DAY-4 18 December (Visiting attractions around Oudtshoorn)

Assorted video collection from Day 4

We start the day with a leisurely & simple breakfast at the lodge (lets say a basic breakfast!). Today we just have the topcase basically for storing helmets etc while sight seeing & use light riding wear as we are riding just out of town where all the attractions are located.

FUNNY BOARD IN KITCHEN

We first head to the Cango Wildlife Ranch which is basically a large zoo with guides who take you on tour and explain about the various inmates and their backgrounds, conservation, extinction, feeding etc. That wraps up in about an hour & a half. Later comes our eagerly anticipated “Natural Encounter” experience…Wow…hold your breath….

A REFRESHING ICE CANDY ON A VERY HOT DAY

HOW ANIMALS PAY FOR MANS RECKLESS BEHAVIOR

Now its time for the extra ordinary “Natural Encounter” experience. As the name suggests, you get into the animals enclosure like going to a friends birthday party and take pics together with the animal- Yeah just you & the animal, while the trainers would stay a distance away just in case (crap just in case- it would only be closed case!). Sounds interesting??  Among the many natural encounters they offer with Tigers, Cheetahs, Cheetah cubs, Crocodiles, Pythons etc, we chose the Cheetah as it was less intimidating than the tiger & crocodiles. Besides, the tickets for the Cheetahs or the cubs were priced the same, so we decided bigger is better (to show off!!) as if eating a chocolate bar, but not realizing the seriousness! We promptly sign the indemnity forms and I also make sure with the caretaker, if the cheetah has had its earlier meal!!! As we are ushered into the enclosure a strange shiver then runs thru our spine and Mrs & Mr Adventure think to ourselves if we got over adventurous? To top it we were the first ones from our group and the rest of the visitors were getting a ring side demo of what not to do in a cheetah enclosure. So we suddenly are now part of the zoo attractions being the cynosure of all eyes!!! I think I overheard my wife whisper ‘I love my kids!’. Any which way I told my wife ‘if something goes wrong, each one is to themselves and you dare not try using me as a shield rather hide behind one of the care takers!!!’ BTW, while clicking the picture there is a second cheetah in the same enclosure staring at us from behind so I was ready for my pants being pulled from the back if the cheetah didn’t like my back!!! Infact you will see in the video at the top of this report (at the 00:54 second mark) the terrified faces of the great Mrs & Mr Adventure when the cheetah suddenly turns towards us…OK, you are permitted to laugh at our expense!  Anyways it was an amazing experience petting the cheetahs. We finish it with a sigh of relief and for my wife it was like winning an Oscar or Olympic gold as she is generally scared of even harmless domestic cats! That night as we were downloading the pics, my wife froze for a moment seeing the actual below picture of her with the cheetah….

DAMN, THOSE ARE SOME NASTY WHISKERS I CAPTURED…

INTERESTING THINGS AT THEIR CURIO SHOP

Next we head to the Cango Ostrich Farm and the ambient temperature is closing in on 40 deg C. It’s a bloody hot day. We start our tour with an educative session, followed by handling new born ostrich chicks and subsequently getting to hug an ostrich and feed them. We also get to physically stand on the huge ostrich eggs which can take a weight of upto 120kgs when placed horizontally and about 220kgs when placed vertically, but strangely drop it even from a short height and it breaks apart! BTW, sharing some newly gained wisdom- one ostrich egg is the nutritional equivalent of 24 chicken eggs and if you decided to boil one for breakfast you better start very early as it needs a full 90 minutes to hard boil! Today being a very hot day, the farm has cancelled the ostrich rides, but I get a chance to sit on one of the birds, ofcourse with its eyes covered lest I would have got a fatal kick from the Charlie!!

DURING NORMAL DAYS, YOU CAN RIDE THESE PARTICULAR OSTRICHES

NOW THAT’S A RARE EXPERIENCE TO SIMPLY SIT ON ONE….WITH HIS EYES SHUT OFCOURSE!!!

SHARING SOME MORE OSTRICH WISDOM- APPARENTLY THEIR EYES WEIGH ABOUT 60 GRAMS, SO THEY CAN SEE CLEARLY TILL ABOUT 3.5 KMS, HOWEVER, THEIR BRAINS WEIGH ABOUT 30 GRAMS, WHICH MEANS “LIGHTS ARE ON, NOBODY IS HOME!!”

OSTRICH EGGS IN VARIOUS FORMS AT THEIR CURIO SHOP

After the Ostrich Farm, we ride to the famous CANGO CAVES, one of the largest in Africa better known for their magnificent calcite formations from more than 800,000 years and it is truly an ‘underground wonderworld’. With the choice of a Standard tour & an Adventure tour, my lady was hell bent on sampling the adventure tour (see this http://www.cango-caves.co.za/adventure.php ) which runs a full 90 minutes where participants have to crawl on all fours, slither thru passages as small as 30cms, climb steep slopes with barely a foothold in places etc. Some of the cave passages are as challenging as their names- Devil’s Chimney, Devil’s Kitchen, The Coffin, Devil’s Post Box….The deeper we went into the caves, it got warmer & more humid & sticky. To my surprise & amusement, my wife was easily & swiftly slithering thru those tiny passages (probably due to her smaller frame), whereas I was finding the going difficult in few very tight spaces with my long arms & legs… It was not an easy task with some of us receiving minor bruises here & there, but it surely was one among the special & extra-ordinary experiences we had in South Africa.

THE ADVENTURE TOUR ROUTE MAP

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

BOOHOO, I GOT BRUISED….

Tired & hungry on an exceptionally hot day, but feeling absolutely elated & invincible with all the exceptional experiences, we do a relaxed ride back to Oudtshoorn passing farmlands along the way.

I DON’T KNOW IF THATS AN OSTRICH MARATHON !!!

We arrive at the center of town and the adventure day ends with a nice dinner at ‘Jemima’s’ consisting of Roast Butternut & Capsicum Cheesecake and Smoked Salmon Trout Carpaccio and fruit juices as usual.  Head back to our lodge and hit the sack. Total distance traveled today 59 kms.