Celebrating the launch of Assouline’s African Adventures: The Greatest Safari on Earth

For me and my team, it is the people that make up the fabric of any travel experience, and, of course, sharing “my people” is so much of what makes this job so rewarding. The countries we experience on the Greatest Safari on Earth – the subject of Assouline’s first-ever book on safari – reveal our innate African creativity, instinctive hospitality and intimate relationship with nature. The artists featured in the book are the creative talent I call on to help me translate the unique beauty, complexity and truth of growing up in Africa.

Today, however, I’m writing to you from New York, still in a state of elation and gratitude, and greatly inspired after ROAR AFRICA’s official launch of Assouline’s African Adventures: The Greatest Safari on Earth. 

Our celebration brought this extraordinary book to life. We flew the artists, conservationists and cultural changemakers showcased within its pages from Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Rwanda to New York so we could all share this moment together. As I looked out across  a room filled with smiling faces, my heart burst with pride and joy. Those faces make up the fabric of my life’s work: past and future clients, media, industry partners, colleagues and friends – my “why”. This spectacular night belonged to all of us.

A homage to Africa

This launch party was one of immeasurable support imbued with the feeling of family but, ultimately, the night was dedicated to Africa, her people and the ability our home continent has to transform lives. 

Among our honored guests were Zimbabwean artist Moffat Takadiwa; Kenyan percussionist Kasiva Mutua; chief warden of Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park, Prosper Uwingeli; Volcanoes National Park guide Jolie Mukiza (one of just three female gorilla-trekking guides); Zimbabwean sommelier Joseph Dhafana; South African architect Anton de Kock; and, of course, the hugely talented photographer Aline Coquelle. To have been able to gather these luminaries in their fields in one room was a true honor. 

My sincere thanks to Prosper, Martine and Alexandre Assouline, the visionary publishers behind African Adventures: The Greatest Safari on Earth. Our shared hope is that the voices, wildlife and stories chronicled in the book will inspire a new generation of Afrophiles to love, cherish and protect the continent as we do. 

Thank you to all those who shared this special celebration with us. It was truly a night to remember.

To learn more about African Adventures: The Greatest Safari on Earth or to inquire about joining the Greatest Safari on Earth aboard the Emirates Executive Private Jet (Aug 10–22 or Aug 25–Sept 6, 2024), contact welcome@roarafrica.com. This specialist and unforgettable journey costs $148,000 per person.