, leather goods or carpets made from Karakul wool, to name but a few.
There are several bookshops
where to look for publications about
Namibia.
And if you want to listen in on a bit of gossip you can stop for a coffee-break at the legendary Wecke & Voigts coffee bar.
Cultural Tour
Experience Everyday Namibia in Windhoek
The walls and roof are made from planks and corrugated iron sheets, the floors are bare cement. There are no windows in
this small room. There are a few metal chairs with red plastic seating, two benches without a backrest and two boxes covered
with a white table cloth.
Colourful posters adorn one of the walls. They show well-dressed, cheerful young people toasting one another with a glass of beer - Tafel Lager. Two fridges with Coke, Fanta and other soft drinks spread their dim light. A shelf behind the burglar-proof counter holds wine, an assortment of spirits and cigarettes.
Taking payment with the order, a young woman hands us two bottles of Tafel Lager through a small opening in the trellis. Two women are eyeing us with as much curiosity as we are eyeing them. After a brief introduction we learn that they are a teacher and a nurse who have come for a chat. This is a shebeen, a truly African bar, and one of the highlights of our tour through Katutura, the African part of Windhoek.
Few tourists plan to spend more time in the capital than the unavoidable stopover at the start and end of their roundtrip. On the one hand this is understandable, as everybody’s time is limited and Namibia’s great natural wonders are beckoning mightily.
On the other hand the country’s charm does not consist of nature alone but also of its inhabitants, combining a multitude of different people and cultures. Ever so often tourists unhappily realise at the end of their visit that they have had little opportunity to get in touch with ordinary people and experience everyday life in Africa beyond the hula skirt cliché. Windhoek offers this opportunity and is worth more than a night’s stay.
All those who claim that it is a totally European city have been misled by the looks of the city centre. Everyday life in Africa The suburb of Katutura is far removed from the colonial architecture, the glass fronts of the high-rise buildings and the shopping malls of downtown Windhoek.
Correctly translated from Otjiherero the name Katutura means ‘We will never settle (here)’.
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