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Wax & Gold: Journeys in Ethiopia & other roads less travelled
Tales of adventures in Ethiopia, Japan, Bolivia, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Mongolia, Lebanon, Oman & Costa Rica.
The most prized form of Ethiopian Amharic prose and poetry, loosely translated as ‘wax and gold’ ሰምና ወርቅ [sam-enna warq], is meticulously comprised with a focus on the duality of its meanings. The surface meaning, the wax, must be stripped away to reveal the hidden core of gold underneath. Ethiopia as a country also encourages you to look deeper within yourself, to fully understand and appreciate a deeply rich spiritual significance, that often resonates beneath simple or plain exteriors.
This collection of travel stories, compiled over a 15-year period, traces the travels of author Sam McManus; revolving around a central solo journey exploring the mountains of Ethiopia over a three-month period, which led to the founding of sustainable adventure travel company YellowWood Adventures.
McManus grew up in the countryside of Kent in the UK until he walked out one midsummer morning into a lifetime of travel and adventure. Travel and books: these two passions have fuelled journeys to over 60 countries whilst living on four continents. He has always favoured the road less travelled: whilst living in Japan he took his tent and surfboard and spent three months island-hopping down the 1100km of Ryukyu archipelago; in the Amazon rainforest he spent two weeks with an Indian guide carrying only a machete, fishhooks, salt, sugar and cocoa leaves, learning to live off the land.
Be it the highest plateau in Africa, ice-climbing in the Tian Shan Mountains or exploring the lost assassins’ castles in the Alborz Mountains of Iran; a veritable mountain of banana sandwiches, history books, novels, travel writings and biographies always accompany these adventures, and wherever possible a horse or two. This is pure travel writing:
"Ethiopia can be difficult, prickly, cutting, ruthless, unforgiving, infuriating, stark, confused and complex. Yet, like a densely constructed novel exposing the fundamental contradictions of human nature, or, say, the bright plumage of a flowering cactus, when her treasures are revealed, they are all the more exceptional for the contrasts they manifest. Rarely do I open a book or read a travel article on Ethiopia that does not include the famous line from 18th century historian Edward Gibbon’s masterwork The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: “Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion, the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world by whom they were forgotten.” It still perfectly encapsulates what makes this land so unique, so much from ancient times still remaining.
Although the modern world now has a stable foothold in the cities of Ethiopia, when one ventures out to the interior, this thin veneer rapidly falls away, unveiling the unchanged soul of the nation. One memory illustrates this perfectly: A man and his young son were ploughing a terraced wheat field below their grass hut with two oxen. Their field on the edge of a small river, this fell away off the high plateau in a series of three waterfalls. Their plough had a small sharp metal tip lashed to its wooden triangular sides, the long beam and ploughman’s handle comprised of bark-stripped eucalyptus. They wore a few items of Western clothing – a shirt and a raggedy pair of trousers, both in bare feet. Aside from these few tiny elements that have seeped in from the outside world, the scene was timeless.
I believe it is the search for this timelessness that continues to drive me to travel to the wilder corners of this world."
The most prized form of Ethiopian Amharic prose and poetry, loosely translated as ‘wax and gold’ ሰምና ወርቅ [sam-enna warq], is meticulously comprised with a focus on the duality of its meanings. The surface meaning, the wax, must be stripped away to reveal the hidden core of gold underneath. Ethiopia as a country also encourages you to look deeper within yourself, to fully understand and appreciate a deeply rich spiritual significance, that often resonates beneath simple or plain exteriors.
This collection of travel stories, compiled over a 15-year period, traces the travels of author Sam McManus; revolving around a central solo journey exploring the mountains of Ethiopia over a three-month period, which led to the founding of sustainable adventure travel company YellowWood Adventures.
McManus grew up in the countryside of Kent in the UK until he walked out one midsummer morning into a lifetime of travel and adventure. Travel and books: these two passions have fuelled journeys to over 60 countries whilst living on four continents. He has always favoured the road less travelled: whilst living in Japan he took his tent and surfboard and spent three months island-hopping down the 1100km of Ryukyu archipelago; in the Amazon rainforest he spent two weeks with an Indian guide carrying only a machete, fishhooks, salt, sugar and cocoa leaves, learning to live off the land.
