"Worry not, it will come!"

I think the theme of this post will be kombis.

Kombis are the form of public transit here, and to a westerner such as myself, they are absolutely chaotic. Luckily, I find it quite amusing-most of the time.

A kombi is a bus- really more like a van or minibus. (think VW van). In Mbabane, they all come to a kombi station at the centre of the city. It is basically a giant parking lot. There are no signs. No real parking spots. There is honking and shouting and tons of people-and kombis! They come and go from all different directions, with some sort of guidelines or rules that I have yet to understand. You find your kombi by :
1) either asking people who seem to know a network of kombi drivers who know where all the kombis are (another system I have yet to understand)
2) Or by carefully and vigilantly weaving your way through the madness, attempting to catch a glimpse of each kombi (origins and destinations are written either on the front or back or both of a kombi)

My kombi doesn't come nearly as often as the others..haha, or that's just how I feel. And it tends to fill up instantly (a kombi seats 15 people). It doesn't ever seem to park in the same place or come at the same time. So I just wait. Actually, my strategy is to wait by the entrance to the "station." Then once, I see my kombi coming, I sneakily follow it to whatever "parking spot" it chooses for this round of passenger pick ups.

Ha! Surprisingly, so far, I have not taken the wrong kombi. (even though the name of my village has a click in it. yep, a click)

ta for now!