Oudtshoorn is famous ostrich land
in South Africa, so the only reason I guess why tourists stop here. We stayed
at “De Opstal”, the address that was
descried on our itinerary from Trailfinders as being “on road R328 towards the
Cango Caves, 14km outside Oudtshoorn”, which is
about as useful as a chocolate teapot.
Outdshoorn - home of these long legged ugly birds!!! |
But it was a quaint lodge with private rooms and balconies
overlooking the hillside, with a real homely farm house feel to it. Plus there
were little glass jars of homemade cookies dotted about everywhere!
our room |
cute country feel to the lodge |
It was also conveniently located to the ostrich farms. There
are loads of theses farms that are sprinkled about in the area, I don’t think
you need to go to a particular one, I reckon they are all pretty much the same.
ostrich pate - sounds rank, tastes great! |
I did think on the drive to see these massive birds that
ostriches aren’t really my thing, so why were we visiting? But it’s one of those
tourist things you get sucked up into. It’s actually really interesting though
and without sounding like an ostrich weirdo we learnt a lot at the farm.
Did you know that the thing we think is their knee, is
actually their ankle therefore they are constantly walking on tippy toes. Plus
they only have two toes. They do have 19 vertebrate in their neck, which means
it can bend in all sorts of directions, bit like a vacuum cleaner pipe.
the shells are 3mm thick |
each ostrich egg is equivalent to 24 chicken eggs - that's hell of an omelette!!! |
At the farm, you’ll be given a tour plus an insight into the
bird’s life, given all sorts of facts (see above), plus you’ll get to ‘play’
with the birds. I got to cuddle one, the Boy got some weird attack that they
dubbed a massage and I actually got to ride one!!!!
I really don't see how this is a massage?! |
If you want (and are less than 80kg) you can jockey your
very own ostrich! You are led by the experts so don’t think I just hopped on to
their back, and with a “yee-ha” was galloping about the joint. Even with two
experts holding you and the bird as it runs around, I was not a graceful jockey
– I didn’t realise how fast it would move, especially with having to lean back so
far, so I was just clinging on to its wings for dear life!!!
females are grey, only the males are the classic black n white |
You also have the opportunity to stand on the eggs, proving
that it can actually be done. Each egg can take up to 150kg so only the
clinically obese may need not apply for this activity.
You are driving through Oudtshoorn and not planning on
stopping there, take a trip to the
farms, as it only takes an hour
or so!!
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