Jambo from Africa! We are happy to be here and, most particularly, happy to be out of Zurich. That may sound strange – what’s wrong with Zurich you ask? Nothing against the city itself. We were only there one day and night, en route from France to Kenya, but managed to see the older, historic section of this very clean, organized, efficient city. It’s an outrageously expensive city but we had relatively inexpensive, basic accommodations at a hostel (with our own bathroom I might add).
No, the problem was at the airport. After checking in and receiving our boarding passes, we had to go through passport control. The over-zealous agent scrutinized our visa from France and then quizzed us about a few things. I was thinking to myself, c’mon buddy, we still have to get through baggage security, then catch a shuttle to a different terminal, then find our gate. Instead, gestapo-agent man got on the phone and called the police because of a “visa violation”. A police officer, complete with gun in holster and handcuffs dangling from his belt, approached us and we were taken to a waiting room. A locked waiting room. It seems we were 12 days over the 90-day visitor visa limit. It’s now called a Schengen visa and applies to 15 countries including France, Spain and Switzerland (the only three we spent any time in). We had understood (or misunderstood, I should say) that if you left one country in Europe and entered another, the 90 days started over. Apparently not so.
We were given paperwork to fill out, detailing our identity, the identity of our parents, our home address in Canada, etc. We were asked to pay a fine of 560 Swiss francs per person, which felt like a kick in the gut. I basically pleaded, would it be possible for him to just give us a warning? We were terribly sorry, we had not worked or done anything illegal, etc. We had misunderstood the terms of the visa. The police officer actually laughed and said, “no, no, there must be a penalty, it is not possible”. Not an evil mwa-ha-ha laugh, though, just a regular laugh. Small comfort.
The kids, meanwhile, got very quiet and very scared. Jackson teared up and asked if we were going to jail. Ted, who had been pacing around the waiting room, took this opportunity to stop and face the kids and inform them grimly that this was probably not the worst thing that was going to happen to us on our trip, so they should get used to it. Whaaaat?? Jackson started to cry for real. I thanked Ted for his helpful and comforting comment and proceeded to start sobbing myself. I felt a tightness in my chest, no doubt just stress, but in the moment I thought, sure why not have a heart attack right now? Fall down dead right in front of my children just to complete their trauma.
The officer left again, leaving us to wonder, what happens now? Will we make the flight to Nairobi? Will they confiscate our passports? Should we get a lawyer? About 15 minutes later, he returned with more papers (in German) that we were required to sign in order to leave. If we did not sign, then as the “accused”, we were entitled to a “legal hearing” (his words). Of course we asked what it all meant given that it was typed up in German. He told us it was an acknowledgement that we had over-stayed the Schengen visa and an acknowledgement that we understood that an additional penalty would be administered, that being that we are not allowed to enter any of the 15 Schengen countries for the next two years. Apparently we will receive the “written judgment” in the mail. Like I will ever set foot in Switzerland again in my life! Not bloody likely after this. (No offense to any Swiss individuals I may know, nothing personal).
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, we signed the statement and raced to catch our flight. We have been in Nairobi since Tuesday and everything has been great. A driver from the AIC Hospital in Kijabe is coming to pick us up on Saturday and we will spend the next three weeks there. We have spent the last few days in Nairobi doing comparison-shopping for a safari and booked one today for the beginning of December. We went to the city center market, took in the atmosphere and looked at all the handicrafts. We went to a large, modern shopping mall with a rooftop Masai Market and bought a few supplies. Mitchell and Jackson have especially enjoyed the pool here at our Nairobi hotel.
If someone had asked me what do you think will be the scariest place on your trip, I would have guessed Nairobi. If someone had asked me, what do you think will be the safest, easiest place, I would have guessed Zurich. Wrong. Live and learn.
No, the problem was at the airport. After checking in and receiving our boarding passes, we had to go through passport control. The over-zealous agent scrutinized our visa from France and then quizzed us about a few things. I was thinking to myself, c’mon buddy, we still have to get through baggage security, then catch a shuttle to a different terminal, then find our gate. Instead, gestapo-agent man got on the phone and called the police because of a “visa violation”. A police officer, complete with gun in holster and handcuffs dangling from his belt, approached us and we were taken to a waiting room. A locked waiting room. It seems we were 12 days over the 90-day visitor visa limit. It’s now called a Schengen visa and applies to 15 countries including France, Spain and Switzerland (the only three we spent any time in). We had understood (or misunderstood, I should say) that if you left one country in Europe and entered another, the 90 days started over. Apparently not so.
We were given paperwork to fill out, detailing our identity, the identity of our parents, our home address in Canada, etc. We were asked to pay a fine of 560 Swiss francs per person, which felt like a kick in the gut. I basically pleaded, would it be possible for him to just give us a warning? We were terribly sorry, we had not worked or done anything illegal, etc. We had misunderstood the terms of the visa. The police officer actually laughed and said, “no, no, there must be a penalty, it is not possible”. Not an evil mwa-ha-ha laugh, though, just a regular laugh. Small comfort.
The kids, meanwhile, got very quiet and very scared. Jackson teared up and asked if we were going to jail. Ted, who had been pacing around the waiting room, took this opportunity to stop and face the kids and inform them grimly that this was probably not the worst thing that was going to happen to us on our trip, so they should get used to it. Whaaaat?? Jackson started to cry for real. I thanked Ted for his helpful and comforting comment and proceeded to start sobbing myself. I felt a tightness in my chest, no doubt just stress, but in the moment I thought, sure why not have a heart attack right now? Fall down dead right in front of my children just to complete their trauma.
The officer left again, leaving us to wonder, what happens now? Will we make the flight to Nairobi? Will they confiscate our passports? Should we get a lawyer? About 15 minutes later, he returned with more papers (in German) that we were required to sign in order to leave. If we did not sign, then as the “accused”, we were entitled to a “legal hearing” (his words). Of course we asked what it all meant given that it was typed up in German. He told us it was an acknowledgement that we had over-stayed the Schengen visa and an acknowledgement that we understood that an additional penalty would be administered, that being that we are not allowed to enter any of the 15 Schengen countries for the next two years. Apparently we will receive the “written judgment” in the mail. Like I will ever set foot in Switzerland again in my life! Not bloody likely after this. (No offense to any Swiss individuals I may know, nothing personal).
Anyway, to make a long story even longer, we signed the statement and raced to catch our flight. We have been in Nairobi since Tuesday and everything has been great. A driver from the AIC Hospital in Kijabe is coming to pick us up on Saturday and we will spend the next three weeks there. We have spent the last few days in Nairobi doing comparison-shopping for a safari and booked one today for the beginning of December. We went to the city center market, took in the atmosphere and looked at all the handicrafts. We went to a large, modern shopping mall with a rooftop Masai Market and bought a few supplies. Mitchell and Jackson have especially enjoyed the pool here at our Nairobi hotel.
If someone had asked me what do you think will be the scariest place on your trip, I would have guessed Nairobi. If someone had asked me, what do you think will be the safest, easiest place, I would have guessed Zurich. Wrong. Live and learn.
