The Verdict Dossier · Luxury Safari Operators
Roar Africa: The 2026 Review — Journeys, Service & Cost
Roar Africa is not a lodge brand — it is a bespoke travel designer at the very top of the market, best known for chartering an Emirates Executive private jet across four countries on what it calls "The Greatest Safari on Earth". Founded by Zimbabwe-born Deborah Calmeyer and run from Miami by an almost entirely female, all-African team, it sells access, choreography and a conservation-and-empowerment ethos rather than beds it owns. Here is what that actually buys, an honest case for and against, and a compass to see whether the money makes sense for your trip.
2005
Founded
12
African countries
95%
Female-led team
10
Guests, private-jet safari
$175k+
Greatest Safari, per person
- The verdict, in two paragraphs
- The Journey Compass — find your Roar Africa trip
- Where Roar operates & its signature journeys
- Indicative journey costs & inclusions — 2026
- How to price a comparable luxury safari (three routes)
- Compare Roar Africa against another operator
- Straight answers to the questions readers ask
Few designers can choreograph Africa at this altitude — private-jet access, marquee lodges and a women-led, all-African team who genuinely know the ground.
Roar Africa was founded in 2005 by Deborah Calmeyer, born in Zimbabwe in 1973 into a family whose African roots run back eleven generations. It builds one-off, individually designed journeys across twelve countries — from Cape Town and the Okavango to the Maasai Mara and the gorilla forests of Rwanda — and staffs them with an almost entirely female, all-African team of guides, fixers and conservationists. That combination of relationships and taste is the product; it is why Condé Nast Traveler lists it among its Top Travel Specialists and Robb Report named Calmeyer a Travel Master.
Its signature is the "Greatest Safari on Earth": twelve days for just ten guests aboard an Emirates Executive A319 private jet, hopping Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda into lodges most travellers can only reach one at a time — Matetsi Victoria Falls, Xigera, Angama Mara and Singita Kwitonda for the gorillas. Underneath the theatre is a real thesis — "if African women rise, wildlife will thrive" — expressed through women's empowerment retreats and community-first sourcing.
The pricing is extreme, it owns none of the lodges it sells, and for most travellers a specialist can build a near-identical trip for far less.
This is the thin end of the market. The Greatest Safari on Earth runs to roughly US$175,000–187,500 per person for 2026–2027, and bespoke private journeys are quoted "on application" precisely because they start very high. Roar owns no reserves or camps — it books third-party properties (Singita, andBeyond, One&Only and others), so you are paying a design-and-access premium on top of lodge rates that a capable planner can often secure for less.
For most readers, then, Roar is aspirational rather than practical: brilliant if a private jet and a fully-hosted, no-decisions trip is the point, hard to justify if the goal is simply excellent game-viewing. If you want the same lodges — Singita, andBeyond — without the concierge markup, a mainstream specialist is the more sensible route, and the compass below is honest about where Roar's money does and does not earn its keep.
The Journey Compass — find your Roar Africa trip
Roar builds to order, so the question is less "which lodge" than "which kind of journey". Pick what matters most and the compass returns the best-fit Roar journey style, an indicative 2026 cost, and one honest line on whether it is worth it — with two ways to price a comparable trip.
What kind of journey is this?
Pick a journey type above. The Roar journey style, an indicative cost and the honest verdict will appear here.
Where Roar operates, and its signature journeys
Roar Africa designs across twelve countries, but its reputation rests on a handful of signature journey styles. This is the honest breakdown of what each one is — and, because Roar owns no lodges, which third-party properties it tends to use.
South Africa & the Cape
South Africa · Cape Town · Winelands · Sabi Sand
South Africa is Roar's most accessible canvas and a frequent opener or finale: Cape Town and Table Mountain, the Cape Winelands, and a private Big Five reserve in the Sabi Sand or Greater Kruger. Because Roar is a designer rather than an owner, the lodges it books here are the familiar luxury names — the point of difference is the guiding, the private transfers and the choreography, not proprietary camps. It is the leg where a Roar trip most closely resembles what a strong specialist could also arrange, so it is worth being clear-eyed about the premium.
Best for
A polished city-and-bush combination with a fully-hosted feel — strongest when it bookends a longer multi-country journey rather than standing alone.
