While the modern safari sells choreographed surprise, Deborah Calmeyer offers a savanna that still bares its teeth. The Zimbabwe-born founder of ROAR AFRICA‘s steadfastly resisting the region’s flattening into a series of amusement park clichés. Instead, she’s focused on the continent’s greatest exports: wildlife, yes, but also artists, thinkers, female leaders, and vibrant communities unlike those found anywhere else on the globe. Her ultra-luxury African travel company crafts bespoke journeys that hit each of these tentpoles, all informed by a childhood spent in Zimbabwe among the bush and tribal communities, and a family history in Africa stretching back nearly three centuries.
This life-long familiarity informs each itinerary she builds, including the “Greatest Safari in the World,” annual women’s retreats, and her newest, a trip focused on fire-stoked cuisine with chef Francis Mallmann in Botswana. “It’s deeply designed, and not just a vacation,” she says. “I’m working a bit like an artist.” In conversation with CULTURED, Calmeyer shares how she manages to take visitors one step further, as well as her reflections on growing up with a lioness named Carmel, the African artists she returns to again and again, and why she prefers trips devoid of power lines and paved roads.
You’ve said Africa should be encountered with intelligence, humility, and virtue. I’d love to hear what that means in practice, and where you think outsiders most often get it wrong.
Africa is often misrepresented, being reduced to the bucket-list safari experience. People think, You can stay in the hotel with a plunge pool, and maybe an elephant will come drink out of it. Oh my God, that’s not Africa. It’s a piece of it, and it’s amazing. But Africa has multiple layers. It’s not a single story. It’s got art, food, music, and fashion. It’s got a lot of problems, and it’s got a lot of beauty living side-by-side. It’s a very savage, rough environment as well.
So how do I give you all of that in one trip? That’s why I say intelligence, humility, and virtue. If you’ve entrusted me to do your trip, then trust me—and surrender. I will look after you. There’s no question. Safety is our biggest priority. If you can let go of all the travel logistics because you’re safe and know someone else is taking care of everything, then you can just drop in. You can be fully in your own body. Then, you can connect with your partner, your children, and the whole experience. That’s really the intelligence around it. For those who don’t compromise, let somebody else do what you won’t even see.
Growing up in Zimbabwe, which early life experiences shaped your understanding of Africa before your business arc began?
Our little lion, Carmel, grew up in the house. She was incredible. It was amazing to watch her love for my dad, who was six-foot-three. She would run up, put her paws on his chest, and love him—really love him. It instilled in me a deep appreciation for how similar we are to wildlife. We all need affection. We all crave community. We’re all fighting for survival in our own way. And we all have a very playful side. I was constantly witnessing that.
When I was 12, I was the least likely to become lion dinner compared to my three younger siblings. We all survived. But that’s where my real love for wildlife began. Even now, when I’m out on game drives and there are lions around me, I want to get out of the Land Rover and hug, cuddle, and touch them. Of course I won’t, because I’ll be eaten. But it’s a deep love and respect that came at a very early age. My dream is to walk into Sant Ambroeus in Southampton with my lioness, because people bring their dogs even when it says no dogs.
Tell us about the women you work with across the continent, who help shape these journeys from end-to-end.
My team is 95 percent female, and that’s on purpose. Thanks to technology, we can work from remote farming towns, mining towns, and all sorts of unexpected and wonderful locations. I’ve got amazing, highly competent women doing big international jobs and serving the 0.1 percent of the United States. I’m proud that I can offer careers beyond the opportunities that may have existed in their communities.
Pat Mitchell has been a huge mentor to me. She founded TEDWomen, led PBS and CNN, and inspired me to create our annual women’s empowerment retreats. We bring together international women with leaders from across Africa—whether that’s conservationists like Dr. Moreangels Mbizah, aviation executives, or former Rwandan Minister of Health Agnes Binagwaho. The goal is simple: to introduce guests to women who are transforming their fields and, in many cases, their countries.
You just got back from the Venice Biennale. I’d love to hear about the contemporary African artists who inspire you.
Zanele Muholi is a favorite. Their self-portraits bring attention to the queer community after facing antagonism for photographing people in townships. Another is Moffat Takadiwa from Zimbabwe. He transforms discarded computer keyboards, bottle tops, and toothpaste tubes into monumental tapestries that explore consumerism, inequality, post-colonialism, and the environment. With Africa, there’s almost always a deeper story. It’s one thing to see the work in a museum; it’s another to understand the context behind it.
Can you walk us through the new Wild Heart, Open Flame trip, led by yourself and chef Francis Mallmann?
Francis Mallmann—I mean, wow, what an incredible individual. I just spent a week with him in Botswana scouting locations, and he’s such an interesting character: so inward and artistic. He likes to sew, he likes to paint. His food is art. His fire is art. He cooks on seven different fires over an open flame, and for me, fire is where it all began, in Africa.
When you fly into the area of the Okavango Delta where this retreat will happen, there are no roads, no power lines, and no swimming pools. In fact, you’ll be looking out the window wondering, Where the hell are we going to stay? This isn’t possible. I don’t want to camp. Is it going to be safe? Where are we going to land this plane or helicopter?
We’ve chosen to do it at what I honestly think is the best lodge in Africa: Xigera. It’s an ode to African art and artisans. You’ve got 80 artists represented there. The knives, the forks, the plates, the bedding—every single thing is made by Africans. It’s also female-owned. Every little detail has been considered and the food is remarkable. Bizarrely, the chefs and kitchen staff all knew Francis. So when I took him there for the first time, it was like taking a god into his temple. They’re out in the bush, a million miles away from anything, and yet they knew him. They had his cookbooks, and their eyes just lit up.
What still excites you about what you’re building and the experiences you’re creating in Africa after two decades of this?
Because every experience is custom-designed, it’s exciting every time. It’s a bit like asking Valentino or Giorgio Armani for a custom gown. Every time, it’s an art piece. We really listen to the guests: What do they like? What are they interested in? How do we bring African life to them?
It’s deeply designed, and not just a vacation. It’s the kind of trip where people come back and literally say things like, “You changed my life. I see things differently now.” So now I’m working a bit like an artist. I get to design this every time, and that’s really exciting. When you see the effect—on my guides, on my staff, on the lodges—you think, How did I get so lucky to do this?
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