Ostrich Rides

[thanks to UC#1 for today’s trip to South Africa]

That’s dark! Too dark for me. [ed. note: UC#1 is referring to Russian Serial Killers]

Here’s something a bit more fun. I took some photos at an ostrich safari farm near Oudtshoorn, South Africa circa 1998. The young lad is 10(+/-). No children, staff, ostriches or tourists were harmed during this event.

I don’t know what the name of the farm was, but there is currently one called Safari Ostrich Farm.

I’m sure there is a buffet in the area somewhere. I had a wonderful “leg of ostrich” meal that day. No, it wasn’t from the one my son rode.

A word of caution. There is a trick to cooking ostrich and I don’t know what it is. But unless done exactly right it is the worst, toughest, meanest piece of meat you will ever encounter. Done right, it is magnificent. And no, it doesn’t taste like chicken. It tastes like ostrich.

So, just remember that old saying that I just made up: “Riches won’t make you happy but ostriches will.”

¡Tan Chulo!

I like ostriches.

Funny story: My in-laws came to visit us in Cape Town and we took them on a trip through the very part of the country you show in the map, although I don’t recall seeing any human origins at the time. [ed. note: UC#1 is referring to Point of Human Origins, below] My car was a 20 year old Mercedes, which I chose because a) it was cheap and b) if you had to ram another car to escape from an ambush the Mercedes would take a lick’n and keep on tick’n.

So, we get into the mountain country and start down the very long and steep road heading towards George and the brakes faded. Good old drum brakes completely went to nothing. The old folks were asleep in the back seat so the only one who noticed that something seemed wrong was my wife (old wife, not current wife).

I had the car in 2nd gear with the engine screaming and tires screaming on the corners (and to her credit, no wife screaming) and finally got into a less steep spot where I could jam on the emergency brake and skid to a stop. The old folks sort of woke up but I told them I was just stopping to pee (it was actually too late) and they went back to sleep. Once the brakes cooled down I was able to continue, slowly and cautiously, with frequent stops, the rest of the way down the mountain.

Overall, one of the best days of my life!