ROAR AFRICA

Deborah Calmeyer

CEO and Co-Founder

Having spent most of her younger years on adventures in the African bush, Deborah devoted more recent years to traveling extensively through Southern Africa, Australia, Central America, Asia, Europe and the United States, before settling in New York City. Despite this, her first love remains Southern Africa, which remains very much a part of her. It was her insatiable urge to share her passion for the regions that lead to the formation of ROAR AFRICA. Deborah understands what it takes to turn a vacation into an experience and inner journey - it must be unique, it must feel precious and you must want to do it all over again. Traveling to Southern Africa can be a long journey and not one where you can afford mistakes. As a South African native and through her prior experience in business and as an entrepreneur, Deborah provides valuable inside information and contacts within a customized framework that maximizes the client's experience.

Geoff Calmeyer

COO and Co-Founder

Geoff is a South African born animal scientist who has both farmed and traveled extensively in South Africa, Mozambique and Angola and Zimbabwe where he hand-raised a lioness named Carmel. Geoff is a gregarious and knowledgeable man who mixes effortlessly with people from all walks of life. He is enthusiastic about travel, both in the bush and cities alike and has traveled all over the world, trekked parts of the Kruger Park and canoed over 300m (530km) of the Zambezi. He speaks English, Afrikaans, Portuguese, Zulu and Shona. He now fulfils his passion for Africa by specializing in customized guided tours. Geoff will impart his in-depth knowledge and experience of African people, culture, fauna and flora with visitors who wish to have an intimate experience.

Robert Breen

Director

Rob is a South African living in New York. He remains deeply passionate about his home continent, travel, and anything to do with the great outdoors. Rob was fortunate to grow up hiking, camping and exploring remote parts of Southern Africa and beyond while his scientist parents did research and paid the bills. He now lives in Manhattan and escapes on kiteboarding, skiing, climbing and a variety of other adventures as often as possible. This particular image was taken in the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire) in 1992 during a trans-Africa (Cape Town to Cairo) backpacking trip, during which Rob relied solely on local resources and knowledge to get by. This trip took the better part of a year, the first of four years of world travel undertaken after finishing his degree in Business Finance at the University of Cape Town. Rob's adventurous spirit speaks to much of the energy and passion that defines ROAR AFRICA.

Liesl Bisschoff

Operations Manager

Liesl is a passionate South African who holds the Mother City (Cape Town) and the African continent close to her heart. An explorer by nature, with a thirst for life experience, Liesl fled the nest in 1998 to become an au-pair to an American family based in Chicago. After spending an exciting year in the US - Liesl found herself in London, where she spent the following 3 years on a working holiday. Her return to South Africa in 2002 saw Liesl finding her true passion for people & travel. Liesl spent the following 5 years heading up a successful hotel in Cape Town, gaining invaluable experience in the demanding area of guest services. Having completed a full circle and returned to her home town, her dedication, passion and commitment has put her at the forefront of ROAR AFRICA's unique visitor-experience, overseeing services and logistics from within the borders of this truly breathtaking country.

Duncan Hay

ROAR AFRICA Guide

KwaZulu based Duncan has a master's degree in Zoology from the University of Natal and a postgraduate diploma from the University of Cambridge. He is currently an associate of the University of KwaZulu-Natal where he manages a number of environmental and developmental projects. He also teaches Biodiversity Conservation at a postgraduate level. Duncan has an abiding passion for, and considerable experience of, the people and places of South Africa. He has gained this passion and experience from, amongst others, working as a game ranger and guide in both the public and private sector; directing and working in an internationally renowned environmental NGO, and exploring the wilderness areas of the country. Duncan is also a qualified scuba diving instructor, skilled fly fisherman and marathon runner. In addition to his own experience, Duncan is able to tap into a vast body of expertise, both within and outside the university.

