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Ultimate Guide to Luxury African Safaris

Our Team

Trust our team of African travel experts.

Deborah Calmeyer

CEO & Founder

As the founder and CEO of ROAR AFRICA, Deborah Calmeyer’s passion for and commitment to the continent where she was born is manifested in the life-changing journeys that she creates for her loyal following of international clientele. Living between New York and Cape Town for the past twenty years has given this Zimbabwe-born entrepreneur a profound understanding of the needs and desires of sophisticated American travelers who come to ROAR AFRICA because they don’t have the time to get it wrong.

Based in New York but with offices in Southern and East Africa, Deborah and her team curate, design and deliver highly refined travel experiences that match people to places. With her eye on helping Africa and Africans at all times, her commitment to positively impacting upon wildlife conservation, whilst providing employment on the ground and empowering African women – informs every trip she curates.

On the pulse of all that is wild and wondrous across their home continent, the ROAR AFRICA team lifts the lid on the continent's most spectacular wilderness encounters with the knowledge and sensitivity only people selling their homeland and not just another destination can.

We continue to innovate and expand on experiences few thought possible. Life-changing journeys like The Greatest Safari on Earth, touching the continent's four most iconic destinations on board the Emirates Executive Private jet, have changed the face of luxury travel in Africa.

We firmly believe that nature is our nurture. No other experience delivers the profound peace and forced surrender one finds amidst the slower, natural rhythms of safari, especially when you can rest assured your journey will be worry-free. Our team's insistence on working with only the best experts and thought leaders to craft inimitably luxurious, memorable trips that create the space for personal transformation lifts ROAR AFRICA above the noise. We share our friends and hidden gems, immersing you deeply in ways only a local can. Our dedicated ROAR AFRICA team on the ground, whose logistical expertise we liken to the Navy SEALS of travel – removes any grind and stress.

To provide a seamless, spectacular African experience with conservation and women's empowerment at its core motivates our every action. For we travel not just to move, but to be moved.

ROAR AFRICA has received numerous awards, including Conde Nast's Top Travel Specialists (2017 - 2022), Travel + Leisure A-List (2019 - 2022), Robb Reports Best of the Best 2021, and Travel Masters 2022. Deborah was included in Conde Nast's 30 Most Powerful Women in Travel in 2019.

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Lee Cooper

MD Operations

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Merritt Howerton

Trip Designer

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Talley Smith

Trip Designer

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Bongelwa Qandashe

Senior Operations Consultant

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Farida Lukie

Senior Operations Consultant

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Donna James

Senior Operations Consultant

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Lisa Lerm

Client Liaison

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Elizabeth Honiball

Client Liaison

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Jodi Edwards

Client Liaison

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Tish Keth

Senior Finance Manager

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Barbara Sherwood

Finance Manager

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Tanya du Plessis

Accounts Payable

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Brad Twaddle

Art Director

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Sam Lockhart

Executive Assistant

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Steven Lake

Specialist Guide

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Thabie Moji

Specialist Guide

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Stephen Bell

Specialist Guide

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Humphrey Gumpo

Specialist Guide

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Lazarus Mandabva

Specialist Guide

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Malick Paulsen

Driver Guide

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