East Africa & the Great Migration
Kenya · Tanzania · Maasai Mara & Serengeti
Roar's migration journeys centre on the Maasai Mara — the Greatest Safari on Earth stays at Angama Mara, perched on the escarpment above the Mara Triangle — and can be extended into the Serengeti across the Tanzanian border. Timing is everything: the herds are in the Mara roughly July to October for the dramatic river crossings, and Roar's value here is securing prime rooms and expert private guiding in the busiest window of the safari calendar, when the best camps sell out a year ahead.
Best for
Front-row migration in the peak July–October crossings, with private guiding and rooms locked in early. The single most compelling reason to hand a specialist the planning.
Rwanda & the mountain gorillas
Rwanda · Volcanoes National Park
The gorilla finale is Roar's emotional peak. In Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park it bases guests at Singita Kwitonda — and, on the August 2026 departure, One&Only Gorilla's Nest — for treks to habituated mountain gorilla families in the Virungas. Note the hard cost that sits outside any lodge rate: Rwanda gorilla permits are currently US$1,500 per person, per trek, set by the government, and Roar (like every operator) passes these through. Trekking is strenuous, altitude is real, and daily permits are strictly limited, which is exactly why booking well ahead matters.
Best for
A once-in-a-lifetime gorilla encounter at the top luxury tier — budget the US$1,500 permit per trek on top, and book far ahead for the limited daily places.
"The Greatest Safari on Earth" — the private-jet journey
Zimbabwe · Botswana · Kenya · Rwanda · 12 days
This is the trip that made Roar's name. Twelve days, ten guests, one Emirates Executive A319 — a private jet fitted with lie-flat suites — flying between four countries and four flagship lodges: Matetsi Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, Xigera in Botswana's Okavango Delta, Angama Mara in Kenya, and Singita Kwitonda for the Rwandan gorillas. It is hosted personally by founder Deborah Calmeyer alongside guest experts, and it is designed so guests never touch a commercial airport between camps. The 2026 departures are 10–22 August and 25 August–6 September.
Cost, verified honestly. Roar quotes this journey at roughly US$175,000–187,500 per person for 2026–2027 on its own site. Earlier press (late 2024) reported it at about £145,000 / US$150,000 per person — so the figure has risen, and any number should be confirmed directly with Roar at the time of booking. Given the price and the ten-seat capacity, it sells out far ahead.
What you are buying is choreography and access, not proprietary lodges — the same camps can, in principle, be booked individually. The premium pays for the jet, the seamlessness and the hosting. For a milestone celebration where the logistics themselves are the luxury, that can be the entire point; for pure game-viewing value, it is not.
Best for
A once-in-a-lifetime, no-logistics grand tour where the private jet and the hosting are the experience. Not the choice if the objective is value per game drive.
Conservation & women's empowerment
Pan-African · mission-level, not a single reserve
Roar frames itself around a single line — "if African women rise, wildlife will thrive" — and backs it with a mostly-female, all-African team and an annual Women's Empowerment Retreat, most recently hosted in Tanzania. It also runs reflective, small-group retreats such as the "Wild Heart Clear Mind" journey co-hosted in Kenya with the poet-philosopher David Whyte. Being straight about it: unlike an owner-operator such as Great Plains Conservation, Roar does not run its own reserves, and it does not publish a specific named conservation project or funding figure — its impact is expressed through where it spends, who it employs and the retreats it hosts, rather than through land it manages.
Best for
Travellers who want their money to sit behind women-led African tourism and community benefit — with the honest caveat that the impact is diffuse, not tied to one flagship project.
Bespoke & multi-generational journeys
Custom · any of Roar's twelve countries
Beyond the fixed-date flagships, the core of Roar's business is fully bespoke: a route drawn to a single family or group, exclusive-use villas and camps, private guides and vehicles, and pacing built around children or elders. Roar does not publish a packaged "family programme" the way some brands do — every such trip is designed from scratch, which is both the appeal (nothing off-the-peg) and the reason pricing is only ever quoted "on application". For multi-generational groups who want one team handling every detail across several countries, this is where the concierge model earns its place.
Best for
Multi-generational or special-occasion groups wanting a single hosted, fully-private itinerary — priced on application, so ask for a written quote and inclusions up front.
