About the Book
Into Africa tells the story of a novice motorcyclist who takes on the challenge of riding the length of the continent just because, 'It seemed like a great idea’. Sam Manicom had only planned to take a temporary break from his successful retail career, but the one-year ride was so life-changing that he continued adventuring around the world for another seven years, covering 55 countries and 200,000 miles. Revelling in a new-found freedom without timetables or routines, he became fascinated by his ability to explore side roads at a whim and reach remote parts of the continent that many travellers never find. Though Africa is just 5,000 miles from top to toe, Sam explored over 22,000 miles on every kind of road imaginable.
About the Author :
Sam Manicom, overlander, traveller and author of 4 motorcycle books, was born in the Congo in Central West Africa where his parents worked. His family returned to the UK when he was 10 and he has been travelling for much of his life.
His first solo trip was age 16 by bicycle into Europe. Many backpacking, hiking, cycling and hitch hiking journeys later, and back in the UK but wanting to do something completely different, Sam learned to ride a motorcycle. Within 3 months of starting to ride, he set off to travel the length of Africa. This 1-year trip turned into an 8-year, 200,000 mile, around the world motorcycle adventure across 55 countries.
Sam’s 4 books take the reader travelling through the different sections of the eight-year journey. Africa – ‘Into Africa’, Asia and the Middle East – ‘Under Asian Skies’, Southern Africa and South America – ‘Distant Suns’, and North America – ‘Tortillas to Totems’.
He now works full time in the world of adventure travel. He’s a keen advocate of motorcycle travel in particular and when not writing his books, magazine articles and conducting multimedia travel presentations within Europe and the USA, he’s very much involved with travel related organisations. Sam is a co-host for Adventure Rider Radio RAW.
In 2017 he was awarded the Overland Magazine ‘Spirit of Adventure’ Award for his contribution to Overlanding.
When he isn’t writing or presenting, Sam and his partner Birgit are usually off riding somewhere.
Sam’s latest book ‘The Moment Collectors’ - released in February 2022.
Review :
‘This is a great adventure and a really enjoyable read.’ Johnnie Walker – BBC Radio Two Drive Time; Comparisons with Ted Simon’s seminal ‘Jupiter’s Travels’ are somewhat inevitable, but Manicom’s work does not suffer in the least by comparison to his illustrious forebear. He writes engagingly, and in the classic style of the travel writer, with a marked ability to draw out the salient features of a scene and place them center-stage. The deep red of the African earth glows under Manicom’s pen.’ Visor Down; ‘A skyscraper-high stack of experiences. Full of vivid detail of the terrain, people, food and circumstances.’ - Adventure Rider Magazine USA; ‘The word-pictures that bring a good travel book to life are all here; Sam’s perceptions of people, places and predicaments have real depth and texture, their associated sights, smells and sounds are evoked with a natural ease.’ - Overland Magazine; ‘He tells the story with rich detail of the terrain, the people, the food, and the circumstances, creating that vivid imagery of the mind only made possible by the written word.’ - ADVMoto Magazine; ‘Inspirational reading.’ - World of BMW; ‘Sam Manicom is one of the foremost and most readable adventure motorcyclists currently writing about their adventures on two wheels.’ - Ian Kerr MBE – Inter-bike.co.uk; ‘Excellent book. Gives a very honest account of life on the road, fear, boredom, terror, pain, love and humor, good and bad days of riding, it’s all there. I particularly liked the mention of other travelers on the road, so often not mentioned in many books.’ - Horizons Unlimited; ‘A fascinating description of his trip across fourteen African countries by motorcycle. The sights, colours and smells of this amazing continent are brought to life in this brilliant account of his journey.’ - MotoGusto Magazine; ‘In the range of Motorcycle Travel Books out there, this one pulls no punches. In the gritty bits, you can feel the grit. I liked it a lot.’ - Motorcycle.co.uk; ‘Sam’s writing style is very engaging. He gives you the feeling of being right there beside him baking away in the sun or fearing for dear life. Graphic storytelling? Hell yes!’ - BikeChatter.net; ‘Upfront with adventure mishaps, dust, heat and the thrill of overlanding. A good book to add to your collection.’ – Africa Overland; ‘Sam has an obvious sensitivity to his surroundings and the people he meets. His joy at simply being out on the road comes through strongly on almost every page.’ - Motorcycle Sport and Leisure Magazine; ‘This would be a book I could easily recommend to any reader with interest in traveling through Africa’- BMW Owners News USA; ‘I like Sam’s style; he takes you with him and describes the experience in fascinating detail, with a nice touch of understatement.’ - The Rider’s Digest; ‘This is a pretty amazing and adventurous motorcycle trip, though often it’s so low key you have to remind yourself that at times he’s just an inch away from being killed. It’s a British thing, I suppose…’ - Australian Road Rider Magazine; ‘Not being an avid reader of books, I was somewhat reluctant to commit to reading one, probably the first time since my school days! My attention was quickly immersed in the book, learning of Sam’s experiences almost convinced me that I was there. His writing style makes the book very easy to read and goes into some detail.’ MotorBikeSearchEngine.co.uk; ‘Manicom makes it clear that travelling via motorcycle immerses him in the travel experience like no other form of transport can.’ - City Bike Magazine USA; ‘If you are an inexperienced, or ‘wanna’be’ traveler – especially involving motorcycles – you may well read this and think, “He’s no different to me, I COULD do that.” - Library Thing; ‘I was quickly immersed in the adventures. I felt like I was around a camp fire and Sam was reliving some of his experiences. I enjoyed this book very much.’ - Londonbikers.com; ‘Into Africa is the journal of a gifted storyteller; a writer with keen observational skills, his flowing narrative alone distinguishes Sam Manicom from his contemporaries. This is the book for the beach, for the tube, for the bus and always for the sheer enjoyment of reading it.’ - Brennig Jones; ‘A captivating book for all, this is the story of an enlightening, yet daunting (and sometimes downright harrowing) journey across fourteen African countries by motorcycle. Each chapter is filled with one great story after another.’ - Aerostich.com; ‘If pressed, I’d say that to be successful, a travel book surely must go beyond a simple narrative to imbue the reader with the history, the culture and the mood of the place in addition to its sights, sounds and smells. Yet the author has only words to convey all of this — a most difficult task. This is a fantastic book, a must have.’ – WebBikeWorld; ‘Into Africa took me on a refreshingly honest journey through a fascinating continent narrated by a man who was there, in my opinion, for all the right reasons. It’s the good rather than the grim times that shine through … which made me reluctant to put the book down. (Sam) has a gift to describe people and places…’ - UK Moto Guzzi Club Magazine; ‘Into Africa, where, brand new to riding, the adventurous Manicom sets out and before he’s even done with the first leg of the journey, he finds himself stuck in an African jail cell. From there, the adventure really kicks off! And when you get to the end of that book and are ready for more, guess what? You pick up the second book Under Asian Skies.’ - CanyonChasers.net; ‘This is definitely a story which should be shared. It’s hard to fit a whole years’ worth of travel and adventure into one book, so though Into Africa is just over 300 pages long, I could have happily read on. But you are left with a solid understanding of Sam’s experiences thanks to the descriptions of sight, smell, sound and taste, along with an easy narrative of the authors thought provoking questions and learning experiences, making Into Africa a truly excellent read.’ - Bikersweb.co.uk; ‘For Sam Manicom, the motorcycle was the means to see Africa, not an end in itself, but he soon becomes a biker. He’s also a compelling writer with a real story to tell. There is plenty of adversity and problems, but encounters with the people along the way illuminate the darker times like shafts of sunlight. It’s a shame Sam Manicom didn’t have a camera following him, it would have made for compelling television in places, but his books create compelling pictures of their own.’ - crash.net; ‘Traveling on two wheels is the perfect way to explore a continent such as Africa. It’s just that many of us don’t have the opportunity to do it ourselves, due to many reasons such as family commitments, money or plain old fear. Thank goodness for people like Sam Manicom, who keep armchair travelers like myself occupied with their fantastic motorcycling travel stories.’ - Motorcycle Rider; ‘Sam Manicom writes with a warmth and enthusiasm for a continent he has come to love and evokes all the pleasure and pain of a long trip by bike. Highly recommended.’ BMW Club Journal
