Windhoek is the capital of Namibia, located in a basin between the Khomas Highland, Auas and Eros Mountains in southwest Africa. The city is home to two hundred thousand people and still holds onto its historical German influence.

Neighborhood

Tintenpalast (the “Ink Palace”) along Mugabe Avenue is named after the ink spilled by the country’s legislators. Inaugurated in 1913, both houses of the National Parliament are housed there. Well-manicured gardens and palm trees line walkways that are good for an afternoon stroll.

Food

Biltong and beer are a classic Namibian combination. Biltong is dried meat that has marinated for several days, and then spiced and hung to dry for two to three weeks.

International beer giant, Windhoek Brewery, has been brewing since the 1920s in the African city. It’s a German lager crafted in the south of Africa, and it’s available in the USA. Check out this recipe for making your own biltong.

Author

Seventy-one-year-old writer Amy Schoeman started drafting This Is Not a Flowerpot in the early ’90s at her home in Windhoek. After World War two she moved from Surrey, England to Namibia with her parents and never left the African city.

This past April, she published her first fiction novel. The story is about a young woman overcoming her psychological problems by traveling and establishing relationships with artists and musicians along the way. Her journey begins in Holland and ends in Cape Town where she finally comes to terms with herself and those she loves.

Film

The documentary From Namibia With Love follows the political activism of a Finnish-Namibian couple during the country’s independence movement in the 1970s. The film intertwines the national and personal narratives of the Namibian people and the devoted couple.

Musician

The hip hop trio known as Black Vulcanite is made up of three guys from Windhoek. Mark Mushiva, Allain Villet and Nikolai Tjongarero signed to Rude World Records and launched their latest EP Remember The Future.

Political Figure

In 1990, Sam Nujoma was the first elected president of independent Namibia. Growing up he was one of eleven children and tended the family’s livestock until he began night school and eventually worked as a railway steward. When Namibia broke free of South African rule, Nujoma was unanimously elected, and was re-elected for two more terms until stepping down in 2005.