First time for public transport!!

On Sunday Daisy and I bravely faced our first experience of public transport - well, the first time in Namibia - which as we quickly worked out, is a completely different experience from public transport in England. Told by our host, Mrs Kruse to wait for her outside the hostel at 9 O'clock, Daisy and I were up and dressed early, had a quick breakfast (delicious Namibia pancakes!), said our goodbyes to the rest of the group and were sat outside waiting with five minutes to spare - an accomplishment we were both very proud of. An hour later we were still sat there, wondering whether the recent changing of the clocks had been forgotten by our host.

Apparently it had, because an hour later (much to the amusement of the other PT volunteers who had only just begun their waiting) our host arrived to pick us up. Obediently throwing our bags into the boot, we squeezed into the 5 seater car, along with Mrs Kruse, her two daughters, her son-in law and her two children (once again health and safety regulation were ignored!)

We were then driven to the 'bus' station named 'rhino park' where mini-busses seemed to be in HUGE demand (apparently because everyone was trying to get back home for the biggining of the school term). Sat in the car we waited as Mrs Kruse went to find us a bus, a task which we soon realised was going to be harder than anyone had first imagined. Assured that our bus would arrive soon we were told to leave for lunch and come back later, and so we travelled back to the shopping centre. Once again sat in 'wimpys' Daisy and I realised how hungry we were and opened our menus eagerly. But surprise surprise, the universe had not yet finished messing with us. Mrs Kruse immediately got a phone call, saying that the bus was about to arrive and that we must come back immediately. And so we once again squeezed into the car and travelled back to Rhino park.

5 hours later we were still sat there. After two trips to the local shop, two magazines, three bottles of coke, a packet of crisps, a bag of sweeties and numerous bread rolls, the bus had still not arrived. But still, Daisy and I got to experience lots of new things. For example, we saw lots of interesting looking people (and clothes), realised that children in Namibia are adorable and also really tuff (they seem to have no problem with their parents just walking off and leaving them). I also learnt that just because you pay to use a female loo you shouldn't expect a random man not to walk in on you - an experience I do not wish to repeat.

But anyway, finally we were on the bus. True health and safety was once again ignored - a guy was literally just sat on the floor on a box, and true we couldn't breath (due to the fact that everyone decided that closing the windows was a good idea). And yes, the driver was continually on the phone screaming at someone. Oh, and not forgetting the fact that some poor guy was quite literally thrown off the bus and left on the side of the road for daring to complain that he was uncomfortable. But apart from that...

4 hours later we finally arrived in Tses - our home for the next 12 months. Daisy and I had quickly understood why Namibia has such a low population rate in comparison to the size of the county. You could quite literally drive for hours without seeing a single human being. But we also had our first chance to take in the beautiful countryside that makes Namibia the incredible county it is. We witnessed our first proper sunset - something I don't think I could ever get tired of. We even realised that due to the lack of light pollution you can quite literally see the milky way stretching across the sky. And so, reaching our new home we felt we would finally be able to relax!