You can enter Namibia through three different ways. By air, by sea and by land.
Usually, most tourists arrive at the Hosea Kutako International Airport in Windhoek. The airport is located about 40 km east of the capital. Since the entry can sometimes be very chaotic, I would like to tell you a little bit about it today so that you can prepare yourself.
Already at the departure in the respective country of origin, the employees are actually obliged to check the return ticket and a foreign health insurance. However, this is not always checked.
The most important information at a glance:
Passport that is valid for at least six months and has two free pages
Return ticket or onward ticket
Travel health insurance (must be in English!)
Proof of financial means like bank statement, etc. (I was never asked in five years, but better safe than sorry)
Name and phone number of the first accommodation or a contact person in the country (quite important, I have experienced some border officials who really made problems because of this)
Entry slip (ready for download at the end) you can also get on the plane or in the waiting hall at the airport. You can fill it out in advance and on the plane just transfer to the original.
So when you land in Windhoek, you get off the plane and walk across the tarmac to the entrance hall.
If one arrives in the entrance hall, one is assigned to different queues. Tourists, locals and SADC members and diplomats. When all the locals are through, tourists are also allowed to stand in these queues. Since sometimes up to five planes land at the same time, it can happen that you have to wait in line outside the building.
The wait can be between 20 minutes and 3 hours. I have already experienced everything and my motto is: Stay relaxed, the car rental company will not just leave you standing, they know the game.
When you finally stand in front of the border official, you hand in your passport with the completed slip, sometimes they ask a few more questions or make a few jokes, the passport is stamped and you are officially in Namibia đ There is officially no visa fee for a 90-day tourist visa!
This is only the case if your own country of origin also has an agreement with Namibia. Otherwise it is a bit more complicated, you can read more here: https://www.namibiahc.org.uk Otherwise any Namibian embassy/consulate in your respective country of origin can help you out.
After entering the country, you either have to wait for your suitcases or they are already there, taken from the baggage carousel and lying somewhere on the airport floor đ. I have also experienced everything.
Next, only one step is missing, the luggage is screened again, so from the luggage cart on the belt, past the nice, bored, playing on the cell phone employees, luggage back on the cart and through the glass door into the reception hall. There are always a lot of people waiting there, family, cab companies, tour groups, etc.
If you have booked a transfer, look for your name, then you can briefly leave your things with the driver and possibly go directly to the ATM, exchange office, toilet, rental car counter or directly buy a sim card. With the sim cards it can take a little longer. I always recommend to buy a sim card in Windhoek directly after you got your rental car. There is already another blogpost about sim cards đ€.
When you have done everything you can get into the car and enjoy the drive to the city center.
Keep your eyes open! Sometimes you can already see some local animals on the side of the road or in the distance like baboons, giraffes or kudus!
And now have a lot of fun in Namibia! đđłđŠ