I knew the heat would be hard to deal with when I left my apartment in Mfandena to cover the Africa Cup of Nations. I knew there would be a lot of activity. I knew there would be drama.
I had no idea of what I would see and hear when I returned home, after the most harrowing day in the tournament's history that left at least eight people dead.
All of us were unaware and insulated when the match continued in front of us in the press box while ambulances carried people to the hospital. Despite the ongoing tragedy outside, the game was never stopped or called off.
One of the most compelling stories in the history of the tournament was the confusion and contradiction surrounding the status of the goalkeepers.
Would the tiny islanders, ranked 132nd in the world, really take on the hosts without a recognised player? Who would start in goal if an outfielder had to? How will he manage?
It is a testament to the horrifying scenes that unfolded as the night wore on that the spectacle on the field was Chaker Alhadhur's heroics in goal.
During the tail end of the match, which was rife with intriguing storylines, the true details of the crush outside, those who had lost their lives, and those who were still fighting for theirs, only trickled through via unconfirmed murmurings.
It would have been strange if there had not been sirens during the matches.
I thought they were moving the team bus away from the ground. The VVIPs brush the buffet crumbs off their blazers as they are ushered up their carpeted steps, even though it is not unusual for theVIP section to fill up slightly late into a contest.
The president of the Confederation of African Football admitted Tuesday that he only arrived at the stadium moments before the final whistle.
He will be more aware of the ambulances taking people away from the scene of the accident than we are.
It was just another Nations Cup match, another chance missed, another block by Alhadhur, and the groan of a crowd that did, upon reflection, seem slightly more bloated than the 48,000 capacity cap introduced by CAF to curb the spread.
As the contest drew to a close, I began to understand the events outside.
In French, a security official told me that there had been pushing, shoving and tussling, but not in English, where the menace of trampling is more pronounced.
The words paint a different picture.
He told me that there was a crush at the south entrance, with more people than anticipated trying to get into the ground. Those at the front fell under those who followed.
He confirmed that there had been deaths, and that others had been taken to hospital in order to save their lives, but the numbers were vague. The Ministry of Communication confirmed on Tuesday that the number stood at eight, with seven more still in critical condition.
Three and a half hours after the game, the injured were still being wheeled on stretchers to waiting ambulances.
Some of them were young, 13 or 14 years old, and they were hooked up to the ECGs in silver foil. They just came to watch football, to play their part in this fiesta of football that is unifying the continent.
The Red Cross medics were exhausted when the last casualties were removed from the medical room, which had been intended for the treatment of players injured during the contest.
Some people only looked at their plates of manioc and coconut, while others looked elsewhere. There will be many things that will be replayed over and over in the coming days.
The victims of the disaster included a local college student, an 8-year-old boy, and a catholic school student.
There were flags and sandals strewn on the ground near the gutter. A woman cried out for her child while standing at the gate.
The show goes on. Something has to change this time. There is an 8-month old baby in a hospital that was trampled in. Who is to blame for that?
It was similar to what the England FA feared when fans swarmed police at Wembley ahead of the Euro 2020 final last year, and why the Metropolitan police commissioned an independent review to establish the causes and circumstances.
Many factors were at play to lead up to Monday's disaster, from the slower stadium entry process due to additional vaccination and COVID-19 test result checks to the many people without tickets who had come to the vicinity of the stadium to sample the atmosphere.
One of the injured ladies who I saw this morning came with her small son, two others came with young children, and I was told that some people came to be part of the atmosphere.
We accept that people were allowed into the stadium without being properly coordinated and governed.
Everything you need to know about the event.
The policeman told me that the east entrance had not been opened yet, and that the stadium was still being worked on.
We've seen a lot of stories before, but not at the Nations Cup, and not before a world like this.
On Tuesday, the new president of African football promised that the scenes will never be repeated, but they must be resolution and modification, not hollow words.
As I returned to my apartment in the early hours of Tuesday morning, I reflected on the worst day in the history of the African Cup of Nations, and the tragedy that unfolded only a few hundred metres away.
It is a story that I will never want to see again, and that is why the CAF must make sure that is the case.
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