On the drive to Cango Cave I noticed the Cango Ostrich Farm offering tours, and ostrich rides. Who can say no to that? Certainly not me.
But first lunch as I was very hungry after the caving. Hmm… ostrich kebabs on the menu, so why not. Very tasty.
I went on a tour of the ostrich farm with one guy from Massachusetts. Shane, our guide, talked about how the farm raises ostriches for meat, feathers and hide. The curio shop was loaded with goodies. I bought an empty egg, an ostrich leather change purse and a batik wall hanging.
We were introduced to Betsie, the only tame ostrich on the farm, and encouraged to feed her some kind of ostrich pellets. After seeing, and hearing, her snap that big bill as she greedily gobbled up the treats I passed on the feeding experience. The ostrich has the largest eye of any land animal measuring almost 2 in (5 cm) across. But even that didn’t convince me to get too close.
Adam and Eve are the oldest mated pair on the farm and even help raise other birds youngsters. Ostriches’ average life span in the wild is 30-40 years and longer in captivity.
Though they cannot fly, ostriches are fleet, strong runners. They can sprint up to 43 miles (70 k) an hour and run over distance at 31 miles (50 k) an hour. Shane led us past the ostrich corals and asked if we wanted to ride. You bet!
Collage photos taken by the other tourist and he chickened out and wouldn’t ride
Some guys I guess you could call ostrichboys wranglers caught one of the 7-9 foot (2.1-2.7 m) ostriches and put a hood over its head after bringing it into the chute. Then Shane told me to hang on to the wings with straight arms, back straight and legs wrapped around it’s breast.
What he didn’t tell me was to use their wings like rudders to change direction while running. And boy can they run! An ostrich’s powerful, long legs can cover 10-16 feet (3-5 m) in a single stride. These legs can also be formidable weapons. Ostrich kicks can kill a human or a potential predator like a lion. Each two-toed foot has a long, sharp claw.
With that in mind I jumped off the Big Bird after what seemed like minutes, and was probably only seconds, and before I fell. In the end, I won without injury and came away with an ostrich feather trophy.
Next Shane took us to see just how strong ostrich eggs really are. (These are all empty.) All of the group’s hens place their eggs in the dominant hen’s nest then the dominant hen and male take turns incubating the giant eggs. Each one weighs as much as two dozen chicken eggs. That’s a lot of omelets.
This was definitely one, of the many, most exciting days of travel in South Africa. Yet I wondered what more was ahead as I drove back through the Outeniqua Mountains to return to the coast near Mossel Bay.
What an exiting ride, loved the photos and story. I would chicken out too.
Wow…love your story…how lucky that you survived…"smile". You were very brave. I would not even try to ride the ostrich.
My entry is here
You are brave, I have not tried riding an ostrich, I will keep to my horses thank you LOL. Have you ever tried Ostrich neck cooked like OX tail it is superb?
I have been painting ostrich eggs, I still have a few left to paint when I have the time in France. Diane
Now that was an exciting ride! I think I'll stick to horses, though.
So many "wow" moments in this post lol! Those eggs! And you being so brave!
Oh my goodness! I'm impressed that were able to ride an ostrich!
Interesting and fun 🙂 You seem to live an exciting life.
I wish you all the best!
Birgitta
http://fotochip.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-world_24.html
Wow, lucky you – you got to ride an ostrich!!! I've eaten ostrich meat before but never been to a farm and never ridden one… a must – for later days!! Thanks for this wonderful post, I SO enjoyed it!
This post was great! I gotta tell you that Mike's post was hilarious, too. Riding an ostrich… that's something else! Good for you!
That was quite the experience, Gaelyn!
That looks amazing. I've never seen an ostrich farm – I remember they were going to be the next big thing but somehow it never worked out.
Gaelyn,
Looks like you had some real fun. Bet you can tell about this ranch long into the future.
I had no idea ostriches lived that long. Pretty amazing for such a big bird.
Oh yee haw baby, what a wild ride! That is so awesome. Owning a couple ostriches really is a big dream of mine – they're the biggest birds on earth, that's just insanely cool to me. Meanwhile I'm trying to talk the boyfriend into getting some since he's got a farm. He hasn't been too keen so far, but since bears took three of his calves this year I'm wondering if he might not just warm up a bit to the idea of something that can disembowel a lion!
Ride 'em, cowgirl! I love these photos, especially you on the eggs. There are several ostrich farms here, and they're trying to advertise their meat. Available some places. I bought ostrich pate years ago, but had to tell my family it was duck before they would try it…I told them the truth later.
Visiting the ostrich farms are amazing. There really are so much to learn about them and the experience you get at these farms does end up being one of the highlights of an holiday.
I always think it must be interesting to be able to add to you cv something like professional ostrich jockey
Wow Gaelyn, what a treat! I would love to get my fingers into those feathers and see how they feel but I would definately be wary of those powerful legs!
Now, which version to believe….? (wink and smile)
Oh, my gosh, Gaelyn – only you would ride a kicking ostrich! What a tale – I am smiling ear to ear. (I hope the ostrich didn't know what you ate for dinner…)
Hezké fotky…
Oh wow!! Pretty exciting. You are so brave and we will say the Ostrich was bested—or so I hear. MB
What fun to ride the ostrich and very nice that you have the photos to prove it! You had so many grand adventures on your SA trip. I would have passed on crawling though those caves though.