Ever been to the "Ostrich Capitol of the World"?

Had it not been for Carl, we would never have made it. He took us up through the Robinson Pass to Oudtshoom, which is believed to be the ‘ostrich capitol of the world’ for the simple reason that wherever you happen to look, you sure would see hundreds of these over-sized birds moving about or feeding. It was more or less like the cattle in WY! However, the mountain pass was fabulous and we enjoyed every bit of the journey with the foaming coastline serving as the backdrop as we descended through another hilly pass.

But Carl knew the place like the palm of his hands. The first stop was at the wonderful Cango Caves with their bushman paintings. Call it primitive if you like but the figures were almost alive and breathtaking even after they have been exposed to the elements all these years. Among the many graphics, the image of an elephant was stunning. However, it was time to leave and Carl stepped on the gas as soon as we fastened our seatbelts.

Our next stop was for lunch at the Oudtshoom Inn, appropriately festooned with ostrich feathers and the lunchroom filled with palate-tickling flavor of barbequed ostrich fillets. Since this appeared to be the customary dish at the Inn, we ordered a plate each for three of us (that included me and wife Barbara plus Carl) and when it arrived with mouth-watering French Dressing and a side dish of French fries, well, we forgot about everything else and just tucked in till the plates were polished.

But the real fun of the day started as we reached the Cango Ostrich Farm, a fantastic farmhouse teeming with birds of all size and shape. There were large male birds that could be ridden; temperamental females not to be touched for fear of getting pecked and tiny ostriches herded by mother birds that wouldn’t let anyone come near them. However, the height of entertainment a-la-ostrich style comprised “Ostrich Kissing” comprising a man holding a ostrich food pellet between his lips and at a given command a male bird will come near and gracefully pick it out of his lips, simulating a kissing effect.

However, we were mistaken in thinking that the farms were making most of their profits out of selling ostrich meat. In reality, they got 15% of their income from the sale of feathers, 25% from the meat but the lion’s share comes from leather products made that are out of ostrich hide, which is fairly expensive in the open market. As for ostriches ‘falling in love’, we were told that when the male bird gets really horny, its beaks and long legs turn red and, true enough, we found a mating ostrich with the male partner sporting a pair of bright red legs !