We're in ostrich country, now...


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Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Oudtshoorn
July 11th 2007
Published: August 12th 2007
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Checked out at the Marina after breakfast and another nice walk. Then I decided that I would drive to Oudsthoorn--how brave of me! It is really somthing else to drive on the other side of the road AND the other side of the car. The phrase of the morning (from Ross) was "Di, would you please think about driving a little more to the right!" He was pretty calm, given the circumstances! The phrase of the morning (from Di) was "Oh, ^&*$#!! I'm speeding again!" The speed limit for a chunk of the time was 60 or 80 km/h, so it was quite easy to go faster than that. You really don't want to speed in SA--there are cameras EVERYWHERE! Anyway, we got to Oudtshoorn (the Safari Ostrich Show Farm, specifically) in one piece. It was fun to be there. The last time for me was in 1981. Much had changed, including the way the tour transpired. We visited a breeding camp, stood on some eggs, saw Safari's "ostrich palace" Welgeluk, met Jack the Ripper and Suzy the Stripper, a breeding pair, and then went back to the main farm to sit on an ostrich and learn about its anatomy. They also did an ostrich race--rather silly, but fun. Got some things at the gift shop, and were please to find out later that the prices at Safari were half the price of the same things at the Cango Caves! After Safari, we headed into Oudtshoorn for lunch. Ate at a cute little place called Friedl's--very, very nice lunch. I had butternut soup and a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich (really need to make that more often at home!!) and we shared some malva pudding and custard. Mmm, mmm, good! After lunch, we hustled over to the Cango Caves--a good 30 minute drive, not even really in Oudtshoorn. We caught the last tour of the day, and it was great. Our guide was informative and fun, and the caves were stunning. The people in charge listened to the visitors, and took out the cheesy colored lights that used to illuminate the caves. They are now more naturally lit (although lighting is unnatural!) which looks so much better. The caves are amazing, quite beautiful, and very very old. We left about 5:15, and headed into the wild and windy (that's wine-dee) yonder, in search of our B&B. It was quite a drive, and (as usual) it was just starting to get dark. We got to Red Stone Hills (kinda in the middle of nowhere) just as the sun disappeared. It was in a lovely setting--beautiful red rock and greenish-gray vegetation. We had ordered a "semi-self catered" dinner--2 stuffed ostrich filets, potato salad, coleslaw, Greek Salad, honeyed figs, and stuffed gem squash. We grilled our filets on an indoor REAL-fire grill. Tasted great, but we smelled grill/wood/fire all night long! That night the wind blew so hard, I thought the roof was going to fly off! We didn't have our best night of sleep, but we were in a pretty location, and the cottage had everything we needed!


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