Manuel was only 45 years old and was one of those people whose face, expression, light in their eyes could not lie. 
They said it all, they told of a (eternal) sensitive boy with a heart perhaps bigger than he could afford, in a world of people who always shovel, scream and demand too much.
We saw him in his early twenties following his father in Africa, the dear and historic resident Luigi Corticelli, thirty years old from Kenya and for a long time chief of Air Italy in Mombasa, and then running an airline ticket office in Malindi. 
He worked side by side with his expert father and at the same time he immersed himself with simplicity and passion in the reality of the Kenyan coast, cultivating friendships and always finding himself at ease with the local people.
We met him in the various phases of his professional growth, interspersed with some work in Italy and around the world, but always returning to his beloved Kenya, with the essential load of his smile, his goodness and his cursed will to live. 
We remember him embracing the savannah and welcoming tourists in the wonder of their first safari at Doa Doa Camp. For six years he was part of the big family of Jacaranda and Jumbo Resort, in various roles because slowly the experience accumulated made him more and more professional. The last time we chatted in the pool, while he was having fun swimming, with the care of a loving father, the daughter of his Kenyan companion.
Manuel with a peaceful face and good eyes left us in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday in Mombasa, where he was hospitalized after a sudden heart attack. 
His big heart will no longer draw the peaceful look and welcoming smile that we will remember him for. 
To Luigi and the other relatives a warm hug.