Although this season hasn't ended, I decided to post about it.
Season
7 is the first Itchy Boots season that I've watched from the beginning
as she posted videos to her YouTube channel. For that reason, this is
not like past seasons where we were able to watch more than one video
each time - unless, of course, we saved up videos which we did not do.
Between
the time Noraly finished her journey to Alaska and the start of Season
7, her bike was being upgraded and later shipped to an unknown
destination. Finally on February 15, she posted her first video of
Season 7. She was at a port city in Spain where she left on a ferry for
Morocco. Thus, her season in Morocco and West Africa began.
February 15, 2023
Episode 1 was in Spain and Morocco
February 17, 20, 23, 24, 27
We watched episodes 2-6 which were in Morocco
She rode through the Rif Mountains, the Blue Pearl city, through Saharan dunes, and met some lovely people.
March 1, 3, 6, 9, 10, 14, 16, 17, 20, 22, 24, 27, 29, 31
We watched episodes 7-20 which were in Morocco, Western Sahara, and Mauritania
We
saw water in the oasis, the high Atlas mountains, incredible, desolate
desert views; a mechanic in Morocco fixed the chain guard and two holes
in Alaska's airbox. Some of these rides through Mauritania (episodes
18-23) were with Ahmed who drove a supply truck because her journey was
just too remote for her to carry enough fuel and food. He was able to
carry her luggage which lightened her bike in order to make it through
thick sand.
April 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17
We watched episodes 21-27 which were in Mauritania and Senegal
A
few more rides with Ahmed in the desert with some incredible views. The
drone footage looked like another planet at times. Noraly was headed
towards Dakar to have some maintenance done on her motorcycle and she
needed a logistics break to plan her next moves, get visas, and so
forth. She announced this was the end of Leg 1 and took a couple of
weeks off posting videos in order to accomplish these things.
------------------------------
LEG 2
-- Noraly mentioned in an email that her new posting schedule would be
Wednesday and Sundays instead of her usual Monday, Wednesday and
Fridays. She said it was just too difficult to post three times a week
in this part of the world. Not only did she often not have good
internet, many places still don't have electricity.
May 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 22, 24, 28
We watched episodes 28-35 which were in Senegal and The Gambia
She showed what maintenance had been done on Alaska, took us to shell island and the delta.
June 1, 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21
We watched episodes 36-42 which were in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, and Sierra Leone
I
really enjoyed her ride through the Highlands of Guinea which she said
was the water tower of West Africa. I loved seeing the people react to
seeing their town on Noraly's GPS and her interaction with the children
and other locals. She announced that she had wanted to do more in
Guinea but due to issues with Alaska, she was headed to Freetown in
Sierra Leone rather quickly. She was hoping to find a Honda mechanic who
could diagnose why Alaska was making a strange noise. Unfortunately the
mechanic didn't show up for work, his coworkers didn't know why, and
she never received a phone call of his arrival back there. . . .
Noraly
has mentioned the coming rainy season which started early and how that
might impact her travel especially since so many countries have dirt
roads. She loves riding on dirt, but knows with layers of mud and roads
turning into rivers in some cases, it will be more difficult.
On June 22, 2023, Noraly announced
that she was in the UK for an Adventure Bike Rider event, and would be
back with Alaska in Africa soon. The Adventure Bike Rider Festival had
just announced her as their Mystery Guest earlier in the day which a
couple people on the Itchy Boots fan page had noted. So, no Sunday video
this week.
Also, I saw in the comments of episode 42 (posted to her channel on June 21) that the famous Cotton Tree in Freetown
which Noraly featured had been destroyed by a storm in late May. We
know Noraly has a built-in delay of when she visits a place and when she
posts a video, so we know she was in Freetown sometime before May 24th.
About the tree,
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