Public transport is almost non-existent. The Intercape Mainliner drives twice a week between the biggest towns. But don't expect the coach buses you see driving around in the northern hemisphere! ; ) Our first Intercape bus pulled up at the parking lot in the city centre of Windhoek with a front window that was held together with duct tape...
After a delay of two hours without any obvious reason (hey, it's Africa...) the bus finally kicks off... only the stop again in the outskirts of Windhoek because there are sparks coming out of the engine... After 15 minutes the drivers depart again since it was only "rust". When asked how "rust" can cause "sparks" they pull out their biggest comforting smile with white teeth and say "but it's fine, it's okay" When asked what time we will arrive, the same smile saying "we're flying, we're flying now" - read: sit back, relax & don't expect answers ; )
But Omaruru is basically a street with some shops and doesn't lie on the big axis, so it doens't have the luxury of an Intercape Mainliner stop.
There are of course the shuttles. These are small mini-vans where they fit in as many as 24 people(!) Luckily in Africa you can drive with as many people as you want in your car. Basically you can have a pick up truck with 15 in the back, but beware if you're not wearing your seat belt in the front! The police will happily turn an eye and forget about a fine in return for a "warning worth 50 Namibian dollars", but it is advisable not to encourage this form of corruption.
But back to the shuttle buses: they use the gas stations as stops. Basically you go and wait there for a shuttle bus to show. They might be late, they might be early (although that's rather rare in Africa) or they might not show up at all. Even if they come, they might already be full. Reservations are not possible, unless you're prepared to pay for the full trajectory. The drivers aren't keen an reserving seats for short distances, hoping to find passengers who want to go all the way at the departure point.
Luckily African people are often very open and 'there's always room for one more'. So when we took the shuttle from Omaruru to Swakopmund we found ourselves pressed on the back seat of the van. It must be said that our place was to be considered as quite comfortable, since the mothers seated next to us each had two children on their lap for another 200km to come! That made 8 of us on the back bench of the van! Things you only experience in Africa! : )
Since the shuttles sometimes don't show up, we were forced to hitchhike a few times (despite the fact that it isn't advised in the Lonely Planet & and I pledged my mother never to hitchhike in Africa - of course, if I ever have children of my own I'll deny ever having hitchhiked in Africa ; )
Of course, if you hitchhike, be sure to 'pick your rides' like the candidates of the popular TV-show of Peking Express. As a tourist in Namibia it is possible to get comfortable lifts in big 4WD-jeeps if your color is Caucasian and a girl is accompanying you. It maybe hard to state, but for most drivers this will make the difference between letting you stand there or picking you up...
But sometimes you gotta take what passes by and end up in the back of a truck, but let's face it: those are the best stories afterwoulds... : )
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