TreadRight Ambassador Céline Cousteau Visits My Beloved Homeland of Southern Africa

For the past five years, The Travel Corporation & our non-profit foundation TreadRight have been working with our awesomely inspiring TreadRight Ambassador Céline Cousteau. Céline recently traveled to my beloved homeland, South Africa for various film shoots on behalf of the TreadRight Foundation and our Bushman’s Kloof Wilderness Reserve. As a fourth generation family-run business who deeply cares about the places, wildlife and people we visit worldwide, we have a close affinity in working with Céline, who is a third generation environmentalist and documentary filmmaker.

Her legendary grandfather, Jacques Cousteau inspired millions of concerned citizens worldwide to take action in protecting and preserving their eco-systems, especially with his ocean conservation initiatives. We are committed to work together and help honor her and her grandfather’s enduring legacy.

The first leg of her journey was in Namibia with The Céline Cousteau Film Fellowship, an academic leadership program dedicated to empowering the next generation of outdoor filmmakers and activists to inspire change, on a field expedition to create a short film focused on the life of conservationist and wildlife activist Aleksandra Orbek-Nilssen and her work with the indigenous Ju|’hoansi tribe. Support for the film shoot was provided by The Travel Corporation’s own Lion World Travel.

From Namibia, Céline flew to Bushman’s Kloof in South Africa, a multi award-winning lodge, and member of our Red Carnation Hotel Collection, located in the Cederberg Mountains and situated in the Cape Floral Kingdom, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Céline, along with the TreadRight Foundation, visited Bushman’s Kloof to film a series a videos helping to tell the story of the important conservation and heritage work being done at the wilderness reserve.

The site’s unique attributes make it an ideal fit within the TreadRight mission. Bushman’s Kloof is the custodian of more than 130 sites of bushman art painting, some dating back as far as 10,000 years and preserving the world’s largest collection of rock art. Bushman’s Kloof and TreadRight work to help preserve these important works of world heritage art. The sites on the reserve may be viewed by guests, archaeologists, and researchers. Since its founding, Bushman’s Kloof has been dedicated to protecting these extraordinary treasures.

Céline was also learning more about Bushman’s Kloof and TreadRight’s support of The Cape Leopard Trust, a conservation organization that researches the little-known Cape mountain leopard, and finds solutions to human-wildlife conflict situations, as well as the fascinating Cape Floral Kingdom, and the work being done by Bushman’s Kloof to support the local community.

From Bushman’s Kloof, Céline flew to Cape Town to meet with representatives from the Amy Biehl Foundation, a non-profit organization that offers programs to develop and empower youth living in the challenged and vulnerable communities within South Africa’s Western Cape, and also visited the Wilderness Foundation, a founding partner of the TreadRight Wildlife Initiative, which works passionately to help protect the very vulnerable, dwindling Southern African black and white rhino.

Céline’s new videos will be completed shortly, and will be posted on the Treadright and Bushman’s Kloof websites. Please check them out, and I’ll be sure to post them on my blog too.

Thank you for taking your precious time to read this update.

~ Brett