A year or two ago, my husband introduced me to a blog by Meruschka Govender – a travel activist, experience seeker, and tourism thinker. Meruschka started her travel blog, Mzansi Girl, in July 2012.
On the 27th of August 2019, Meruschka posted her final blog post ‘Where are South Africans flying to?‘.
Today, I was deeply saddened to read that Meruschka Govender passed away in mid-January 2019. Bizcommunity and Traveller24 reported that Durban-born, Meruschka Govender (38) passed away after a private battle with cancer. My sincere condolences to the Govender family. Meruschka might have passed away but she touched many lives and left many memories.
Tribute to Meruschka Govender
I hope that this tribute to my husband and I’s favourite girl in Mzansi will help to spread her memories wider. Meruschka was well-known to the travel industry and happily shared her love of travelling with South Africa on her blog and social media platforms.
Here are some interesting things about our Mzansi Girl.
- Meruschka’s first independent African travel experience was backpacking from Joburg to Malawi via Mozambique in 2003.
- She started blogging as a ‘micro-blogger’ via Twitter during the 2010 World Cup. She used Twitter (@MzansiGirl) to share her love for Africa with the world.
- She was born in Durban and travelled to 40+ countries but Johannesburg/ Joburg was her first love.
- 16 months after starting her blog, Meruschka Govender resigned from her day job to focus on sharing the African travel love.
- Prior to starting the Mzansi Girl Blog, she spent 8 years working in the tourism industry. She ran a backpacker hostel, to working for South Africa’s only tourism NGO and eventually working in tourism policy in national government.
Rest In Peace to Meruschka Govender, our favourite girl in
mzansi . Thank you for filling our lives with your remarkable experiences and memories.
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Image Credit: Image Credit: Meruschka Govender (Mzansi Girl)
