Cape Town - A week before our visit to the Cape Town Ostrich Ranch I was bombarded with questions by my six-year-old, most of which I cheated my way through thanks to Google.
“Why do ostriches dig their heads in the sand?” Or “What do they eat, do they sleep standing up?” To say that he was excited was an understatement. He even went to bed early the night before so that the day could come faster.
The next day we bundled the kids into the car and headed towards the West Coast road.
Anyone who zips down the N7 should know the big sign by now saying “No hooting, ostriches getting laid”. I always chuckle silently to myself when passing it, but it never occurred to me to actually see what it’s about. I have also always associated these clumsy looking flightless birds with the dry Karoo.
My first encounter with one was when I was about six or seven with my parents taking me to Oudtshoorn Ostrich Ranch, and what I can remember was the feeling of utter dread. I didn’t want to be near to one.
The ranch is divided into two sections – most will be familiar with the events section which mostly hosts outdoor concerts.
The part we visited is where the real magic happens.
Perched on a grassy hill, visitors are greeted by white Dutch-style buildings housing the restaurant and information centre, which also has a curio shop and leather workshop.
There’s also a great big lawn for the kids to play on and a play area.
Our tour guide, Herman, originally from the Congo, full of knowledge, taking us through the information centre at the beginning of our tour and explaining everything in bite-size pieces so the kids could take it all in.
And the thing I liked about it was that it was actually stuff the little ones wanted to know about, like did you know ostriches eat stones to help them digest their food?
And, because they’re attracted to shiny things, for a while they were hunted by diamond prospectors hoping to find diamonds in their stomachs – and a few of them struck it rich!
It’s the type of info you’d find on a Chappies bumblegum wrapper and the kids just lapped it up.
The ranch itself is home to a few hundred ostriches from different species, with one male put in a pen with a few females to encourage breeding.
It also claims the honour of owning the world’s smallest ostrich, called Little Tom Thumb, and it’s got the Guinness World Records certificate to prove it.
The little ones were given the opportunity to feed and touch him; a cute little fellow who looks like he thrives on the daily attention.
For those brave enough, you can even sit on an ostrich – animal selfie anyone? After the tour the kids dived into the scratch patch while the adults sampled the restaurant’s menu.
And, yes, ostrich is the main dish.
It’s a bit unsettling feeding and cooing at ostriches one minute and then eating them for lunch the next.
But I suppose the same applies to dining at a seafood restaurant while sitting in front of a giant fish tank.
The menu is varied and if you’re not into ostrich there are other meat and vegetarian options.
The prices are reasonable with mains costing anything between R70 and R200.
The school holidays are coming up and if you’re in the area or just plan on taking a drive, the Cape Town Ostrich Ranch is a great fit for little enquiring minds.
It strikes a good balance between educating the kids (and adults) and having fun. But we never got to find out why ostriches bury their heads in the sand… wait, let me Google that quickly.
If You Go…
The Cape Town Ostrich Ranch is off the N7, take the turn-off after Durbanville.
Access to the restaurant, scratch patch and play area at the ranch is free. The cost of the tour, which allows access to the ostriches, is R80 per adult, R65 for children between the ages of seven and 16, and R31 for children between two and six.
Call 021 972 1669, fax 021 972 1905, [email protected]
Marchelle Abrahams, IOL