Review Of "Into Africa" By Sam Manicom

Today I finished reading a motorcycle travel book called Into Africa by Sam Manicom. This is the first of a series of four books that Sam has written recounting his adventures as he rode his BMW motorcycle down the length of Africa for almost a year.

Sam is a master story-teller and keeps the reader engaged on every page. I love his writing style, especially the part where he says something hugely important in an off-handed manner. I think he does it for effect and I found myself going back to read the sentence all over again to double check if I had read it right. I find this style interesting because it kind of matches the way you ride a motorcycle. One moment you are riding and everything is fine and the next moment you find yourself on the ground wondering how you got there.

Normally, when I read motorcycle travel books I feel like I’m riding pillion with the author. But this book was a little different and I’m not sure why. I felt like I was riding with Sam on my own motorcycle following him as he zig-zagged through Africa.

Sam has a great sense of humor and it shows in the book. The lighter moments are not over done and neither are they too frequent. Just enough to make you smile every now and then. After all, riding a big, heavy and loaded motorcycle through Africa is no joke (pun intended).

I was half way through this book when I decided to purchase the other three books in the series – Under Asian Skies, Distant Suns and Tortillas To Totems, and I’m going to read them in that order.