This last week has been life-changing on many levels. In case you didn’t quite make it to the bottom of my last mega-blog, I proposed to Christi on the summit of Kilimanjaro and she accepted. We both made it to the Roof of Africa and I finally proposed. Now that is a day I shall never forget. And let’s be honest, not many people propose on bended knee holding an engagement ring on the summit of Kilimanjaro. At the moment I’m feeling pretty good about life. And I am also ecstatic that I am no longer hiking/ trekking/climbing in Kilimanjaro National Park. The hike out was brutal and our tired and wasted bodies are now on the verge of collapse. Still here is a quick blast to remind you of those carefree moments when I was a single man.
Today is something of a rest day and also my birthday so happy birthday to me (Coincidentally Christi’s is in 10 days time, so right at the end of our Year of Wonder). Apparently my first job as a fiance is to return our equipment to Jocky Tours, while Christi’s first task as a fiancee is to relax at the Java House coffee shop. How did that happen – and on my birthday too! Before I can enjoy my birthday properly (and Christi gives me a sultry look and promises me that I will be taken care of) we have to plan our onward travel. Nairobi has been our base for the last few weeks, but it’s time to finally move on. And the lucky destination is…Kampala in Uganda. Once again Christi and I are venturing off the beaten track and it’s back on the challenging African bus system. Our experiences with African buses have been challenging to say the least (in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Morocco to name but three).
With tickets secured we take it up a notch and taxi to Westgate, an upscale shopping mall located in the Westlands neighborhood of Nairobi. As we wander around the high-end Western-style shops it is easy to forget we are still in Africa. And the tug of the familiar and easy lifestyle of home is growing stronger. We eat lunch at a fancy Japanese restaurant called Onami and then go to the movies for the first time in a year. In fact Christi and I have no idea what movies are out and we randomly choose a Matt Damon flick called Green Zone (a thriller set in war-torn Baghdad during the 2003 US invasion). For Christi and I it was a blissful last day in Nairobi.
Fast forward a couple of years and the Westgate shopping mall takes on the mantle of a war-torn battle zone. A 2013 terrorist attack on the mall (21-24 September) resulted in the death of at least 72 people including 61 civilians, six security personnel, and five attackers, with 175 non-fatal injuries. Three floors of the mall eventually collapsed.
Blog post by Roderick Phillips, author of Weary Heart – a gut-wrenching tale of love and test tubes.
Speak Your Mind