Be it the highest plateau in Africa, ice-climbing in the Tian Shan Mountains or exploring the lost assassins’ castles in the Alborz Mountains of Iran; a veritable mountain of banana sandwiches, history books, novels, travel writings and biographies always accompany these adventures, and wherever possible a horse or two. This is pure travel writing:
"Ethiopia can be difficult, prickly, cutting, ruthless, unforgiving, infuriating, stark, confused and complex. Yet, like a densely constructed novel exposing the fundamental contradictions of human nature, or, say, the bright plumage of a flowering cactus, when her treasures are revealed, they are all the more exceptional for the contrasts they manifest. Rarely do I open a book or read a travel article on Ethiopia that does not include the famous line from 18th century historian Edward Gibbon’s masterwork The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: “Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion, the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world by whom they were forgotten.” It still perfectly encapsulates what makes this land so unique, so much from ancient times still remaining.
Although the modern world now has a stable foothold in the cities of Ethiopia, when one ventures out to the interior, this thin veneer rapidly falls away, unveiling the unchanged soul of the nation. One memory illustrates this perfectly: A man and his young son were ploughing a terraced wheat field below their grass hut with two oxen. Their field on the edge of a small river, this fell away off the high plateau in a series of three waterfalls. Their plough had a small sharp metal tip lashed to its wooden triangular sides, the long beam and ploughman’s handle comprised of bark-stripped eucalyptus. They wore a few items of Western clothing – a shirt and a raggedy pair of trousers, both in bare feet. Aside from these few tiny elements that have seeped in from the outside world, the scene was timeless.
I believe it is the search for this timelessness that continues to drive me to travel to the wilder corners of this world."
230 pages, Paperback
First published July 2, 2021
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April 20, 2025To be scrupulously honest, I only read the essays on Ethiopia. They were very helpful in giving me a taste of the atmosphere and fascination of that country.
May 13, 2022
An informative guide
Sam McManus has compiled fifteen years' worth of adventure travel writing from Ethiopia, Japan, Bolivia, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Mongolia, Lebanon, Oman, and Costa Rica into this collection of stories, which revolve around a solo journey through the mountains of Ethiopia over three months.
Considering the advantages, obstacles, and adversities one can encounter, the author addresses all the questions one may have about travelling to Ethiopia. He tells stories about the people he meets, the chance meetings, and the adventures he has.
The chapter about Gelada Baboons, astonishing rock churches and the case study of Ecotourism in the concluding chapter is impressive.
Narration is realistic and brilliantly written. You will learn a lot about Ethiopia from the author's visuals.
Sam McManus has compiled fifteen years' worth of adventure travel writing from Ethiopia, Japan, Bolivia, Egypt, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Mongolia, Lebanon, Oman, and Costa Rica into this collection of stories, which revolve around a solo journey through the mountains of Ethiopia over three months.
Considering the advantages, obstacles, and adversities one can encounter, the author addresses all the questions one may have about travelling to Ethiopia. He tells stories about the people he meets, the chance meetings, and the adventures he has.
The chapter about Gelada Baboons, astonishing rock churches and the case study of Ecotourism in the concluding chapter is impressive.
Narration is realistic and brilliantly written. You will learn a lot about Ethiopia from the author's visuals.
October 3, 2026
Sam clearly is a well travelled man and loves to go against the grid and experience travel through staying with the locals and seeing their day to day rather. He experiences people, culture and writes about his experiences so well. Love that this book also highlights some very important historical context and i have learnt a lot while reading this book which is exactly what I’d want to read from a travel memoir. There are adventures about places I’d never have on my travel list and after reading this I feel I have renewed interests in seeing them or at the very least felt like I have an idea of what it’s like in those places. The travelling company he is running , Yellow Adventures, sounds like such a great project and company and for a growing sustainability market , it’s a legacy to have.
January 26, 2025
The author founded a tour company called Yellowwood Adventures after Robert Frost's poem about "the path less travelled by". He sent me this book after I had signed up for a Christmas time trip to Georgia which was cancelled for lack of takers. Alternate chapters are devoted to different regions of Ethiopia, mostly written when he was researching routes for his tours, and nine other countries visited at different times, whether with future tours in mind or for other reasons. I enjoyed reading about the places I had visited in 2019, and even more, learning about other parts of the country, though like Robert Frost, I doubt that I shall ever go back.
October 27, 2021
An inspiring book of travel anecdotes about lesser known regions. Human stories alongside majestic landscapes and trekking adventures. The anecdotes are the results of years of travel by the author Sam McManus and cover intricate details of culture borne out of the surrounding geography and his own personal self-discovery.
Humorous, entertaining and inspires you to explore the world yourself.
Humorous, entertaining and inspires you to explore the world yourself.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews