September 13, by Rikka. Who knew Namibia had a queer scene? When I planned my trip to Namibia, I never expected to meet Namibian queer folk—and party with them! But that's exactly what happened through my couchsurf host in Windhoek, Namibia's capital city. I stayed with Naville, a friend of a friend in the couchsurf community, while in Windhoek.
Naville lives close to the city center. So it was super easy to access and explore shops, restaurants, sights, and bars from his place! In this post, I share everything I squeezed into 1 full day and night in Windhoek. This included ethically shopping African souvenirs from local tribes and learning about local LGBT rights over ciders at a bar. Despite limited time, I ended up making some great memories and even greater friends! Tracey and Liza dropped me off outside Naville's apartment complex.
I waited for him to get home from work at the Ministry of Transportation. The first thing we did together was drive to the Grove Mall for dinner at Ocean Basket.
Ocean Basket is a franchise seafood restaurant that originated in South Africa. While I don't normally eat at chain-type restaurants back home, their food was good! And I am always down to eat at locally-recommended places.
As we got to know each other, Naville and I eventually learned we are both queer. I shared information about my girlfriend and he opened up about a guy he was dating at the time. That's when he suggested we meet up with his friends the next night at some of the queer bars in Windhoek. In the meantime, Naville gave me lots of information on what to do while he went to work the next day. I had access to everything I needed as a tourist, from a grocery store for laundry deergent to a post office to mail my postcards!