Roar Africa's indicative journey costs & inclusions, 2026
Roar publishes almost no fixed prices — nearly everything is bespoke and quoted "on application". The figures below are indicative per-person costs drawn from Roar's own site and published press, for guidance only. Treat every number as a starting point to confirm directly, not a fixed rate.
| Journey | Region | Length | Indicative 2026 cost (pp) | Inclusions / notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Greatest Safari on Earth | Zimbabwe · Botswana · Kenya · Rwanda | 12 days | ~$175,000–187,500 | Emirates A319 private jet, 10 guests, flagship lodges, most activities; gorilla permits typically extra |
| Custom private-jet safari | Sub-Saharan Africa | Bespoke | On application | Emirates Executive A319 charter to a private itinerary; very high entry point |
| Women's Empowerment Retreat | Tanzania | ~5–6 days | From ~$23,850 | Small-group hosted retreat led by Deborah Calmeyer (Jan 2027 dates published) |
| "Wild Heart Clear Mind" retreat | Kenya · Maasai Mara | ~5 days | From ~$27,750 | Reflective retreat co-hosted with poet David Whyte (June 2027 dates published) |
| Bespoke Rwanda gorilla journey | Rwanda · Volcanoes NP | Bespoke | On application | Singita Kwitonda / One&Only; gorilla permits US$1,500 pp per trek, extra |
| Bespoke Southern Africa circuit | South Africa · Botswana · Zimbabwe | Bespoke | On application | Cape Town, winelands, Sabi Sand, Okavango, Victoria Falls to a private route |
| Bespoke multi-generational journey | Multi-country | Bespoke | On application | Exclusive-use villas, private guide, vehicle and hosting; designed from scratch |
Figures are indicative per-person guidance compiled at time of publication from Roar Africa's website and published press, and rounded. Retreat "from" prices are the lowest published lead-in and reflect 2027 dates released so far. The Greatest Safari on Earth was reported at ~£145,000 / US$150,000 pp in late 2024 and ~US$175,000–187,500 pp for 2026–2027 — the higher current figure is used above. Gorilla permits, international flights, premium beverages, gratuities and certain activities may be additional. Everything bespoke is quoted on application; always confirm with Roar directly.
Price a comparable luxury safari
Southern Africa safaris, priced right now
Roar Africa is bespoke and not bookable through our partners — but if you want a sense of what a comparable luxury safari costs, here is live, per-person Southern Africa inventory you can filter and enquire on directly.
How to price a comparable luxury safari — three honest routes
Roar Africa designs its own journeys and does not sell through our booking partners, so you enquire with Roar directly at roarafrica.com. If you want to benchmark the cost — or build a similar trip for less — these three partners cover the same lodges and regions.
Route 1 · Bespoke planner
Go2Africa
The closest like-for-like to Roar's model: a human designer building a multi-country luxury itinerary across the same regions and lodges — Cape Town, the Mara, the Okavango, Rwanda's gorillas — usually at a lower planning premium. Best if you want the hosted, no-decisions feel without the private jet.
Design a comparable trip with Go2AfricaRoute 2 · Tailored specialist quote
Safari.com
Best for a fast, curated quote on the flagship lodges Roar uses — and for pricing a specific leg such as Sabi Sand, the Mara or Victoria Falls. Deep-links to individual properties so you can benchmark a like-for-like nightly rate quickly.
Request a comparable quote via Safari.comRoute 3 · Self-serve comparison
BookAllSafaris
Best for readers still shortlisting — comparing luxury migration, gorilla and Southern Africa trips across many operators before enquiring. Self-serve, and the broadest field for sanity-checking what a comparable journey should cost.
Compare luxury safaris on BookAllSafarisNot sure Roar Africa is the fit? Compare against another operator.
The other luxury safari operators we have reviewed in depth — including the owner-operators whose lodges Roar books.
Singita
Owner-operator at the ceiling of luxury; Kwitonda hosts Roar's Rwanda gorilla leg.
Read the Singita review →andBeyond
29 owned lodges across Africa at one standard; design-led, conservation-first.
Read the andBeyond review →Wilderness
60+ camps; the deepest Botswana footprint at the low-density luxury tier.
Read the Wilderness review →Great Plains Conservation
Joubert-founded owner-operator — the conservation model Roar's ethos gestures at.
Read the Great Plains Conservation review →Sanctuary Retreats
A&K-owned; Chief's Camp Okavango plus a Nile cruise fleet.
