The various regions of the S.A. West Coast

THE WEST COAST

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Ostrich on the West Coast Ostrich FarmWest Coast ostrich Farm

West Coast Ostrich FarmFor many years the Westcoast Ostrich Show Ranch has been offering a unique experience to visitors of the Western Cape. Situated only twenty minutes from Cape Town's Waterfront, the Kanigowski family have built up a very popular tourist destination encompassing informative tours with a high quality, great value leather and curio shops and an ostrich meat orientated restaurant.

The business is family owned and run, with Gavin and his son, Pawel, on hand to greet visitors. The facilities increase each year, welcoming more and more tourists, while still offering a friendly professional atmosphere. The farm nestles on the sea facing slopes of the Durbanville hills, which offer magnificent views of Table Mountain and the Hottentots Holland Mountains, an area steeped in local history.


History reveals that ostrich chicks were traded by the original Khoi inhabitants with the Dutch Settlers in 1652 and exported from Cape Town to Batavia (now Indonesia) in 1656. There were also exports to India and the Emperor of Japan in 1658.

The first documented ostrich farm was established in the centre of Cape Town in 1679. The Westcoast Ostrich Ranch has pioneered the revival of ostrich farming in the shadow of Table Mountain (Hoerikwagga).    

Ostrich leather goods at the West Coast Ostrich FarmThe Westcoast Ostrich Show Ranch offers guided tours in English, Afrikaans, German and French. To the general public, tours are run every half an hour, on the hour. However, for booked groups, tours are run as requested and a tour guide is assigned to the group for the duration of their visit. The tour comprises a forty-five minute informative trail that includes a visit to the display room, the leather factory and the cactus garden. The tour travels through the ostrich breeding enclosures and it is not uncommon to see a newly hatched chick or to witness an egg being laid. We have over 220 birds, ranging from one day old chicks to 20 year old breeding couples.


The ranch stocks a variety of ostrich species and other birds, which include, the Westcoast white ostrich, dwarf ostriches, black-neck ostriches, emus, rheas and peacocks. The highlight of the trail is the ostrich show, where each member of the tour has the opportunity to sit on a live ostrich, stand on an ostrich egg, feed an ostrich, all with the stunning backdrop of Table Mountain. Tea and coffee is included.

Physical Address:
Westcoast Ostrich Ranch
Van Schoorsdrif Road Philadelphia
off N7, Cape Town, South Africa

Telephone :
+27 (0)21 972 1955
+27 (0)21 972 1669
+27 (0)21 972 1961
+27 (0)21 972 1649
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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