Hello World!

Welcome to episode 8.

13 to 14-October-2019 Sunday, and Monday

The next 2 days were filled with sightseeing. There was the beauty of the Safari Ostrich Farm, entering the mysterious Cango Caves, waking up early to witness the Meerkat, and majestic landscape views on our way towards Cape Town. Yes, it was a full itinerary, and full of amazing sights and South African culture immersion.

13-October-2019 Sunday Morning

We departed the beautiful Simola Hotel that we had called home for 2 nights. Susan would rate the Simola to be the best hotel throughout the holiday. After a sumptuous morning breakfast @ the Simola, we loaded our luggage onto the coach. For some of us, we could not resist stealing a few final picturesque photos as a reminder of the lovely grounds.

Video for this episode 8

We created this video for episode 8. Enjoy the video and the journey.

Outeniqua Pass

After leaving the Simola Hotel, we drove through the Outeniqua Pass. The Outeniqua Pass is a mountain pass in the Western Cape, South Africa, that carries the N9/N12 national road through the Outeniqua Mountains north of George. It was a cloudy day, but we still managed to see the majestic mountains. The drive through this pass was quite a majestic view of the mountains.

Ostrich Safari Farm, Oudtshoorn

The next leg of our journey took us approximately 2 hours to a Ostrich Safari Farm, in Oudtshoorn, Garden Route, South Africa. The Safari Ostrich Farm is a working ostrich farm in Oudtshoorn, Garden Route, South Africa. It was established with a wonderful tourist interactive encounter. Their main business is the farming with ostriches for the meat, leather/ skins and feathers. The breeding farm with many ostriches offers the tourists a view of ostriches in their different stages of development. It also offers much knowledge gathering of everything ostrich and the Oudtshoorn history. The Safari Ostrich Farm is situated 6km outside of the centre of Oudtshoorn.

Ostrich Tour

We took a walking tour of the ostrich farm. It was an enjoyable, fun filled and interactive ostrich farm experience. We learned so much about ostriches.

1. Ostrich species. We did not know there are so many ostrich spices on the farm. There are the Zimbabwean, Kenyan and South African Ostriches.
2. Rare White Ostriches. We learned why they are unique and incredibly special.
3. Emu, the Australian bird. Learned that they are the second biggest bird in the world.
4. Feeding the Ostriches. We had interactive bird feeding with the ostriches.
5. Ostrich Breeding Cycle. We learned about the natural breeding cycle of ostriches.
6. Ostrich Ages from ostrich chicks in the rearing compartments to big ostrich running wild on the farm.
7. Ostrich Incubator Room. Baby chicks hatch inside the incubator.
8. Ostrich eggs. Learn how ostrich eggs are carved and painted.
9. Ostrich Meat cuts. Learn the different cuts are used for meat.
10. Ostrich Leather. See, touch and learn how leather is made into products ready for sale.
11. Ostrich Feathers. Learned the history of how ostrich feathers have been used. Susan even picked up an ostrich feather as a souvenir.
12. Ostrich evolution and significance to past cultures.
13. Ostrich eggs and Indigenous tribes. Learn how the indigenous tribes in South Africa respect the birds.

Ostrich Eggs and Embryonic Development

Ostrich Leather, Feathers and Palaces

Ostrich Leather Shopping

Ostrich Lunch @ Ostrich Safari Farm Restaurant

At the ostrich farm, we were treated to an afternoon sit down lunch with ostrich fillet and steak being served as the main course. The meat was an interesting taste. Some of us liked it very much and others found the smell and taste less appealing. It was an interesting meal and we were glad to have had a chance to say that we tried the African ostrich meat.

Owls residents @ Ostrich Safari Farm

We even saw a lonely sleepy owl perched upon the tree. It was sitting on the tree along the way to the Gift Shop. It sat there happily having his afternoon nap and occasionally, would open its eyes to look at the curious onlookers come and go. At the Safari Ostrich Farm, there are two common owls and they are Cape Eagle Owl and Barn Owl. We are quite certain the one we saw is a cape eagle owl, not a barn owl.

Lessons about South Africa on the Notice Boards at the Ostrich Farm Restaurant

We received a quick lesson, on the notice board outside of the restaurant, about South African animals and flora in the Oudtshoorn area. It was most educational. Click on the blue hyperlinks to learn more. 

1. Klein Karoo Flora – see flowers and plants in the Klein Karoo
2. Klein Karoo Birds – see birds recorded list of the Klein Karoo
3. Klein Karoo Voels – the birdlife of the Klein Karoo
4. Owls Breeding on Safari Ostrich Farm – Cape Eagle Owl and Barn Owl
5. 5 Venomous Snakes found in the Klein Karoo – Cape Cobra, Puff Adder, Berg Adder, Boomslang, Rinkhals
6. Africa’s Big 5 – Elephant, Buffalo, Leopard, Lion and Rhino
7. Africa’s Little 5 – Elephant Shrew, Ant Lion, Rhinoceros Beetle, Buffalo Weaver and Leopard Tortoise
8. Africa’s Ugly 5 – Hyena, Wildebeest, Vulture, Warthog and the Marabou Stork.
9. Africa’s Shy 5 – Aardvark, Aardwolf, Bat-eared Fox, Meerkat, and Porcupine
10. South Africa’s National Animal: Springbok
11. South Africa’s National Bird: Blue Crane
12. South Africa’s National Tree: Yellow wood
13. South Africa’s National Flower: King Protea
14. South Africa’s National Fish: Galjoen

Summary

This part of the trip has been interesting sightseeing. The Ostrich Safari visit was a warm welcome. We have ostrich farms in North America but seeing the African Ostrich was a totally different experience. We learned so much and thank the ostrich farm for a very well prepared visit.