South Africa: I straddled an Ostrich

South Africa, December 2010

We flied from Johannesburg to George where we started our Garden Route of south Africa. Incorporating the picturesque stretch of coastline between Mossel Bay and Nature's Valley, the Garden Route is suitable name for its lush greenery and the vast Tsitsikamma Forest.

From George we headed to the popular town of Knysna which is located on the shores of the Knysna Lagoon - the lagoon is a protected area and is home to over 200 species of fish, including the rare Knysna seahorse.We boarded to John Benn ship and cruising the lagoon to see the spectacular cliffs at the Knysna Heads which lead out to the Indian Ocean.

flight from Johannesburg to George

Knysna the Lagoon City

beautiful sunset in Knysna

before boarding the John Benn Cruise

cruising the Knysna Lagoon

where to go ? :p

Outdshoorn is a place not to be missed. It's known as the Feather Kingdom because of the ostrich ranch.
We had an ostrich steak for lunch which was super yummy. The meat is very tender and juicy, I'm even drooling just thinking about it now. Actually I did feel guilty because I really like ostrich. They seems clumsy but beautiful nonetheless.
I even tried to ride an ostrich. But the ostrich was not happy being straddled. I think he could smell one of his friends inside my stomach. His neck swerved around, like a preying snake while he tried to throw me off his back :(
Do you know that ostrich egg is very strong? My sister tried standing on it and it didn't break. Apparently
it can support up to 150kgs of weight. And 1 ostrich egg is equivalent to more less 20 chicken eggs.
No wonder they served a giant size plate of scrambled eggs for us.

Ostrich ranch in Oudtshoorn, the Feather Kingdom

pretty ostrich

my sister standing on ostrich eggs

riding an ostrich :p

lunch in Mossel Bay

Diaz's ship. No ! not Cameron Diaz but Batolomeu Diaz who found the southern tip of Africa

the Milk wood tree, used as the first “post office” in southern Africa

Cango Cave

When I found out that we were going to visit Cango Wildlife Ranch, I was super excited ! They have a huge variety of animals, so it's like a heaven to me. I love big cats; lion, cheetah, puma, leopard, Bengal tiger.....all of them. And if you need more adrenalin rush, you can dive with the giant Nile crocodiles in their World First Crocodile Cage Dive.