Joseph "Rich" Francis is a travel writer and full-time traveler of more than 10 years. He's lived on multiple continents and in a hodgepodge of different destinations, from the beach towns of the Mexican Pacific to the idyllic isles of southern Thailand, the ski centers of the Alps to the historic cities of Central Europe. He's a niche expert in surf-travel and adventure travel, and has published work in leading travel brands like Lonely Planet, The Culture Trip, and Seeker.
Today, you can find him blogging about the latest in surf destinations over on The Surf Atlas or about the latest bars in Krakow on KrakowBuzz. You can also find his portfolio site at JosephRichardFrancis.com.
There are few countries in the southern reaches of Africa as off-the-beaten-track as little Lesotho. Why? Well, for starters, it’s Landlocked and entirely encompassed by the popular lands of South Africa the country, meaning it’s not exactly the easiest place to get to. And then there’s its veneer, spiked for the most part by impenetrable …
Malawi is a land of lakes and plateaux, delineated by the great ridges of the East African Rift. The nation is long and thin, snaking its way like a rare Nyika lizard around the lands of Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique. The most defining geographical feature has to be that long finger of blue: Lake Malawi. …
There’s no question about it: Libya is in turmoil. Since the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring in 2011 and following more than 40 years of iron-fist rule by one Muammar Gaddafi, the country has hardly emerged well. Today, civil war and factional disputes still rage across the nation, extremism is rife, and much of …
Ah, Madagascar; just the very mention of the name evokes images of the exotic and the tropical. A land of colossal, bulbous baobab trees from centuries gone by, of bug-eyed lemurs and of swinging indri indris, it’s got all the elegance of a onetime French colony; all the wildernesses of East Africa; all the warmth …
Famous for its sandy beaches, sunshine and marsupials, Australia is a dream trip for many travelers worldwide. But visitors are often pleasantly surprised to find that the Lucky Country has much more to offer than they’d expected: from barren outback to lush rainforests, extraordinary flora and fauna, two of the world’s most exciting fossil sites, …
Kenya lies at the very heart of the East African Rift Valley. A place of world-class wildlife viewing and legendary game reserves, it’s surely amongst the most-visited of countries in the region. Just check out the bucket-list-busting migrations that take place in the vast Mara, or look to the soaring heights of Mount Kenya, surrounded …
Long side-lined for its poor human rights record and extensive repertoire of political instabilities (no president has ever managed to complete a full five-year term since independence here!), the Guinea-Bissau of today is actually much more of an amenable place than many travelers think. Of course, always stay abreast of the latest FCO developments (things …
Ravaged by outbreaks of Ebola and spell after spell of political upheaval alike in the last 100 years, little Guinea (the nation is about the same size as the UK) has certainly had its fair share of troubles. But somehow that’s failed to diminish the tenacity and smiles of the locals here, who still look …
A thin and slender tadpole of an island that forms the mid-point of the ABCs, Curaçao is a Caribbean destination with a difference. Ringed by picture-perfect beaches and craggy headlands clad in the occasional bloom of palms and sea grasses, spiny cacti and divi-divi groves, the terrain isn’t your usual soft sands and jungle. It’s …
Chimpanzees swing and gorillas galumph through the wild, mist-topped backcountry; hoots and howls echo amidst the largely untrodden heights of the great Monte Alén peaks. Meanwhile, elephants hurtle through the dense forests of Altos de Nsork, primeval woods tick over along the Cameroonian and Gabon borderlands, gushing waterfalls flow, and the sylvan hills hide giant …