Ankoor and I are Engaged!

There is much to tell from the weekend, but I'm sure that you are most interested in the engagement, so I will leave the rest for a different day.

The Perfect Engagement Day...

On Sunday, March 1, Ankoor and I awoke to a beautiful rainbow over Lake Malawi that lingered in the sky for an hour while I ate breakfast. A great start to a wonderul day.


After breakfast we headed to Kayak Africa for our adventure to Mumbo Island. We Kayaked 10km over relatively calm water on a day with few clouds. I love kayaking! Another plus for the day. (unfortunately our guide, Akim, is not the best picture taker...)

After 2 hours, we arrived at our home for the night...Mumbo Island. The water around the island was calm and clear. Absolutely gorgeous. By chance, we had the entire island to ourselves.

We found our room with a view and got settled. The accomadations were comfortable and rustic. With no permanent buildings or electricity on the island, the wilderness is almost untouched. Rooms are built atop rocks and our bathroom was sandwiched around trees and rocks. The toilets were all composting and, as a general rule, all places with composting toilets are awesome (Gesundheit Institute, Matt and Shana's, etc.). Here's us on the hammock outside our room.

Another view from the island.

After getting settled, we began exploring the island. Well marked trails take you on short hikes to all of the island's beauties. This is Fisherman's Beach where I snorkled while Ankoor rested. I saw thousands of vibrantly colored fish...many of which are unique to Malawi (check out Planet Earth for some footage from Lake Malawi). With no other humans or boats in sight, this was by far the best snorkeling I have ever done.

Back to our room for catnap before our sunset cruise. Our room was on this small island attached to Mumbo by the bridge.

We climbed to the top of a small boat with some reisling and set out to watch the sunset. We went around the island to get a view from the outside and saw many fish eagles perched. The sun disappeared behind the clouds, but it was still amazing.

We got back to our room before dark for a fantastic view.

The happy couple (me a little sunburned). Ankoor would like everyone to imagine that he is wearing a tuxedo (ignore the jeans and T-shirt).

After a traditional Malwian meal, we relaxed in the hammock and enjoyed the starlit sky. With no light pollution, the milky way and the southern stars were clearly visable. The only constellation that I recognized was Orion, my favorite. It was truly a perfect day. After a thousand opportunities, Ankoor nervously asked me to marry him (another Geib sister proposed to in her pajamas). Who could say no after a day like that. Ankoor was wonderful, and I could not have asked for a better proposal. According to my wishes, Ankoor did not have a ring...so don't ask about that.

I just wish that I could have shared all this with my friends and family in person, but that can wait.