Richard Hilton

ROAR AFRICA Specialist Guide and Wine Connoisseur

Born and bred in Britain, Richard landed on French soil at the tender age of 21 to begin his love affair with wine. After seven formative years doing everything from working in the vineyards, to treading grapes in the winery (and learning the ancient craft of coopering), he left for the Cape (South Africa). Inspired by his years working for famous Burgundian 'negociant' producers, Louis Latour and Olivier Leflaive, Richard decided to fulfill his dream and create his own brands, and his own 'negociant' style wine business, Pax Verbatim. The business was launched in May 2004, his passion driven out of a desire to unearth finite quantities of the finest single vineyard fruit. Only then, can a great wine be produced and ultimately savored. Such unique grapes are meticulously selected with the help of the growers, and the result is a carefully crafted and totally unique wine. Richard resides in the Western Cape and is a specialist guide for ROAR AFRICA wine fundies.

Roddy Bray

ROAR AFRICA Guide

In 1988 Roddy completed boarding school in England and flew immediately to Nairobi. After climbing Kilimanjaro and touring Kenya and the Serengeti he made his way south, via Victoria Falls, to Cape Town, where he worked for a year in a township children's home. Roddy completed a BA in Anthropology at Durham in England, but his love for Africa brought him back to complete a Masters in Anthropology at the University of Cape Town. In 1997 he became a specialist tour guide for private clients and educational groups. Over the last ten years he has developed a reputation for exceptional guiding, providing insight into the history, culture and politics of South Africa, enriched by his sense of humor and a network of contacts that stretch from impoverished townships to academia and government. Roddy continues to thoroughly enjoy guiding and now works as a speaker as well. His newsletters and podcasts are widely distributed and he has authored the largest guide to Cape Town's history on the web to date.

Andrew Ward

ROAR AFRICA Guide

Andrew is a retired high-school teacher with international teaching credentials. He taught in Zimbabwe, Scotland (Edinburgh), and South Africa. During his teaching career he was head of the Geography Department and Deputy Headmaster at the prestigious high school, Hilton College. Andrew also led a variety of adventurous educational trips during his teaching career to destinations all over Southern Africa and to East Africa to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Since retirement in 2001 Andrew has become an accredited National Guide and has fed his passion for Southern Africa by arranging trips and hosting visitors. Besides geography, Andrew has a deep interest in and understanding of the cultural, historical and eco/environmental aspects of Southern Africa. He has led groups to every corner of South Africa from the Northern Cape to KwaZulu-Natal and shared his passion and insight along the way. Andrew also has specialist knowledge of the history and culture of the Zulu people and leads trips to the battlefields.

Sandra Fairfax

ROAR AFRICA Specialist Guide

It was by chance that Sandra was asked by one of the managers at the company she previously worked for to show a visitor from the USA her hidden secret shopping spots. Being a 'shopaholic' and always admiring the talent that we have in Africa Sandra decided to turn her hobby into a career. After 9 years of showing many wonderful clients from many parts of the world our amazing products the she now offers an interior decorating service, as well as sourcing products for ROAR AFRICA clients and exporting to various countries around the world.

Brian Vandayar

ROAR AFRICA Guide

On 11 February 1990 Brian Vandayar listened to Mr. Nelson Mandela's first speech as a free man. Brian stood directly below the balcony on which Mandela was standing at the City Hall when Mandela said "We as underprivileged South Africans must educate ourselves." He remembers that Mandela went on to say that the apartheid government can take anything away from us but they cannot take away our education. Ten years later, after much determination and night schooling and with the support of his wife and daughter, he attended the University of the Western Cape as a full time student. Brian studied a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Psychology and Communications and graduated in 2004. In 2005 Brian completed an Advanced Business Management course in Tourism at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. "Our new democracy now allows us to freely interact with all races and this allowed us to follow our dreams. As a tour guide I treasure the opportunity to "show off" our beautiful city of Cape Town to our guests." Brian. When he's not working Brian's hobbies are beading cutlery, building handcrafted wall clocks from natural materials and photography.

