WRITING PROMPT RESPONSE

That Time I Didn’t Plan Anything About the Stay in my Next Country

And ended up with a life-changing experience

It was early 2015 when I was traveling solo through southern Africa. I had just visited the majestic Victoria Falls when I walked down the bus station and booked a ticket to Namibia for the next day.

I had no idea about the country. I just knew there’s a desert. And I had never been in a desert before. I also knew there was a national park in the north worth exploring. So, I picked a city on the map where I would get off the bus.

I thought.

The bus journey

I had a bit more than two months to get from Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to Cape Town in South Africa. I didn’t have a clue how to travel in these countries before I got there but figured it out along the way.

The long-distance busses were a popular form of traveling between larger cities and different countries. I used trains as well as minivans for shorter journeys.

So it happens I was on the bus when we entered Namibia and had a quick stop at the fuel station. I bought a snack, withdrew some money, and sat back down on the bus when I realized I had been ripped off. I had three different types of bills. I had South African Rand and two versions of Namibian Dollar bills. I was sure some of it was fake money and couldn’t be used.

I hated myself for not being prepared and having done any research on what currency the country uses and what is accepted. Only later did I learn that Namibia’s economy is attached to the South African one and therefore accepts their currency as well. Also, both countries were bringing out a new set of bills while the old ones were still valid. This means you can have four bills of 10-dollar which all look different. But none are fake. I now know.

It got dark and I must have fallen asleep. When I woke up I asked the bus driver where we were and when I didn’t understand what he said I mentioned I was getting off at Grootfontain. He took his eyes off the road and looked at me.

We had passed my stop.

He was trying to say something but I just said it wasn’t a problem since I anyway hadn’t booked a place to stay. I really had not. And we were arriving at midnight. What was I thinking? I could just walk in a hotel in this old-school farm town? Surely not.

I got off on the next stop and couldn’t have been luckier when two Australians also happened to get off and were a little more organized than me. Just a little, but it was enough. They had booked a place in a hostel and the owner was fetching them from the bus station. I just went along.

I mean it was midnight and this town was dead. Like really dead. There was nobody on the streets. I have no idea what I would have done without those two.

24 hours in Tsumeb

If I’d tell any of my Namibian friends today that the first town I stayed in was Tsumed, they would look at me asking “what on earth were you doing there?”

Well, the town was close to Etosha National Park, just like the town I originally planned on getting off the bus, and just like the Australian couple was I planning on getting a tour to the national park.

(I did not know it was just a town tourists would drive through but surely never stay in. No tour operators ever stop here for more than a refuel.)

After sleeping a few hours in the bunk beds of the hostel where we were the only guests, we walked to the main street looking for a travel company. An agency. A car rental company? Or anything that could bring us to the national park.

Anything?

Nope, nothing. Despite being so close to the park there were no options to get into the park. There were no tours being offered. No travel company located in town. And the only car rental company had no vehicles available.

After a frustrating day and countless unsuccessful calls, we gave up and booked the next bus leaving again at midnight, driving further south to the capital of Namibia.

Another frustrating experience

We got friends quite quickly. The couple was very open and friendly and I understood at least every second sentence they said. Back then my English was still very basic and I somehow struggled a lot to understand the Australian accent.

We arrived early in the morning in the city of Windhoek and checked in a hostel the taxi driver recommended us since the place these two had looked up didn’t open the door at 6 a.m.

We slept for a few more hours before we ventured into town looking for rental companies who would have a vehicle available. While this city now was filled with locals and tourists and looked very different from the small farm town in the north, we still weren’t successful.

We couldn’t get a trip on any tour going to Etosha. Or getting any rental vehicle. Nothing. We ended up booking ourselves on a tour going to the desert for the weekend in the hope to get a vehicle after that short excursion.

Sand and nothing but sand

The trip we took together with a mixed tour group was my first taste of what my life would look like months later. Back then I had no idea I would be living in the Namib desert for years.

I was speechless. Seeing the massive sand dunes. Seeing so much sand in general. Experiencing a sunrise on top of one of the highest dunes in the world. Walking through a dead vlei and seeing antelopes walking through what seemed lifeless and uninhabitable.

These two nights and three days went by far too quickly. But not quick enough for us to be any more successful on our attempt in visiting the national park in the north.

A goodbye and something that changed my life forever

After this trip, we were back in the capital continuing where we had left off. Calling tour companies and car rental places. Unsuccessfully. Nobody could take us. And nobody could offer us a vehicle.

The Australian couple ended up being so frustrated that they booked themselves on the next Intercape (a long-distance bus) going straight to Cape Town.

Cape Town was also my final destination. But I had still a bit over a month’s time to get there. I wanted to see more of this magical country. And apparently, I wanted to find a place to live for the following years.

We said goodbye to each other and when they left I took a minivan traveling to the coast. To a city located between the ocean and the dunes of the Namib Desert. A city I would call home a bit later.

This is what traveling is for me. While you are busy making plans it has its own mind and takes you wherever it wants. Unplanned traveling has opened so many doors to me and life choices I could not have made if I would have been on a tight scheduled organized tour.

I’ve had many situations where I had to figure out a plan B because plan A simply wasn’t going to happen. But this is the most extreme version of what happens with unplanned adventures.

I ended up moving to Namibia months later and stayed for several years. I first fell in love with the vast landscapes and the beauty of the country and then met my now husband and partner in crime.

If you ask me if I would have done anything different on this specific journey in 2015 and maybe avoid any of these mistakes of being unorganized I would say no. Because without that clueless girl I was back then I would not be where I am today.

What are your experiences with travel mishaps and #unplannedadventures? Share your stories with us at the World Traveler’s Blog and stand a chance to win priority publishing for your next post and get a prime position on our Blog!

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