Read the Sanctuary Retreats review →African Bush Camps
Community-rooted; the deepest Zimbabwe portfolio at the luxury tier.
Read the African Bush Camps review →Asilia Africa
East Africa specialist; strong value-to-luxury ratio in Tanzania and Kenya.
Read the Asilia Africa review →Natural Selection
Conservation-led Botswana & Namibia; characterful, lower-density camps.
Read the Natural Selection review →The full operator index
Every luxury safari operator we rate, ranked and cross-compared in one place.
Read the operator index →Straight answers to the questions readers ask
Is Roar Africa a lodge brand or a tour operator?
A tour operator — specifically an ultra-luxury bespoke travel designer. Roar Africa owns no lodges, camps or reserves. It designs and hosts one-off journeys and books third-party properties such as Singita, andBeyond and One&Only on your behalf. So a "Roar safari" is defined by its planning, guiding and choreography rather than by any property it operates, which is the key thing to understand before comparing it to owner-operators.
Who is Deborah Calmeyer, and is Roar Africa women-led?
Deborah Calmeyer is Roar Africa's founder and CEO. She was born in Zimbabwe in 1973 into a family with deep, multi-generational African roots, and founded the company in 2005, now run from Miami Beach. Roar is female-founded and female-led, with a team it describes as roughly 95% women and entirely African, and its guiding philosophy is "if African women rise, wildlife will thrive".
How much does the Greatest Safari on Earth cost?
Roar's own site indicates roughly US$175,000–187,500 per person for 2026–2027 departures. Earlier press in late 2024 reported it at about £145,000 / US$150,000 per person, so the price has risen and should be confirmed directly with Roar. The journey runs 12 days for just ten guests aboard an Emirates Executive A319 private jet across Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda, with 2026 departures on 10–22 August and 25 August–6 September.
Is Roar Africa worth the premium over booking lodges directly?
It depends what you value. Because Roar books the same third-party lodges anyone else can, a capable specialist can often assemble a very similar itinerary for meaningfully less. What Roar adds is a private jet on its flagship, seamless multi-country logistics, personal hosting and a women-led, all-African team. If a no-decisions, fully-hosted trip is the point, that premium can be justified; if the goal is the best game-viewing per pound, it generally is not.
What is Roar Africa's conservation and empowerment work?
Roar frames its purpose around women's empowerment and community benefit, summed up as "if African women rise, wildlife will thrive". In practice that means a mostly-female, all-African team, community-first sourcing, and an annual Women's Empowerment Retreat. Being straight about it: Roar does not run its own reserves or publish a specific named conservation project or funding figure, so its impact is diffuse — expressed through employment and spending rather than land it manages.
Which countries does Roar Africa cover?
Twelve: Botswana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In practice its journeys concentrate on the marquee safari and gorilla regions — the Maasai Mara and Serengeti, the Okavango Delta, Victoria Falls, Cape Town and the winelands, and the Virunga gorilla forests of Rwanda and Uganda — with Indian Ocean islands used as beach extensions.
Can Roar Africa arrange gorilla trekking in Rwanda?
Yes — it is central to the flagship journey and available bespoke. Roar bases gorilla guests at Singita Kwitonda beside Volcanoes National Park (and One&Only Gorilla's Nest on the August 2026 departure) for treks to habituated mountain gorilla families. Budget for the government permit, currently US$1,500 per person per trek, on top of the lodge cost, and book well ahead: daily permit numbers are strictly capped.
Is Roar Africa good for families and multi-generational travel?
It can be excellent for it, but on a bespoke basis rather than as an off-the-peg product. Roar does not publish a packaged family programme; instead it designs each multi-generational trip from scratch — exclusive-use villas, private guides and vehicles, and pacing built around children or elders — which is why such journeys are quoted on application. For groups who want one team handling every detail across several countries, that hands-on model is a genuine strength.
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Disclosure. Uncompromised Travel earns affiliate commissions on qualifying bookings made through the Safari.com, Go2Africa and BookAllSafaris links on this page. Roar Africa is not a booking partner and cannot be booked through us — links to roarafrica.com are provided for reference only and earn no commission. Our affiliate links help you price a comparable luxury safari. Editorial verdicts, the honest case for and against, and all comparisons are independent of commission. Prices cited are indicative, compiled at time of publication from Roar Africa's website and published press; always confirm directly with Roar. Roar Africa has no editorial input on this page.