An Ostrich Farm

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Geo: -33.5928, 22.2025

First thing on the day's busy agenda was to visit an ostrich farm. This area has many ostrich farms. First we fed them, which was a bit scary to have the huge birds stabbing their beaks into my hand. At the same time as they took the food they also managed to slobber saliva onto my hand in return for the food I gave them! I thought the baby ostriches would be more gentle than the old ones- wrong! They were mean and nasty, so I gave the rest of my food to the older ostriches.

After that we learnt about what they do at the farm with the ostriches, such as sell the feathers and the skin is used to make (very expensive) handbags. We then went to another part of the farm and had a chance to stand on eggs. They are pretty strong and virtually unbreakable. This was also a chance to ride an ostrich. It was hilarious watching Melissa and Tim trying to ride them. The workers then had a race- which had no rules and meant that cheating was acceptable.

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Photos

01 Sign
An ostrich with the farm's sign behind it.

02 Head
The head of an ostrich.

03 Feeding
I am feeding the ostriches from my hand.

04 Cautiously
I am cautiously feeding the younger ostriches.

05 Long
An ostrich's foot with its three toes- notice a very long claw in the middle.

06 Two
Two curious ostriches looking at me take their photos.

07 Ostriches
Some of the many ostriches on the farm.

08 Ostriches
Many adult ostriches.

09 Chick
Mother ostriches and their chicks.

10 Chick
A baby ostrich.

11 Chicks
Little ostrich chicks.

12 Eggs
The large, strong ostrich eggs.

13 Unsure
Me unsure about standing on ostrich eggs- would they be strong enough?

14 Feet
An ostrich's feet.

15 Entrance
The entrance into the riding area.

16 Preparations
The ostrich is being prepared to be ridden.

17 Helen
Helen is the first one to get on an ostrich.

18 Lucky Ones?
These are the lucky ones that have not been chosen to be ridden.

19 Tim
Tim holding onto his out of control ostrich.

20 Tim
Looks like Tim is enjoying his ride.

21 Melissa
Melissa holding on tightly to the ostrich's wings.

22 Race
The race is on- a couple of the workers held an ostrich race.

23 Cheating!
It looks like the man in red is cheating.

24 Leaders
These two guys are the leaders in the race.

25 Racing Past
One of the ostrich racers racing past us.

26 The End
The end of the race.