Climb For A Cause

Keeping an open mind! (Vamshi)

After a long journey we land in Nairobi (Kenya). We are looking to get into the immigration line for getting transit visas. And a gentelman dressed in non-descript clothes comes forward and asks us if we have visas - we say 'We want Transit Visa'. He immediately asks us to follow him - taking us away from the regular line that has formed into front of the booth that says "Foreigners/Kenya Visas". I immediately get suspicious and refuse to follow him. I read something about having to bribe to get visas. The man comes back and asks us to follow and we do anyway - 6 of us. And he leads us into another part of the airport that has the same immigration counters!! He told us to give forms to one person and the rest can go and collect luggage. Strange I thought - suspicious again. There was no problem however. We got our Transit visas and nobody asked us any questions.

I guess things work differently here. People maynot look official even when in official capacity. I just have to keep an open mind and not distrust everything. Its a fine balance we have to walk. If we distrust everything then we are probably not going anywhere and one can't trust always - Taxi drivers were quoting 3 times the regular fare!

I also need to keep an open mind to absorb all the things I'm going to see. I won't be able to categorize things into what I now know. Comparisions will not work and are generally not healthy.

posted by Climb For A Cause @ 7:39 AM