Southern Africa
Video Chat with People from Namibia
Namibia is a country of huge, quiet landscapes: the red dunes of Sossusvlei, the white salt pan at Etosha, the foggy Skeleton Coast and the deep Fish River Canyon. Asking which one to see first is a great opener. Home for the person on your screen could be Windhoek, the capital; Swakopmund or Walvis Bay on the coast; Oshakati or Ongwediva in the north; or Rundu and Katima Mulilo along the rivers. Government and business run in English, Oshiwambo is the most common home language, and Afrikaans works as a shared language in many places. Otjiherero, Khoekhoegowab with its click sounds and RuKwangali are spoken too, and some German is heard in Swakopmund and Windhoek.
Namibia is on Central Africa Time, UTC+2, the same clock as South Africa, with no daylight saving. Windhoek's 8 PM is early afternoon in New York and early evening in London. Ask about kapana, beef grilled at street stalls and dipped in spicy salt, about a family braai, or about oshifima, the millet porridge of the north. Rugby fans can talk about the Welwitschias, and anyone can talk about the stargazing, since the night skies are spectacular.
Namibia at a glance
| Flag | 🇳🇦 |
|---|---|
| Official name | Republic of Namibia |
| Capital | Windhoek |
| Region | Africa · Southern Africa |
| Official languages | Afrikaans, German, English, Herero, Khoekhoe, Kwangali, Lozi, Ndonga and Tswana |
| Currencies | Namibian dollar ($, NAD) and South African rand (R, ZAR) |
| Calling code | +264 |
| Time zone | Central Africa Time (Africa/Windhoek) |
How to say hello
A few words of Afrikaans make a great first impression, even if you switch to English right after.
| Language | Phrase | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Hallo! Hoe gaan dit? | HAH-loh, hoo KHAHN dit | Hi! How's it going? |
| Oshiwambo | Wa lalapo? | wah lah-lah-POH | Good morning (literally "did you sleep well?") |
| English | Howzit? | HOW-zit | Hi, how's it going? (casual) |
Tips for chatting with people from Namibia
- "Howzit" is a relaxed hello across Southern Africa, and it instantly makes you sound friendly.
- Ask where they grew up before assuming anything; the north, the coast and Windhoek feel very different.
- If you speak German, try a few words with someone from Swakopmund or Windhoek; otherwise English works well almost everywhere.
- Namibia doesn't change its clocks, so the time difference may shift by an hour when your own daylight saving starts or ends.
Only meet people from Namibia
Omlet matches you Worldwide by default. To meet only people from Namibia, use the country filter, the only filter Omlet has:
- Open Omlet and press Country on the control panel.
- Search for Namibia and select it.
- Press Start. Press Next to meet someone else from Namibia, or switch back to Worldwide any time.
Your first day is free: you add a card through Stripe to start it, and nothing is charged that day. When the 24 hours end, the country filter costs $3 one time, charged to that card, unless you cancel before then in Settings (if you cancel, you can still pick a country until the day ends). It's not a subscription, and it stays unlocked on that device and browser. It doesn't carry over to other devices or browsers, and clearing your browser data removes it. There's one free day per device, home network and card. Payment goes through Stripe, so Omlet never sees your card number.
The filter works both ways, and matching can be slower when fewer people from Namibia are online. Chatting itself is free, and Worldwide matching never costs anything.
Your own country is detected automatically and shown to the people you meet as a flag.
Neighboring countries
Namibia borders 4 countries. Curious about the people next door? Meet them too: