Blogs from Oudtshoorn, Western Cape, South Africa, Africa - page 6

Geo: -33.5928, 22.2025First 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 ... read more

EASTER, ALOE, AND SELMA'S KIDS RETURN TO MATJIESVLEI The Groot Swartberg mountains rise all around us. Easter morning is stunningly bright, already hot, and we hide in the shade of the front stoep (porch). Across the valley a baboon barks. The mountains are covered with a forest of aloe. These are not the living room variety of aloe, soft little potted plants that one finds at the florist. These are muscled tree-like creatures, robust, with spined “leaves” that are as thick as a Schwarzenegger bicep. They are layered in an impenetrable pattern, but appear luscious and fleshy. In June they flower and the Groot Swartberg are awash in magnificent aloe bloom. Our little Easter house was built in 1872 by an Afrikaner pioneer and sits on a hillside that looks down into a cultivated valley ... read more

Had a fun day at Oudsthoorn ... which was full of excitement .. 1. Checked out of hotel - we only had one night here 2. Drove round residential areas of the town ... very pretty streets that just suddenly end, seems a nice residential area to live 3. Visited an Ostrich Show Farm (just before turning off to the Cango Caves). The guide was excellent, told us the history of Ostriches, explained the eggs, watched them hatch, stroked a one week old bird, took us to mother, and we had fun watching Julie and others ride an Ostrich. It was fun, and they run the Farm very well, the Ostriches were clearly looked after. I even had a back massage by ostrich - nice! Unfortunately we laughed so much that none of us managed to ... read more

Outshoorn - ostrich country, ostrich farms everywhere. Have a long drive though mountains and desert to the brilliant Backpackers Paradise. Top tip - these guys are all over it, they have thought of everything that is annoying for backpackers and offer a solution. The guy also checks us in to a dorm on our own which is nice!! Ostrich egg breakfast for everybody - one litre of egg in each one! Yummy though... Meet some cool people, Anat from israel, Emma from states and Jao from Brazil. Spend a busy day being full on tourists. First go to the Cango caves with Emma and Anat. This is an experience not to be missed. The caves are awesome, pics do not do it justice at all - they are HUGE!! They used to have gigs in them ... read more

Namibia was mostly an adrenalin filled trip. Firstly though we spent a few nights at Etosha National Park. Still, nothing can compare to the Masai Mara, however we did get to go on a night game drive here which was a first. The highlight of this drive was seeing lions. The tour guide got out a bright flash light and asks "If anyone asks if I used white light, what will you say?" We all chirped in with a resounding "No" and he says "Good, cos it's illegal and I'd get into a lot of trouble" He did explain that it doesn't matter too much with the lions as the light doesn't effect them, however it blinds antelope and other animals upto 45 minutes which makes them a good target for prey. He shone the light ... read more