Our Commitment to Adventure
Adventure is key to Untamed Borders and the antithesis to the mass-market travel industry. We take individuals and small groups to destinations, which are among some of the most challenging in the world, often which receive very few visitors.
Alongside our regular group cultural tours in adventurous destinations, we also organise group trekking, skiing and marathon tours. We are passionate about making people’s dream trips come true, regularly helping craft thrilling private trips too, ranging from a wedding on the edge of an active volcano in the DRC, to a kayak trip in Afghanistan or cycling across the Danakil Depression.
Pioneering Cultural Trips
Since 2008 Untamed Borders has been pushing the barriers of adventurous travel. In 2012, we arranged the first commercial tourist trips in over 20 years to Mogadishu, then in 2016, we expanded this work by arranging the first commercial trip since 1991 to the far tip of the Horn of Africa, in Puntland. Also in 2012, we pioneered travel in the Russian Caucasus, developing trips to Chechnya, Dagestan & Ingushetia.
Afghanistan has been central to our work since 2008, with hundreds of trips organised across the country. Our founder James Willcox has visited more than 30 times and authored the the new Bradt guide for Afghanistan – the first guidebook for the country in 20 years. For the book James researched widely across the country, including remote areas such as Tora Bora, Nuristan and the Lapis mins of Sare Sang.
In recent years we developed trips to Western Pakistan region, Balochistan and in 2019 were one of the first companies to bring tourists back to mainland Yemen. In April 2025, our guests were among the first international tourists to visit Syria, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. Meanwhile, in November 2025, we organised one of the first commercial expeditions since 2011 to Southern Libya, continuing our focus on opening remarkable, but rarely visited destinations to travellers.
Marathons
We organise packages to some of the world’s most unsual marathons, in unconventional locations, including Iraq and Pakistan. By taking part, you are not only having a great adventure and taking on a sporting challenge, but also helping and supporting the running community in other more challenging regions. These trips allow for an important cultural exchange between runners and support the development of training programmes and events in less developed nations. It’s a win-win.
In addition to these current trips, we were pioneers in organising marathon races in Afghanistan and Somaliland, as well as organising travel packages to races in Saudi Arabia and Mogadishu.
See below for the list of marathon events we currently arrange travel to:
Skiing Tours
Untamed Borders were the first company to run ski tours to Afghanistan back in 2011 and continue to this day. Since 2013 we have been asked by the organisers of the Afghan Peaks Ski Race/Afghan Ski Challenge to run group packages for that event too. Untamed Borders also organises annual group ski trips to Iraq and helps organise the Choman Winter Festival and Iraq Ski Rally.
Along with our group trips, we can also offer private ski trips in these nations, and have previously run ski trips to countries including Lebanon, Tajikistan, Iran, China & Pakistan.
Trekking Trips
We run annual group trekking adventures to the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan, the Pamir Mountain Lakes region of Tajikistan, the Hadramout in Yemen and along the newly formed Zagros Mountain Trail, in Iraqi Kurdistan. We also previously organised group trekking trips in Kyrgyzstan.
We can offer private trekking tours in all of these nations, plus other nations, such as Pakistan, Georgia and many more destinations, across the Middle East, Asia & Africa.
World Firsts & Records
- First ski ascent & descent of Iraq’s tallest mountain – Untamed Borders organised the first ever ski ascent & descent of Halgurd, Iraq’s tallest mountain. It was turned into a film called Adventure Not War, produced by the North Face.
- Afghanistan’s first commercial kayak trip – We organised the first ever kayak descent of the the Panjshir Valley for an international group.
- Scuba dive world record – We’ve helped the world record holder for the most nations scuba dived in, to break her world record in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Somalia, Eritrea and Libya.
- First ever cycle crossing of the Danakil Depression – In 2017, we helped facilitate the first cycle crossing of Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression, one of the hottest and most inhospitable places on earth. It was completed by an inspiring ground of women called “Women On A Mission“.
- Afghanistan’s first ever snowboard film – we arranged logistics and guided a team for Afghanistan’s first snowboard movie, called White Silk Road, in Bamian.
Films & Documentaries
- Michael Palin in Iraq – We arranged on-the-ground logistics and guided the legendary broadcaster Michael Palin, for his documentary series – Into Iraq.
- Logistics for an Afghan ski film – We organised logistics for a new film which follows the progress of the Afghan skiing community and the formation of the Bamyan Alpine Ski Club. It had its world premiere at the prestigious Tribeca Film Festival in New York and has won numerous awards at other film festivals.
- A ski film in Iran – In 2017 we worked with filmmaker, Jordan Manley, to produce a ski film in Iran, as part of his global film series called – A Skier’s Journey. The series was produced in association with Canadian outdoor clothing company, Arc’teryx. You can view the film here.
- Belgian TV crew in Pakistan – Untamed Borders guided famous Belgian TV presenter Tom Waes in Northern Pakistan for his travel show, Reizen Waes. It was aired on VRT in 2025.
Slow & Fast Travel
- Around the world walk – We acted as a travel consultant for journalist Paul Salopek in Afghanistan, who is undertaking an epic round the world walk for National Geographic – retracting the first migration route that homo sapiens took 60,000 years ago. The adventure is taking longer than 10 years. You can read more about the project called “The Out of Eden Walk” here.
- World record travel at speed – We helped American, Michael Zervos, break the world record for visiting all the UN recognised countries, in the fastest ever time. We guided him in 13 of the most challenging destinations and acted as his travel consultant for the full challenge called Project Kosmos. Along with the mammoth travel feat, he also recorded interviews in each nation, asking people “what was the happiest moment in your life”.
Other Unique Projects
- Kayak to the lowest island in the world in Ethiopia –At the end of 2023 we organised a very special adventure for two guests, who kayaked to the lowest lying island on earth, in Ethiopia’s Lake Afrera. It lies 102m below sea level and there have only been 5 previous documented visits, with the last one taking place in 1973.
- Climbing in Iran’s hardest to reach peaks – We helped a group of international women climbers access some of the hardest to reach peaks in Iran, joining local women for the adventure.
- Helicopter around K2 – We guided a guest on a helicopter tour of K2 in Pakistan, the world’s second highest peak.
- Highest point in Somaliland – We recently guided a guest to hike to the highest point in Somaliland.
- Mirage for Apple Park – Back in 2021, we were contacted by Katie Paterson Studio about the creation of a new artwork for Apple Park in California; a cast glass sculpture made of sand collected from every desert on earth – called Mirage. We collected sand from deserts across Asia and Africa for the project, in places such as Pakistan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Somaliland. The sand is now part of the finished sculpture in California.
- Joss Stone – We helped guide singer Joss Stone in a number of countries for her Total World Tour, where she visited every nation on earth to perform.
- Wedding Active Volcano in DRC – In February 2017 we arranged our first ever wedding. We helped an American-Hungarian couple tie the knot at Nyiragongo in the Democratic Republic of Congo. During the ceremony they were perched at the edge of an active volcano.
- Collecting items for the British Library & British Museum – We sourced war rugs from Afghanistan for the British Museum and collected a book on Ingushetian watch towers for an exhibition at the British Library.
