Hitting the road again, we are hoping to see Ostriches in the wild. Watch Out the American Cowboys are coming.

Sur la route vers les Autruches. On espere non seulement les voir mais egalement les toucher, les caresser, les faire manger etc..

We ended up at some tourist farming. Luckily for us because these beasts are not exactly the cute little easter chick. First off if you try feeding them they will happily take your hand with. Our guide tried to make us feel better by reminding the group that those birds are no carnivores. I guess that means your hand won’t get digested.

Nous sommes donc aller rendre visite a des Autruches en captivite. Je trouvais triste que ces oiseaux se retrouvent en plein soleil sur un sol remplit de pierres sans arbres autour. Nous avons appris que ces oiseaux doivent manger plusieurs livre de pierres par jour et qu’ils ont deux estomacs. L’un des deux est remplit de pierres afin d’aider la digestion.

These birds make really surreal sound when they eat. The sound I would imagine dinosaurs could make. The male is the most beautiful with its black and white feathers. It is he who takes care of the eggs and the chicks while the female is busy protecting the nest.

Les Autruches emettent un son de dinosaures losqu’ils-elles mangent. Elles ont egalement tendance a prendre toute la main lorsqu’on essaie des les nourrir. Heureusement qu’ils ne sont pas carnivores. Les males sont les plus beaux avec leurs plumage noir et blanc. Les femelles moins belles ont la vie plus facile, car ce sont les males qui prennent soin des poussins. Une patriarchie ou une matriarchie???

One of these eggs provide you with the equivalent of 2 dozen chicken eggs. Since they are much sturdier I think they could be a great asset to DirtBags’ hiking for big guys like Will. They say the meat is much better for you and hold almost no bad cholesterol.

Un seul oeuf d’Autruche est l’equivalent de deux douzaines d’oeufs de poules. La viande d’Autruche est rouge et ne contient presque pas de mauvais gras. J’avoue qu’un steak d’Autruche ne remplit pas son homme comme le fait celui du boeuf. Quoiqu’il en soit, les fermiers du coin ont l’espoir que cette viande deviennent celle du futur.

Here is the cowboy getting a little excitement. This is a tourist attraction for the brave ones only. While looking at the video, turn you head side way and remember that the soundtrack is from Wylie’s vocal cords.

Voici donc Christopher, notre cowboy Americain. Une attraction touristique qui demande beaucoup de bravoure selon moi. Prenez le temps de jouer le video en tournant votre tete sur le cote car nous avons eu de petits problemes techniques. Rappelez-vous que le son vient des cordes vocales de Christopher.

The next day we rode to Warmwaterberg.

It was incredibly hot and riding at 120 kph desiccated me like a raisin. I drank glass after glass of water. Even though I had goggles, my eyes were dry and scratchy until the next morning.

We spent the night at the springs. There is an old TB Sanatorium that has been converted into guest lodges! We were completely out in the middle of nowhere. Although it was enchanted, it was also a little spooky.

We had wonderful soaks and the view over the Karoo was beautiful, especially when the sun set.

Later we had a real "bug rodeo" when we came back late to our cabin after a final soak. There was a scorpion on the wall, numerous other bugs and a 3 inch long orange fuzzy spider! The spider zoomed around the place and seemed completely unafraid. In fact he came straight at me several times and I had to jump out of the way.

One time I thought he was under the stove and was trying to chase him out by banging around with a broom handle. I suddenly had this creepy feeling come over me. I slowly looked all the way over my shoulder and up to the ceiling.

There he was, hanging from a beam by his back two legs, waving in the air with his front four legs out like he was going to grab me! I had never seen anything like it.

Nous voila donc sur notre chemin de retour avec une pause a des sources d’eau chaude bien sur.

This guy deserves an ovation for riding the motorbike through hot sun and rainstorms.

Christopher a tres bien su manoeuvrer la motocyclette sous la pluie et le soleil ardent.