Women's Empowerment Retreat 2025

“We work in an industry where we create dreams and shatter glass ceilings. Against all odds, against all perceptions, against all stereotypes…women have achieved what was thought to be impossible.” – Deborah Calmeyer, CEO and Founder, ROAR AFRICA

If African Women Rise, Wildlife Will Thrive

In the five years since we pioneered this movement, I wasn’t sure it would ever get off the ground, but I remembered that all movements that have changed your life and mine, were hard to get off the ground. Ever since our first Women’s Empowerment Retreat in South Africa, we have gathered an international brigade of female powerhouses in South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda and my homeland of Zimbabwe. The far-reaching impact of this retreat doesn’t just ripple; it ROARS. Thanks to the vision of our women speakers and the generosity of our guests, we’ve changed lives; creating educational opportunities, scholarships, documentary films, exchange programs and funding for critical conservation and women’s health initiatives. TED Talks have been given, books written and new career paths forged. What one cannot measure is the enormous upliftment and impact on local women or the value of lifetime friendships and just how lives are changed. 

Across five days in Botswana, we will experience the exhilaration of game drives, mokoros  and helicopter safaris across The Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We will stay at Xigera, one of my favorite places on earth that radiates a feminine power. We will meet the pioneers at the forefront of the battle to protect Botswana’s unique wilderness, including Rebecca Klein, founder of Cheetah Conservation Botswana, Bokani Mathape, President of Women in Tourism, Dr Sophie Chandauka MBE, Chair of Sentebale and Dr Anna Songhurst, the founder of Ecoexist Trust… plus other surprise guests of incredible influence.  

A legacy of positive impact

From solving conservation issues to cultivating community, from driving humans and animals away from conflict and toward peaceful coexistence, it gives me great pleasure to share the seeds of change our brigade of guests and distinguished speakers have sown over the last five years. For more detailed information of the impact this trip has in Africa, you can read about our 2023 retreat in Singita Pamushana, Zimbabwe, here, our 2022 retreat in Singita Kwitonda, Rwanda, here and our 2021 retreat in Segera, Kenya here. 

We find meaning in life through experiences – nature, culture, goodness, truth, beauty and most importantly, by experiencing other people, in their uniqueness…connecting with and loving them. The love I have felt from the women on these trips is my why – why movements matter. It is why we must be the change we want to see. 

This life-changing retreat in Botswana costs $17,455 per person sharing or $21,905 per person traveling solo. I do hope you’ll join us on this impactful journey.