To the ostrich farm.

With everything so far apart it is a good thing that the scenery is soooooo gorgeous.  Someone asked if the trip so far was everything I expected.  I would say most definitely…it has exceeded my expectations.  But I guess I really didn't know what to expect.  Animals…big cities…plants…museums…history…of course.  The real surprise has been the topography.  Never expected so see such glorious mountain or mountain roads.  Today’s drive again took us through the mountain passes that separate the interior from the Indian Ocean.  We spent many kilometers driving through fog. i.e. low lying clouds.  Just enough to make the drive a little spooky.

A very unpretentious vendor.  Happy to show his wares
but not a pest.  This was not a $1. market.

We made an expected stop along the road to do some whale watching.  Not terrific but good enough.  We saw perhaps half a dozen of the southern right whales frolicking in the surf, allowing it to wash over them and push them toward shore and then swim out again.  But that was before we could stop and before anyone had a camera ready. The reason we stopped was that they were spotted and we actually saw a breach.  The whales are just beginning their season here where they will breed.  Our guide thought that their behavior signaled that they were mating.  No opinion here.

After about 20 minutes we proceeded to Oudtshroorn to the Safari Park and Ostrich farm.  This indigenous bird has been successfully framed her for more than 130 years. When in its heyday ostrich feathers were valued the same as gold…Kg for Kg.  We were shown around the farm showing us the incubating and hatching areas and the many enclosures where ostrich h of varying ages were penned.  The farm produced eggs, meat and leather and also kept some merino sheep and cattle on site.

Our tour concluded with some great fun watching several group members riding the ostrich.  No neither one of us did.  Even if I had lost that 20 pounds I wanted to before the trip, I wouldn't have made the 70Kg weight limit.  Just an FYI…the ostrich does have a very silky feel to its feathers, especially the neck.  These ostrich that were ridden were trained as these animals do have a nasty temperament.  From the arena we made our way into the dining room for what else…grilled ostrich steaks.  They were served rare and were delicious.  No they don’t taste as all like chicken but a fine steak in both meat texture and taste.  

The trip to the gift shop wasn't quite as successful.  Yes lots of beautiful ostrich leather products in a complete array of colors, as the natural ones are a very light grey in color, but the price tags were equally hefty.  A small 8x8 flat zippered purse was 1290. Rand and even though the value of the dollar has been going up in our favor while here, $120 was much more than I was willing to pay. 

The dreary, day continued to be with us on our ride back to Knysna.  In another couple of months the temperature here will climb dramatically.  Temperatures of 50C, approximately 130 F, have been recorded here.