01/
DESTINATION
Sometimes this is simply due to a lack of knowledge about why or how to travel there, sometimes due to concerns surrounding security. However, what unites them all is that there is more to the places we travel to than is typically known or understood.
02/
MASTERS
ISHKAR trips are accompanied by a 'master' to give our travelers a genuine and unparalleled opportunity to not just see a destination, but to engage more deeply with the country and its culture.
We travel with award-winning photojournalists, internationally regarded artists, Olympic athletes and conservation experts.
Through their experience, our masters provide unique insights and perspectives, helping travelers develop their skills and gain unforgettable experiences.
If you are interested in partnering with us as a master, please click here for more information.
03/
FELLOW TRAVELLERS
We travel in small groups of curious and critically minded travelers.
We interview everyone who applies to our trips to make sure that each group is made up of a well-matched and eclectic blend of people.
The trips are often over-subscribed and we work hard to select groups of travelers who will work well together. Our trips attract both solo travellers and couples.
04/
ENVIRONMENTAL
& SOCIAL IMPACT
Social impact is at the core of our travel arm. Through travel we are generating economic opportunities in communities that have been isolated from international trade and tourism. We are also firmly committed to travelling in an environmentally responsible way. We have introduced measures to reduce plastic consumption.
PREVIOUS TRIPS
(2019-21)
Afghanistan | Bamiyan: Land of Light
Afghanistan | Bamiyan Skiing
Iraqi Kurdistan | The Great Gathering
WE are uncompromising
on security
Ensuring our traveller's safety is at the heart of what we do. We only travel to areas that meet the stringent criteria of our in-depth risk assessments, and where we have an established and strong network of local partners to ensure our security and provide the most up-to-date security information.
Our Head of Travel, Zanna Baker, is a former British military officer, and we consult with a wide range of on the ground experts to ensure the safest possible trip.
Read more about our approach to security here.
What we are not
We are not promoters of war-tourism
ISHKAR was established to challenge 'war tourism' and every form of 'poverty tourism'. Although we often travel in countries that are, or have been, affected by conflict, our trips are designed to surprise, inform and inspire, revealing sides to these countries rarely seen in the news.
Similarly, we are conscious of not orientalising, or exoticising our destinations — we endeavor to show places as they are and not how people might fantasize them to be.
Those who join ISHKAR trips are open-minded and ready to have their pre-existing notions challenged.
We are not an adventure travel company
While many of our trips may be adventurous, 'adventure' is only a small part of what makes up an ISHKAR trip. Our trips attract those that are keen to have their perspectives challenged, not their physical limits (though, depending on the trip, that might well happen too!).
Book our
Future Trips
SOQOTRA
- Journey |ISHKAR
- March 2022
Journey around Soqotra – the sparsely populated Yemeni island of jagged mountains, pristine white beaches and one of the densest concentrations of unique plant and animal species found anywhere on the planet.
D. R. Congo
- Photography |MC Brown
- TBC 2022
Venture to the Northern and Southern Kivu regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with the award-winnning photographer, and former DRC resident, Michael Christopher Brown.
SOQOTRA
- Landscape Photo |S Norfolk
- March 2020
Visit the Yemeni island of Soqotra and capture the beautiful and the bizarre on camera, guided by award-winning landscape photographer Simon Norfolk, who travelled to the island in 2009 and 2013.
Edmund le Brun
Co-founder
Edmund has lived and worked in Afghanistan since 2013. He first fell in love with the region when he was 18, spending 12 months living in Xinjiang, a Chinese province which borders Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor. Edmund is a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, having been part of two pioneering (and calamitous!) expeditions to raft previously un-rafted rivers in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Among other adventures, he has cycled from London to Istanbul and traversed the Taklamakan desert by bike. Edmund is a graduate of Oxford University and a Forbes 30 under 30 for social entrepreneurship.
Flore de Taisne
Co-founder
Prior to founding ISHKAR, Flore worked for the French Embassy in Damascus, and Samuel Hall in Afghanistan where she consulted for organisations such as the UN and the World Bank. Flore has travelled widely across the Middle East and Central Asia, and travelled across Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan by foot and horse in 2012. Flore holds a BA in History from King’s College London, and a Joint Masters from LSE and Sciences Po in International political economy and economic policy, where she was an Entente Cordiale Scholar. She is a Forbes 30 under 30 for Social Entrepreneurship.