Jul 26, 2021
Just as the world was closing Sam McManus from YellowWood Adventures took a daunting gamble and hopped on a plane to Costa Rica. We talk about how the pandemic can change travel (even for the better), tourism being potentially a means for good, eco-tourism and re-forestation, surfing, small pueblos in the green hills of Northern Spain, his wonderful travelogue about his explorations - Wax and Gold Journeys in Ethiopia & Other Roads Less Travelled - and feeling the pull of friends, family and home.
On this episode we cover:
Second only returning guest
His wonderful travelogue - Wax and Gold Journeys in Ethiopia & Other Roads Less Travelled
Ethiopia and the inspiration to go there
Tribal country and the civil war in Ethiopia
Sending money to his business partner to escape the conflict
The terrible plight of his business partner in Ethiopia
The famine in Ethiopia being caused by the regimes
Ethiopia being surprisingly verdant
Camping out in the remote Tigray region
Making his business about remote regions
Touring Oman, Lebanon, Mongolia
The pandemic putting a stop to the tours
Booking a one way flight to Costa Rica on the eve of the UK lockdown
Adventures during a global pandemic
Sleepless nights in hostels whilst people were fleeing the country
Studying and surfing Costa Rica for a year
Planting trees and ecotourism in South America
The positive financial impact of tourism
Compared to the negative impact of over tourism
Barcelona going from over-tourism to empty
Carbon compensation and biodiversity
Partnering with a food giving charity in Lebanon
Partnering with an animal protection charity in northern Spain
Climate change speeding up
The opportuning to reset travel after the pandemic
Feeling a huge shift in investors starting to care
Al Gore – the sustainability revolution will happen with ‘the speed of the digital revolution’
Lisa contrasting Sam’s lockdown in Costa Rica to hers at home in the cold with no school!
Spending his lockdown in a tropical paradise
Making lasting friendships in difficult circumstances abroad
Driving down to the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain
National Geographic asking for an article on Beirut
Writing an 80000 word travel anthology
Achieving life goals,
Living and being locked down in rural northern Spain
Falling back in love with the UK
Home and friends again
Listening to classic music in the car and getting stick for it