Oudsthoorn is a booming town in the Little Karoo (also called the Klein Karoo) known as the 'ostrich capital of the world'. I thought mmmm . . . after Mardi Gras and Rio's Carnivale and yet another remake of 'La Cage Aux Folles', there can only be so much demand for ostrich feathers. Feather dusters, boas, funky Halloween costumes but wait . . . think handbags, shoes, wallets, belts . . . and burgers!
Ostrich filet, ostrich burgers, minced ostrich, ostrich steak, ostrich carpaccio . . . is there no end to the things one can do with ostrich?? Honestly, this is a divine meat without all the 'bad stuff' of beef.
And as if that isn't enough, then there are the eggs! One ostrich egg is the equivalent of 24 hen eggs and takes between 1.5 and 2 hours to hardboil. The empty egg shell is marvelously strong and lends itself to all sorts of incising, decorating, and adorning that would make even a Russian czar clutching his Faberge egg swoon!
Our first outing is to the Ostrich Safari Farm (one of three open to the public) just outside town. We chose this one because it was the very first - established on the mid 1950's by one of the offspring of the 'feather barons' so named because at one time ostrich feathers were literally worth more than gold. An enterprising Lithuanian Jewish immigrant retrieved some ostriches from Algeria, bred them with the indigenous variety and the result is the Oudsthoorn ostrich that produced the world's most coveted feathers and laid the golden eggs.
Their ancestors, a really, really big version of today's ostrich called the elephant ostrich, can be traced to the age of the dinosaurs over 50 million years ago. Today's ostrich can top out at 320 pounds and grow to 9' tall! It is the biggest bird on earth although it is totally flightless. Each eye measures 2.5" in diameter and is the largest eye of any creature on earth (to get these two big eyes the brain had to give up cranial real estate so the cerebral brain mass is a bit on the skimpy side). Even with all this, it still looks eerily like its dinosaur ancestors.
Ostrich filet, ostrich burgers, minced ostrich, ostrich steak, ostrich carpaccio . . . is there no end to the things one can do with ostrich?? Honestly, this is a divine meat without all the 'bad stuff' of beef.
Their ancestors, a really, really big version of today's ostrich called the elephant ostrich, can be traced to the age of the dinosaurs over 50 million years ago. Today's ostrich can top out at 320 pounds and grow to 9' tall! It is the biggest bird on earth although it is totally flightless. Each eye measures 2.5" in diameter and is the largest eye of any creature on earth (to get these two big eyes the brain had to give up cranial real estate so the cerebral brain mass is a bit on the skimpy side). Even with all this, it still looks eerily like its dinosaur ancestors.
It's a rather ungainly looking creature but is capable of outrunning a cheetah at 70mph and can sustain speeds of 40mph. They have only two toes and the joint that's halfway up their leg isn't a knee, it's an ankle. The males are black and white, the females a dun grey/brown. Females get daytime egg-sitting duty on a clutch of as many as 60 eggs from multiple females, and the males take over at night. Once the chicks hatch they're pretty much on their own, but in fact the whole flock (up to 100 in all) is raising them.
Not sure what got this guy so agitated, but it resulted in a whole lot of screeching and fluttering. We did learn that when females are ready to mate, they perform a kind of ground-sweeping dance with their feathers, and when the males are ready to mate, they also do a feather dance. And just so there's no doubt about the male's intention, his beak and shins turn pink and finally bright red. Alas, we didn't see either of these. Contrary to popular lore, ostriches do not bury their heads in the ground; when threatened, they flatten their bodies, neck and head so close to the ground that it appears their head is buried. It isn't.
Ostriches can live up to 75 years, and their feathers can be cut every eight months. The market for ostrich feathers isn't what it once was. WWI and the advent of open touring cars pretty much destroyed the market for big hats with even bigger ostrich feathers. But the enterprising ostrich farmers looked ahead and realized there were other markets for the products of this remarkable bird.
Leather products were the first bright idea and worked well for a while, but not great. So the creative marketing folk put their heads together once again - or maybe they discovered this totally by accident at the local pub as these things often happen - and realized the meat was not only super tasty but free of the 'bad things' that make beef taste so good. Voila! Ostrich farming/ranching becomes a booming business. All ostrich growers in the Klein Karoo belong to a cooperative and make joint decisions about all issues involved in the care, cultivation, and slaughter of the ostrich; the industry also provides a great many jobs for locals.
Testimony to the strength of ostrich eggs, here's Paul standing on a pile of them!
After watching the free-range flock, we go to a feeding station where Tim no sooner picks up the feeding ladle than an eager male is right there to relieve him its contents.
Then we are introduced to a rare trio - one all while ostrich, one all black ostrich, and one half white/half black ostrich. The tour guides have named them respectively: Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Michael Jackson. Is there any corner of the globe that American popular culture has not had its impact???
Last, but certainly not least for me, was the opportunity to sit on one of these birds. I lobbied for a quick trot around the enclosure - even challenged Tim to a time trial - but that was quickly squashed, and I had to satisfy myself with a sitting pose.
This has been a remarkable experience; I have learned to appreciate a bird I once thought of as goofy, awkward, unattractive, and somewhat anachronistic. No longer. These birds are wonderful!!
Leather products were the first bright idea and worked well for a while, but not great. So the creative marketing folk put their heads together once again - or maybe they discovered this totally by accident at the local pub as these things often happen - and realized the meat was not only super tasty but free of the 'bad things' that make beef taste so good. Voila! Ostrich farming/ranching becomes a booming business. All ostrich growers in the Klein Karoo belong to a cooperative and make joint decisions about all issues involved in the care, cultivation, and slaughter of the ostrich; the industry also provides a great many jobs for locals.
Testimony to the strength of ostrich eggs, here's Paul standing on a pile of them!
After watching the free-range flock, we go to a feeding station where Tim no sooner picks up the feeding ladle than an eager male is right there to relieve him its contents.
Then we are introduced to a rare trio - one all while ostrich, one all black ostrich, and one half white/half black ostrich. The tour guides have named them respectively: Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Michael Jackson. Is there any corner of the globe that American popular culture has not had its impact???
Last, but certainly not least for me, was the opportunity to sit on one of these birds. I lobbied for a quick trot around the enclosure - even challenged Tim to a time trial - but that was quickly squashed, and I had to satisfy myself with a sitting pose.
This has been a remarkable experience; I have learned to appreciate a bird I once thought of as goofy, awkward, unattractive, and somewhat anachronistic. No longer. These birds are wonderful!!
