# Mark Anstice > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mark_Anstice > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mark_Anstice.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Anstice > Source revision: 1283142154 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Scottish explorer and writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}} '''Mark Anstice''' (born 17 May 1967 in the [Angus Glens](/source/Five_Glens_of_Angus) area of Scotland) is a Scottish explorer, [adventurous](/source/adventurous) documentary reality television film maker and writer. He is best known for appearing in the [Travel Channel](/source/Travel_Channel)'s series ''[Mark & Olly: Living with the Tribes](/source/Mark_%26_Olly%3A_Living_with_the_Tribes)'' with Oliver Steeds. ==Army career== After school, Anstice travelled extensively throughout Australia and Asia. In London he joined the [5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards](/source/5th_Royal_Inniskilling_Dragoon_Guards) of the [British Army](/source/British_Army). Anstice spent six years in the guards with operational commitments in the Middle East, Central America and [Bosnia](/source/Bosnia), leaving the service in 1995 as a [captain](/source/Captain_(land)).{{cite web|url=http://ginger.tv/products/tv/95530-cannibals-and-crampons|title=Interview With Mark Anastice|work=[World's Lost Tribes](/source/World's_Lost_Tribes)|publisher=[Discovery Channel](/source/Discovery_Channel)|accessdate=27 July 2010}} ==Television career== In 2000, Mark travelled along with his friend [Bruce Parry](/source/Bruce_Parry) for 77 days to climb the south face of [Puncak Mandala](/source/Puncak_Mandala) in the Indonesian part of [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea). This is the [third highest mountain of Australasia](/source/list_of_highest_mountains_of_New_Guinea), but is little known and had only been climbed once before, from the north. During the expedition, the team had [first contact](/source/First_contact_(anthropology)) with some members of the [Korowai tribe](/source/Korowai_tribe). In the course of the expedition, the adventure documentary, ''Extreme Lives: Cannibals and Crampons''.{{cite web|url=http://www.yourdiscovery.com/worldslosttribes/meetmark/index.shtml?cc=US|title=Extreme Lives:Cannibals and Crampons|work=[Cannibals and Crampons](/source/Cannibals_and_Crampons)|publisher=[Ginger Productions](/source/Ginger_Productions)|accessdate=27 July 2010}} was co-directed and written along with Bruce Parry. The film won both the [Banff Mountain Film Festival](/source/Banff_Mountain_Film_Festival){{cite web|url=http://www.banffcentre.ca/mountainculture/media/2002/filmwinners.htm|title=Extreme Lives:Cannibals and Crampons|work=[Cannibals and Crampons](/source/Cannibals_and_Crampons)|publisher=[Banff Mountain Film Festival](/source/Banff_Mountain_Film_Festival)|accessdate=27 July 2010}} and [Kendal Mountain Film Festival](/source/Kendal_Mountain_Festival). Mark subsequently wrote the book [First Contact](/source/First_Contact_(book)), published by [Eye Books](/source/Eye_Books).,{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Contact-Mark-Anstice/dp/1903070260|title=Amazon|work=[First Contact](/source/First_Contact_(book))|publisher=[Eye Books](/source/Eye_Books)|accessdate=27 July 2010}} which was published in 2004. chronicling the expedition to Mount Mandela. In 2005, Mark took part in the recreation of the [Terra Nova Expedition](/source/Terra_Nova_Expedition) of [Robert Falcon Scott](/source/Robert_Falcon_Scott) and the [Amundsen's South Pole expedition](/source/Amundsen's_South_Pole_expedition) of [Roald Amundsen](/source/Roald_Amundsen) as part of the [BBC](/source/BBC) Blizzard: Race to the Pole{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887223/|title=Race to the Pole|work=Blizzard: Race to the Pole|publisher=BBC|accessdate=27 July 2010}} documentary. The documentary reconstructed the 2500 km expedition using the same equipment, food and clothing as the original two teams, placing the setting in [Greenland](/source/Greenland) as dogs were no longer allowed in [Antarctica](/source/Antarctica). Between 2006 and 2008 he co-presented, with Olly Steeds, three 8-part series for Travel Channel in each of which the duo went to live with a remote, jungle-dwelling tribe for three months. In 2009, amidst growing resentment at the way their experiences were edited for the viewing audience, and public controversy surrounding the edit of the third series Steeds left the team and the show was axed. Anstice went on to make a different series, 'Secrets of The Tribes', in West Africa. Mark Anstice previously ran the charity Fertile Roots Foundation. In 2025 he appeared in [Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild](/source/Ben_Fogle%3A_New_Lives_in_the_Wild) series 20 episode 8 explaining what happened to the charity. ==Television filmography== * ''Extreme Lives: Cannibals and Crampons'' (2002) * ''First Contact'' (2006) – a BBC Anthropology series presentation (set in West Papua New Guinea) surrounding the ethics of "First Contact" experiences staged by tour operators * ''Blizzard: Race to the Pole'' (2006) * ''Mark & Olly: Living with the Tribes'' (2007) * ''Worlds Lost Tribes: The New Adventures of Mark and Olly'' (2007–2009) * ''Secrets of the Tribes'' (2010) * ''[Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild](/source/Ben_Fogle%3A_New_Lives_in_the_Wild)'' (2025) ==Personal life== Anstice is married to Ayelen, who is Argentinian. They have two children and live in Morocco where they operate The Serai, a retreat centre near Essaouira. ==References== {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Anstice, Mark}} Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards officers Category:British documentary filmmakers Category:Military personnel from Angus, Scotland Category:20th-century British Army personnel {{Explorer-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mark Anstice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Anstice) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Anstice?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.