Gobabis lies 206 kilometres east of Windhoek on the B6, about two and a half hours on tar. The road passes Hosea Kutako airport, which leaves just over 160 kilometres from there. If you are driving to Botswana, you will pass through here, because the Buitepos border post is only 113 kilometres further on. At the 2023 census the town had 33,418 residents.
- residents, 2023 census
- 33,418
- to Windhoek on the B6
- 206 km
- to the border at Buitepos
- 113 km
- founded as a mission station
- 1856
Gobabis is the capital of the Omaheke Region and sits in the middle of cattle country. The statue of a Brahman bull at the entrance to town says so more clearly than any statistic. Around 370 millimetres of rain fall a year, nearly all of it in summer.
Across the border to Botswana
Beyond Gobabis the B6 becomes the Trans-Kalahari Highway. This tarred road links Namibia with South Africa via Botswana, and lorries use it to carry goods between Botswana's mines and the port of Walvis Bay. The border post is called Buitepos on the Namibian side and Mamuno on the Botswana side.
According to Namibia's home affairs ministry, the post has been open around the clock since April 2023. Before that it closed at midnight. Check before you go, and plan to arrive in daylight anyway.In a rental car you need the company's permission to enter Botswana. Britz, for example, requires a permit and your documents a week in advance, and you pay the road levy in cash at the border. The fee varies from company to company.
Mission, garrison, hospital
In 1856 Friedrich Eggert of the Rhenish Mission founded a station here. In 1894 the Germans made Gobabis a district, and a year later a garrison moved in. Nothing remains of the fort built in 1896 and 1897. The military hospital of 1896 still stands and has been a national monument since 1974.
The origin of the name is disputed. Oral tradition has it meaning the place where the elephant came to lick, in Khoekhoe. The missionary Heinrich Vedder translated it as elephant fountain, and a missionary was already writing of Elephant's Fountain in 1845. A third reading, the place where people quarrelled, also persists.
Kalahari lodges outside town
Most travellers sleep not in town but at lodges and guest farms out in the farmland. The accommodation feed lists the Eningu Kalahari Lodge and the Sandune Lodge, for instance, and in Gobabis itself the Die Windpomp guesthouse. That works well for the first or last night of a trip to Botswana.
Today, as of Gobabis has grown fast: 13,856 residents at the 2001 census, 19,101 in 2011, 33,418 in 2023. And according to Namibia's home affairs ministry, the Trans-Kalahari/Mamuno border post has been open around the clock since 1 April 2023. At the end of 2022 it still closed at midnight.
- Time needed
- one night before or after the border with Botswana
- From Windhoek
- 206 km, 155 minutes
Our tipSort out the crossing into Botswana when you book your rental car. Without the company's permit, Buitepos is as far as you go.
Places to stay in Gobabis
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Sandune Lodge
Highway C22
- Pool
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Air conditioning
from €177per night on 23 November 2026
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Africa Awaits Lodge
Farm Wendelstein
- Pool
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Wi-Fi
from €119per night on 30 December 2026
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Die Windpomp Guesthouse
Cuito Cuanavale Street 44
- Pool
- Parking
- Air conditioning
- Wi-Fi
from €83per night on 19 February 2027
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West Nest Lodge
Farm Klein Begin
- Pool
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Air conditioning
from €49per night on 30 December 2026
Check prices on trivagoGobabis: frequently asked questions
How far is Gobabis from the Botswana border?
From Gobabis to the Buitepos border post is 113 kilometres on the tarred Trans-Kalahari Highway. On the Botswana side the post is called Mamuno.
Is the Buitepos border post open at night?
According to Namibia's home affairs ministry, the Trans-Kalahari/Mamuno border post at Buitepos has been open around the clock since April 2023. It used to close at midnight, so it is worth checking before you travel.
Can you take a rental car from Gobabis into Botswana?
You can only drive a rental car from Gobabis into Botswana if the rental company allows it. Britz requires a permit and your documents a week in advance, and you pay the road levy in cash at the border.