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Does anyone want to ride an Ostrich?

Charlotte’s children try their hand at Ostrich riding

During our drive along the garden route in January, we stopped off at Oudtshoorn, a dusty farming town on the edge of the Little Karoo. The main business here is ostrich farming and we all fancied a look at these extraordinary creatures close up.

Of the half a dozen farms scattered around the town, we chose one recommended by our guest house where, we were promised, you could ride the things! The tour was much more interesting than we had expected, with a knowledgeable and entertaining guide. We were taken through the various stages of ‘production’ with the help of some ‘semi tame’ birds until the finale when we were taken to a dusty field containing around fifteen birds each eyeing us suspiciously.

Two helpers were dispatched to catch likely looking mounts, put them in a pen and then help any foolhardy tourists on board. Our younger son Tom, pretty brave about most things shrank quickly from view at this point. His parents were none too keen either, having just been told how dangerous an ostrich kick can be. Our elder son Jack, however, was straight up there. Once he’d been man-handled onto the ostrich and had been shown what to hold on to and how to steer (use the neck), he was off. It was quite a sight! The two helpers ran along side half holding him on, half directing the bird while he did two laps of the field.

I think he was pretty chuffed to go back to school and say he’d ridden an ostrich and we have had a good laugh at the pictures. If you’re in the area with children it’s definitely worth a look.

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