Tuesday 22 September 2015

How to ride an Ostrich with #AnimalTales

A couple of years ago, hubby and I drove to Port Elizabeth in South Africa and drove to Cape Town along the Garden Route.

We set off inland on from George to visit the Cango Caves in Oudtshoorn, it had been raining heavily the day before so we called on route to be told the caves were flooded, so we decided to visit an Ostrich farm instead.

We started with a snack and a few drinks on the terrace over looking a lake then wandered around the gift shop and the museum. We took a guided tour of the Ostrich farm and learnt about the history of trade with ostrich feathers, had the opportunity to see some chicks and watched 2 guys racing.

Then came the most out of the blue question to which hubby replied 'er no thanks' and I said 'ooh can I?'




To ride an Ostrich they must first be blindfolded, I sat on it's back and was told to hold on underneath the wings. The Ostrich stood still when it's blindfold was taken off and walked slowly backwards out of the V shaped pen, then with some encouragement she ran with me holding on firmly, gripping my knees into her sides.

It only lasted a few seconds and then I said I'd had enough, how was I to get off and I was told 'Just let go' to which I did and the two men with me stopped me from falling.

The question we get asked a lot of in Dubai is 'do you want to ride a camel?' to which I always say I'm not interested, thank you. I've ridden an Ostrich.

4 comments:

  1. How incredibly brave you are to ride an ostrich. I think I'd get on a camel first.

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    1. i sort of had no say in the matter, it was decided for me, but was a lot of fun, it's not something i'd have done if given much time to process

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  2. I agree with Stella - I am not sure I'd want to get that close to an ostrich - you are a braver woman than me but thank you for riding an ostrich so you could add these wonderful birds to #AnimalTales

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    Replies
    1. Ostrich kick forward and not backward so it made it easier to get on the damn thing

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