Nevanji Munyaradzi Chiondegwa
Popular travel bloggers have been criss-crossing Zimbabwe, recording footage and doing stories on the country`s magnificence.
As Kenyan travel blogger African Tigress, is still in the country, repeatedly extending her stay to ensure she feels every corner of the country, another one has made way.
Dutch travel vlogger Noraly Schoenmaker aka Itchy Boots has been travelling around Zimbabwe with her last video on YouTube about Zimbabwe being posted yesterday as she was leaving Zimbabwe for South Africa.
Itchy Boots whose patronymic means shoemaker is a nomadic vlogger with over 856 000 subscribed followers on YouTube, who travels around the world seeing places of interest and meeting people.
She filmed her journey around Zimbabwe on a motorbike she calls Savannah, marketing its tourist destinations in a novel and yet simple and effective way.
Her least watched vlog on Zimbabwe has over 164 000 views.
On September 12, she arrived at the Victoria Falls after her Botswana travels and she announced it this way; “A new country: ZIMBABWE!! And what an entry, right here at the Victoria Falls!! If you haven’t seen my next episode on YouTube, check it out now and don’t miss the wild animals encounter at the end. This country looks like the perfect country for some adventuring to me!!”
What followed was an adventure, not only for her but for her million followers too.
On the 18th of September, she was in Harare where she went to Epworth to see the Balancing Rocks.
She said, “It’s the weekend!! Time to take your bike out and hit the trail! I’ve been taking my Savannah to the famous balancing stones in Zimbabwe. Gotta love the geology right? These rocks are found just outside of Zimbabwe’s hustling and bustling capital Harare and a small oasis amidst all of that craziness. What is a hidden gem in your area that you can recommend?” She asked her over 66 000 followers on Facebook where she posts teasers of her travels.
The Eastern Highlands provided thrills for her as she visited Nyanga on the 22nd of September and she described it as a mountain range to play in and it “sounds a lot better after the craziness of Harare.”
She started with lots of sunshine on her arrival but of course the Eastern Highlands being what they are, she woke up at midnight to a torrential downpour which messed up her bike trail when she had to travel the next day.
However, that did not deter the travel addict who still went down the trail and as hard as it was, she still filmed it and appeared to be having a swell of a time.
She said of it, “Things took a turn for the worst in Zimbabwe. Heavy rains turned the roads into one big sliding fest of slippery red and brown mud. Not easy, not easy!! Watch today’s episode on YouTube where Savannah and I try to take on these slippery mountain roads!!
Call her crazy but she got the hormones of many a travel junkie racing since the episode was her most watched from her Zimbabwe travels and also the most commented on Facebook with 5500 plus comments.
Rob Randerson commented, Very entertaining Noraly and as you said, it’s the adventure- the very essence of the adventure! Happy to see you were not injured and Savannah is washed and ready for the next leg of your journey.
Joni Johnson said, “What an amazing episode!!! MUST SEE this ne==beautiful place, scenes by the fire and getting ready. Then most impressive ride and always joyful expressions of adventure. Noraly is awesome!!! (sic)
Andrew C Evans then quips in, “Thats’s where my family is from, the Burma valley below, some of my favourite memories are from there and the Bvumba.”
And Itchy Boots did not disappoint, she went to Bvumba and proceeded to Chimanimani and where she declared; “Enough with the dry sandy deserts( in apparent reference to her Botswana travels).. Zimbabwe has water! The famous Victoria Falls were of course fantastic but somehow I loved this little waterfall, tucked away in the Chimanimani mountains much more!”
The falls she referred to were, of course, the famous Bridal Falls. Could anyone have marketed a visit to both Chimanimani and Victoria Falls any better?
Raking up 196 000 views on YouTube was her visit to Great Zimbabwe in Masvingo. Twenty two kilometres from the current urban city, the Ancient City is described by Noraly as the best ruins she has ever seen.
The visits communicate one salient point, that Zimbabwean tourism is on the rise, after Covid-19 induced disturbances.
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