Hi Everyone!

Dumelang and welcome to Mmalenaonyana Travels, the blog site of mmalenaonyana. My name is Gaone ‘Mmalenaonyana’ Magogwe, the creator, storyteller and avid itchy-foot behind Mmalenaonyana.

     Mmalenaonyana Travels are the wonderfully amazing tales of a curious young girl turned traveller from the little known country of Botswana, who has followed her passion to travel the world. Her love for travel is driven by an inborn sense of curiosity developed from an early age. She was never content to sit idly in one place, constantly moving from one place to another, exclaiming her adage, “a rolling stone gathers experiences” and asking questions to whomever she met. Equipped with her treasure bag she disappeared for hours, exploring all the nooks and crannies of her village and country. She always came back full of tales, talking non-stop until she tired and drifted into a sleep induced dream world. Her elders joked that she had an itchy foot even in her sleep, so they lovingly gave her the nickname ‘Mmalenaonyana’… one / lady with an itchy foot.

     It is these same itchy feet that keep me travelling even to this day. I approach life with wide-eyed wonder, filled with a desire to discover more of the world around me and preserve it for future generations. Through my travels I discovered that not only do I have itchy feet, but also itchy hands, itchy eyes, itchy ears, an itchy nose, and an itchy tongue … itchy hands that want to touch, itchy eyes that want to see, itchy ears that want to hear, an itchy nose that wants to smell, and an itchy tongue that wants to taste.

     My childlike curiosity, wandering heart and itchy feet have led me to the discovery and enjoyment of the beauty that resides not only within the diversity, but more so the similarities of our cultures in all their forms and splendor around the globe. A cultural experience- and yet delicate balance between exploration and conservation- I would love to share with YOU like-minded wanderers, travel enthusiasts, nomads, and aspiring globetrotters.

     Everywhere I go, I still carry my treasure bag from my childhood, a notebook to document all my discoveries and my childlike curiosity.  I hope I still tell a story with the same vivid quirkiness I once did as a kid- bringing to life all my experiences.

      Are you getting itchy feet yet? Are you a mmalenaonyana* or rralenaonyana* like me? Have I sparked your childlike curiosity? Well then, Areye! Let’s go and scratch that itch in the foot together as we explore the world and its cultures.

 *mmalenaonyana (feminine)

*rralenaonyana (masculine)