Thou Shalt Not Forget Sister Tina...

As the time for me to depart draws ever so near, I wanted to share some interesting facts about mailing packages to Namibia. Thanks to current PCV’s in country, I have included some steps to follow (and some to avoid) when trying to mail me goodies. The first person to figure out how to properly and successfully mail either my dogs or a piping hot Chick-fil-A sandwich (with waffle fries and a cold Dr. Pepper) will immediately be crowned my hero. Check out the info below….

The best method for sending a care package is by simply using the US postal service. I've found that packages sent in a big padded envelope get here much quicker than a box. Boxes take anywhere from 1 month to 5-6 months. It really varies on this one. I think as a rule of thumb, keep it small. My experience with packages has been diverse: 1 padded envelope sent from California got here in 10 days using regular ground mail. Another package sent from NYC using the
more expensive way to send it, got here in exactly 1 week. Other packages took anywhere from 1 month to 2 months.

If for some reason you need something shipped that is expensive or important, I know people have used DHL (there is a DHL office in Windhoek). They take 3 days! But, it's really expensive.....

Anyhoo, the only other thing I wanted to add is that in sending packages via the post office, we've found that it's helpful to "holy" them up -- address them to Father Joe Schmoe, or Sister Jane Smith, and say that they're coming from the Sister [whatever] at Blessed Church of Jesus. Writing holy phrases ("Thou shall not steal," "Jesus is watching," "We miss you at church, Sister Jane!" etc.) on the package helps too. That said, I never got a package or two for the Reverend Mother Elizabeth, so it's not 100% effective, but it helps. On the Contact Info section of my website --
http://www.geocities.com/perkykoalapc/contact.html -- I have more details there. If something's REALLY important (laptop, plane tickets, etc.), then definitely don't send it through the post office.
Use DHL (it's way more prominent there than UPS or FedEx) or... if you hear that another PCV is getting a visitor from the US, have your parents or whatever send the important item to that person in the US, and then he/she can bring it over to you (you can meet in Windhoek or whatever). Bring US postage stamps too -- this way, you can slap them on mail to the US and send it back with a visitor (who just needs to drop it in a mailbox). True, you don't get the funky Namibian stamps or postmark, but at least you know it'll get to your destination!