Our Story
Africa is our home - and it's an honour to share it with you
Retreat to Africa was founded by mother and daughter, Adele and Hélène, rooted in a lifelong love for our home and a shared passion for exploring Africa’s wild places. We believe travel can be a powerful catalyst for awe, perspective, and deep reconnection. Africa has a way of meeting you where you are, then quietly shifting something within you through moments that feel both breathtaking and timeless.
Grounded in over three decades of experience, we design journeys that are intentional, seamless, and rich in meaning — bringing together extraordinary wildlife encounters, cultural depth, and rare places that stay under your skin. Rooted in conscious, regenerative travel, we work closely with trusted partners who care for the land, wildlife, and communities you encounter.
"The Africa I know can’t be explained. It must be felt - in the land, the animals, the people, and in the silence between."
- Adele, Founder of Retreat to Africa
Meet the Founders
Adele Sinisterra
Africa has always been part of my story. It is not just where I come from, it is woven into the very fabric of who I am. I was born here and so were my ancestors before me. My grandfather ran a tradestore in a remote Namibian desert village in the early 1900s, and my father grew up playing with Bushmen children, learning their language. My own childhood was shaped by long adventures in my parents’ old Ford Cortina to wild places where few tourists ventured.
One of my earliest wildlife memories is at age three, sitting in the back of our vehicle as a bull elephant charged right up to us, his face a few meters from mine. Africa’s wild heart became part of my own – its shapes, rich colors and textures, animal tracks in the sand, the songs of the trees and birds.
I opened my first travel company in 1996 personally guiding European travellers into wilderness areas in Southern Africa and creating bespoke private journeys to the places that I loved. Over the years I’ve witnessed how a journey here feels like a homecoming for so many, often profoundly life changing.
After a recent three‑year sabbatical in the Greater Kruger and overland 4×4 adventure through Africa, I returned inspired to share not only Africa’s iconic destinations, but also its hidden, overlooked places where conservationists, communities and projects are quietly reshaping the future.
These stories form the heart and soul of Retreat to Africa and our Signature Journeys. It is a privilege to invite you to start writing your own African story with me.
Adele Sinisterra
Africa has always been part of my story. It is not just where I come from, it is woven into the very fabric of who I am. I was born here and so were my ancestors before me. My grandfather ran a tradestore in a remote Namibian desert village in the early 1900s, and my father grew up playing with Bushmen children, learning their language. My own childhood was shaped by long adventures in my parents’ old Ford Cortina to wild places where few tourists ventured.
One of my earliest wildlife memories is at age three, sitting in the back of our vehicle as a bull elephant charged right up to us, his face a few meters from mine. Africa’s wild heart became part of my own – its shapes, rich colors and textures, animal tracks in the sand, the songs of the trees and birds.
I opened my first travel company in 1996 personally guiding European travellers into wilderness areas in Southern Africa and creating bespoke private journeys to the places that I loved. Over the years I’ve witnessed how a journey here feels like a homecoming for so many, often profoundly life changing.
After a recent three‑year sabbatical in the Greater Kruger and overland 4×4 adventure through Africa, I returned inspired to share not only Africa’s iconic destinations, but also its hidden, overlooked places where conservationists, communities and projects are quietly reshaping the future.
These stories form the heart and soul of Retreat to Africa and our Signature Journeys. It is a privilege to invite you to start writing your own African story with me.
Meet the Founders
Hélène Sinisterra
I was born into the wild heart of Africa. Some of my earliest memories are of dusty game drives, canvas tents, and elephants wandering through camp as if they owned it -because, truly, they do. At five, a young elephant reached into our vehicle and gently touched my face. I wasn’t scared, I was in awe. That moment shaped me.
Raised between safaris, campfires, and vast wilderness, Africa became part of my soul. From time spent with the Bushmen to the spray of Victoria Falls, I’ve experienced this continent’s power to change you.
Retreat to Africa is the expression of everything I’ve lived and loved. While my mother brings the legacy of decades in African travel, I bring creative direction and intuitive curation. For me, this is more than travel, it’s a calling to help others reconnect with the wild beauty of this land and rediscover something within themselves.
Hélène Sinisterra
I was born into the wild heart of Africa. Some of my earliest memories are of dusty game drives, canvas tents, and elephants wandering through camp as if they owned it -because, truly, they do. At five, a young elephant reached into our vehicle and gently touched my face. I wasn’t scared, I was in awe. That moment shaped me.
Raised between safaris, campfires, and vast wilderness, Africa became part of my soul. From time spent with the Bushmen to the spray of Victoria Falls, I’ve experienced this continent’s power to change you.
Retreat to Africa is the expression of everything I’ve lived and loved. While my mother brings the legacy of decades in African travel, I bring creative direction and intuitive curation. For me, this is more than travel, it’s a calling to help others reconnect with the wild beauty of this land and rediscover something within themselves.
A lifetime exploring Africa
1983
On a family adventure in Skeleton Coast, Namibia in the trusty Ford Cortina
1989
One of my first solo road trips in my own little blue Ford into Namaqualand
1993
Exploring Botswana Kalahari just before opening our first French travel company La Croix du Sud
1999
Sharing a meal with the grandmothers and mamas in the Xhosa village we stayed at on the Wild Coast
2006
With my two daughters in Mkuzi Game Reserve Kwazulu Natal where the hyenas chewed everything from outdoor chairs to doorhandles at night
2008
Hélène in the Kalahari age 8 years old already a keen wildlife spotter
2010
One of the special places I feel at peace, Namib Naukluft Park in Namibia
2010
Hélène where she loved to be best, with a horse out in the wild (Namibia)
2022
Learning how to bead with ostrich eggshell in Central Kalahari
2023
Helene in Joydah, our trusty Landcruiser home on wheels during our year long overlanding African adventure
2023
Outside a traditional grass shelter in D'Kar where we spent some time staying with a bushman family
2022
Sunset safari river cruise on Chobe River, Botswana
2023
Exploring the ancient Great Ruins of Zimbabwe
2024
Family snorkelling trip off Mnemba Island, Zanzibar
2024
Sundowners at Mana Pools, Zimbabwe
Conscious Travel, Our Impact
Our why is simple: travel that honors nature and people. From the first spark of an itinerary to the final details, we choose places and partners that reflect a shared, beneficial purpose. On our Signature Journeys, we raise funds to support a community or conservation project that you can become involved in.
Explore Journeys"the greatest trip we have ever had"
"We feel the absolute need to thank you all for what has been the greatest trip we have ever had. Thank you for your care and concern and for the attention you pay to even the slightest detail. The unbelievable landscapes of Namibia, wonderful wildlife and excellent lodges have created an unprecedented experience for us."
Eugenie Vasilopoulou
"an experience we will NEVER, EVER forget!"
"Your hard work and organization from the beginning to end was amazing in every way. Your company is first class! Thank you for making our Garden Route trip an experience we will NEVER, EVER forget!"
Janet Heller
"Thank you again for a trip of a lifetime!"
"Thank you SO much for organizing a perfect trip! Every aspect was so well thought out and the organization of it all was flawless! Our guide was perfect with the right level of knowledge, very flexible and really good at suggesting places we would like. We loved all the accommodation. Thank you again for a trip of a lifetime!"
