Weekend Report (Friday)

We left on Friday for a short weekend break driving East from Cape Town.

[Photos will hopefully be up tomorrow]

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Friday
We departed at 5:35am, too early for Milja and I - we had been out to Claremont for dinner and to Stones in the evening. Milja and I took our pillows so we could sleep. We drove out North-Easterly from Cape Town along N1, the motorway that connects Cape Town and Johannesburg. The road and scenery were familiar for about 2 hours as this is the same road we drove along to get to Aquila Game Reserve.

After a few stops for breakfast and petrol, we reached a small little place called Matjiesfontein . It was a quaint hamlet-type settlement, but with restaurants, hotel and a railway station. It seemed quite touristy, but it was in the middle of nowhere.

Further on we turned off the N1 towards Prince Albert to go down a road between the mountains. Suddenly it was rocky and bumpy and Milja and I rose from our dozing. We reached this amazing gorge and drove through in between fantastic rock formations and patterns for a kilometre or so. The track then rose (on Swartberg Pass) high above and over the hills and mountains. We were treated with some brilliant views, and eventually reached "Die Top" which then spat us down the otherside of the hills.

We headed to Cango Caves . It is a very cool place with tours through the caves. We had some scones before going in as it was lunch time and we were getting a bit hungry. Inside the caves was really cool. We had a funny and enthusiastic guide who told us of the history of the caves and how it was was formed and discovered. Very interesting. The tour lasted about 2 hours and by that time we were hungry.

We drove for abit longer towards Oudtshoorn , the "ostrich capital of the world". The town was quite rural, but we were going to one of the ostrich farms, Highgate , outside of town. We went to one that Minna and family had been to earlier this year. We had a spot of lunch and looked at the ostriches. Then the tour started. We first learned about the feathers and eggs, and then went into their tiny feather factory and watched a worker make a feather duster in about 30 seconds! Then we went outside to see the young ostriches. There were 2 week, 1 month and 2 month old babies, who were all fluffy and much cuter than the adults.

Then it was time to feed the adults. I was a bit hesitant as they peck similar to chickens but are the largest birth on earth :S It was fun, though, feeding them, although sometimes they nipped you and were a bit intimidating coming on the fence towards you with their huge eyes and tiny heads. Milja managed to have her whole hand nearly bitten off by one of them (there's a good picture of it), but I don't think it hurt.

After the feeding we all went over the road to another area of the farm . We went into an enclosure with a male adult sitting on eggs (the females sit on them at night). We were invited to stand on the eggs as they can withstand our body weight. None of us did as there wasn't much time, but other people on the tour did.

There was also pen with ostriches in and a stand thing they use to de-feather the ostriches. There was one strapped up in there when we got there and it looked very silly with a bag over it's head (to calm it down). We were invited to sit on it, and India, Matias and I had a go. Then I rode one. Very fun even though they can run anywhere they want and you have no control! Matias and then Milja also had a go at riding them.

Then it was time for the big race... 3 jockeys riding ostriches down a simple course. It is mainly for show but it is a fun way to end the tour.

After the ostrich farm, we went down to the coast to Wilderness , a small town right on the coast. It was nearly dark and we had to find somewhere to stay. We found a road where every house was a B&B and we eventually found one with vacancies (and an indoor pool :P). We headed out for dinner at a local restaurant and returned for a good night sleep.

Dan | 11:27
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