Bianca Beldini

ROAR AFRICA Specialist

Bianca Beldini brings the highest level of international expertise to ROAR AFRICA's healing holidays. Bianca holds a Bachelors Degree in Physical Therapy and two Masters Degrees in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She has taken her Chinese Herbology one step further into the studies of indigenous plant medicine by way of Essential Oils as she is also a Certified Aromatherapist. She spent time in Greece harvesting wild-crafted herbs while learning the art of proper distillation of aromatic botanicals. Bianca owns and runs a private practice in New York in which she treats celebrity clientele, the NYC ballet, Broadway entertainers, orchestral musicians and many professional athletes from the NY Giants. She teaches graduate academic level courses and has created an informational lecture series based on the efficacy of the daily use of therapeutic grade essential oils. She also sits on the advisory board of the Holistic Option and has been published in major magazines and professional publications. Bianca has an in depth knowledge of Yoga as she is also a Registered Yoga teacher and is presently studying at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition to create a balanced approach to diet and lifestyle based on nature and a 5,000 year old medical art.

James McBride

Mr. McBride formerly Managing Director of The Carlyle, in New York; is now President of YTL hotels. Mr. McBride opened many Ritz-Carltons, including Hawaii, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Pasedena and has run hotels in London, Singapore, and Kuala Lumpur. He has worked closely with both Bill Tiefel, Chairman of Ritz-Carlton and the world-renowned Bill Marriott. Innovation through people is Mr. McBride's greatest strength - facing a depressed market during the Asian Crisis in 1997, he put a bedroom at the airport in Kuala Lumpur to draw customers to his hotel. He also placed a piano at National Airport in Washington DC to soothe passengers on the New York Shuttle and promote the Ritz Washington DC.

Paul Keary

Paul Keary is Senior Managing Director and Director of Business Integration with NYSE listed FTI Consulting, the world's largest event driven consultancy, highly regarded for corporate finance and restructuring, economic consulting, E-discovery services, litigation consulting, communications and transaction advisory. Paul is also a board director of Financial Dynamics Irl. Paul brings over 13 years experience, on both sides of the Atlantic, advising Fortune 500 corporations, governments and industry organizations on brand strategy, corporate and financial communications, business integration strategy and crisis management. He has also advised governments and organizations on destination marketing, brand building and foreign direct investment strategies. Prior to joining FTI, he held a senior management position for an international PR agency and advised a wide number of blue chip companies on communications strategy surrounding IPOs and M&A activity. Previously Paul was also head of communications for Xerox Europe Ltd, during a time of significant restructuring and realignment for the company. A marketing and communications graduate he has twice been awarded by the Public Relations Consultants Association, for 'Excellence in Financial Communications' and 'Excellence in Corporate Communications'. Paul is currently a director of the US Foundation Board for National University Galway, a founding board director of IN-NYC the highly successful business network for professionals in New York and was recently honored in New York as a recipient of Irish Echo's 'Top 40 Under 40 Awards' for North America.

Jennifer Joyce

Jennifer worked at Morgan Stanley for nine years, where she ultimately became Senior Vice President. In 2004, she traveled to Sri Lanka to help rebuild homes after the tsunami and raise money for an orphanage. Jennifer left Morgan Stanley and stayed in Sri Lanka for a year, working closely with Save the Children and UNICEF (as well as other organizations) to remove the children from an abusive boys' home, get them medical attention, and send them to school. Jennifer then spent two years in Africa working with the organizations Imibala and Mapendo, an after-school arts program for impoverished children in Cape Town, South Africa, and a refugee resettlement program in Nairobi, Kenya that resettles refugees from the Darfur conflict, respectively.

Nancy Seward

Nancy worked in retailing and marketing for twenty five years, developing a nationwide group of stores. During this time she and her husband raised three children. Nancy pursues travel, exploring her passions for conservation, photography, as well as examining the changing role of women in the world. During a recent trip to Jordan and the World Economic Forum, she and a group of American women reviewed Queen Rania's Jordan River projects, examining the region's cultural, social and environmental challenges. She has been involved in the Cincinnati Zoo's Cheetah program, dealing with the issues surrounding the animal's rapidly disappearing habitat. Nancy has a deep love of Africa - the light, sounds, smells, wildlife and especially the people of this magical continent are deeply embedded in her soul.