I have been benching this article for a while now, mostly because I am not the biggest fan of “full disclosure”, but oh well.
In my twenty four years of living, my best kept secret has been quite simple: I had never been to Mombasa, Kenya, up until the 17th Day of April 2017. Every time I mentioned this to anyone, they would look at me with such shock and intrigue on their faces, and I would laugh. I mean, it was the truth.
The irony of the situation was that I had been to the coastal beaches of Ghana about a year back, but still never once to the coast of Kenya. But that did not really bother me. Anyway, my boyfriend and I had planned for a trip last year in August that didn’t go through. For certain reasons. This was a month to his moving to the United States, and as expected, I was quite broken by the whole situation.
Fast forward to April 2017, and I was so excited to pick him up at the airport, having not seen him in about eight months. We decided to travel by air to maximize on the time we spent in Mombasa, which paved way for quite a number of firsts! That was my first time on a plane with someone I know (I’ve always been a lone traveler); first time traveling with Timothy; first time in Mombasa for me; and a few others.
So we check in to Reef Hotel, Nyali, and we have to wait for a while for the room to be ready. All the while, the Mr had a few tricks up his sleeve. After a while, we are by the pool having lunch before we go and “explore”, and a little after that he says he wants to show me a little something. My curious self follows without question. And he takes me to the beach, asks me to close my eyes for a second; and the next thing I know is that he’s proposing to me.
So many thoughts!
It’s an obvious yes.
The highlight of the day was seeing my best friends running towards me, excited and beaming with joy and happiness (even more than I was). A couple more firsts.
I suppose, then, that the first time truly is a charm, 17.04.2017
There was a lot about this particular vacation that was pretty overwhelming, but let’s just say that Nyali was good to me!