You can't help going back home from Namibia laden with souvenirs, of which you will find an abundance in this country. You could pick up small objects such as jewellery or huge pieces of African art, like a six foot giraffe made of wood. You will be tempted to pick up just about everything you find. While you can transport some of the bigger pieces via overland truck, you'll have to make enough space in your backpack for all the wonderful little souvenirs you buy, and it can be quite a load to carry.
Namibia is an exciting place for shoppers who like wooden carvings and masks, and jewellery made from crystal and semi precious stones.
This Namibia Shopping Guide gives some hints and tips on what type of items you may wish to purchase on your Namibia holiday. Further down the page we have also listed some stores that you may be interested in visiting. Our Namibia Restaurants Guide lists some recommended places to have a meal and enjoy the fine local cuisine. You can find out what the local Namibia shopping scene is like in our destinations below:
- Caprivi Strip
- Coastal Namibia
- Etosha & North Namibia
- Sossusvlei & South Namibia
- Windhoek & Central Namibia
Namibia Shopping Guide
Local Shopping in Namibia
There are some fashionable shops in Windhoek. If you're looking for local crafts, check out the Windhoek Street Market held on every second Saturday. Some of the shops deal especially with crafts. You can pick up some good buys here, such as semi-precious stones and diamonds, jewellery, Herero dolls, karosse rugs, hand-carved wooden objects, Swakara garments and liqueur chocolates made in Windhoek. Shopping hours: Monday to Friday, 0900-1700 hours, and Saturdays 0900-1300 hours. Several supermarkets are open on Sundays, 1100-1300 and 1600-1900 hours.
Everywhere in Namibia you will come across vendors selling local wildlife carved from Malakani nuts. In craft shops, you can buy light pulls and key rings carved from these nuts. Even though Namibia is not densely populated, there are lots of wonderful, well stocked supermarkets in the country.
In Swakopmund, many shops sell art and craft from Namibia and other parts of Africa. You can tell quality by its price. If you want reasonably priced goods, head to the craft markets, which mostly offer items made in Zimbabwe. You will find exotic wooden masks in many places.
Okahandja Craft Market, Okahandja, Namibia
This market featuring local crafts is a sort of cooperative, with many shop owners and artisans under one roof. Here you can buy various native carvings, polished stones and woven goods. This is the ideal place for bargaining, and the shop owners are enthusiastic without being threatening. As mentioned before, Namibians are very friendly and welcome visitors. This is also a great place for cheap local jewellery, fabric, musical instruments such as flutes, and colourful traditional garments. And all these are usually cheap. In fact, you can even get the vendors to come down to half or less of their original price.
