Some Interesting Facts About Namibia

Public Holidays

Date 2005 Occasion
January 1 New Year's Day  
March 21 Independence Day
March 25 Good Friday
AMarch 27 Easter  
March 28 Easter Monday
May 1 Workers' Day
May 4 Cassinga Day
May 5 Ascension
May 25 Africa Day
August 26 Heroes' Day
December 10 International Human Rights Day
December 25 Christmas Day  
December 26 Family Day

Weekend - Sunday

Customs & Duties

Namibian Customs strictly enforce restrictions on the import of arms and ammunition, subversive material and narcotics and the export of endangered species of native flora and fauna and antiques. Goods allowed in without incurring duty are - 400 cigarettes/50 cigars/250g of tobacco; 2 litres of wine/ 1 litre of spirits; 50ml of perfume and gifts to the value of N$500.
NB. South Africans travelling to Namibia are not entitled to purchase duty-free goods for import back into South Africa at any of the exit points or border crossings.

Electricity

Electricity is supplied at 220/240 Volts AC and electrical appliances not on compatible settings will need adaptors or converters. Plugs are mainly round 3-pin, fused or unfused.

Post & Communications

Direct Dialing facility is available for international calls. The outgoing international code: 00.The country code for Namibia is 264. Mobile phones are widely used while Internet and e-mail access is provided by cyber cafes and at communication centres in Walvis Bay and Windhoek. Business and Convention centres at hotels also have fax and Internet facilities.

The postal service in Namibia is efficient and airmail to Europe takes between four to fourteen days. The main post office in Windhoek is in the middle of Independence Avenue. It has IDD, fax and poste restante facilities. The post office is open Monday to Friday; from 8.30 am to 4.30pm with a half hour break for lunch at 1 pm. On Saturdays, the post office works half day from 8.30 am to 12.30pm.

Weights and measures

The Standard Metric system is prevalent which basically means the use of litres instead of pints and gallons for liquids, grams and kilograms instead of ounces and pounds for solids and kilometers in place of miles to measure distance.

Tipping

10% is the customary amount that should be given, though it really is a matter of personal preference depending on the quality of service and the satisfaction given.

English Language Media

As English is the official language and is spoken by a wide cross section of people, there are many English language publications in Namibia. The Namibian is the main daily newspaper published from Windhoek while The Namibian Economist is a weekly business paper. Many other dailies, weeklies, newsmagazines and magazines are available in English at newsstands and with newsvendors. BBC, VOA English language programmes can be tuned into while as television and satellite/cable TV telecasts in English can be seen on TV.