Outdshoorn

Rainbow after a small rain storm right outside of Outdshoorn

We started our day in Outdshoorn at an amazing breakfast place across the street from our bed and breakfast…it serves farm fresh eggs, bacon and homemade bread complete with roosters milling about our feet for $2!

 Our first destination was the Cango Wildlife Ranch, which is a privately-owned zoo outside of Oudtshoorn that specializes in big cats, especially cheetahs, but also has lions and tigers. 

Their primary specialty is the cheetahs, which they raise and rehabilitate. They have adult cheetahs as well as babies, which were very cute. For an extra fee, the keepers take you into the cages and you can interact with certain animals. I chose the lemurs and the cheetah cubs. It was insanely fun!

The lemurs were very tame and crawled all over you…they were super light and even though they were a good size they only seem to weigh about a pound each.

The 2 cheetah cubs were just like giant house cats…they purred so loudly when you petted them that they were vibrating.

Next stop was the Cango Ostrich farm! There are ostriches everywhere out here. They are just the weirdest most bizarre birds with their giant eyes and long necks.

We got to feed them and interact a bit with them. Normally, you are allowed to ride them but since it rained last night it was too wet and unsafe because they might slip…however, they did saddle them up and we got to sit on one.

Hilarious feeding frenzy below!!!!

Interesting fun facts about ostriches: They can live up to 80 years and mate for life. They will stay loyal to only one mate for their entire life but won't mate with just any ostrich...they have to be put in large groups when they are old enough to mate and find their true love.
The male sits on the eggs at night and the female during the day…they are pretty dumb though, and since it was overcast out, the male was sitting on the eggs and the guide said he was in for a long shift….Apparently, if its cloudy for a week he’ll just keep sitting until the sun comes out. At least he's loyal and reliable!!

The last stop of our busy day was the Cango caves. They were pretty impressive.

The Cango caves are a beautiful cave system located about 30 km north of Oudtshoorn. They have multiple large chambers that contain a lot of stalactites and stalagmites, as well as rock curtains, that have formed over thousands of years from the minerals carried by the water dripping through the caves limestone rocks.

We finished the day a the most amazing little African restaurant…we had the best meal of roasted lamb shanks. Tomorrow we pack up and move on to the little town of kynsna.