Oudtshoorn is home to the world’s largest population of Ostriches! Seeing (and eating) an Ostrich is a must when passing through town. In addition to everything Ostrich, there are a number of other things to see and do while in the area.
The caves are millions of years old, but were first discovered in 1780 by some Dutch. A visit to the caves must be done through one of the two tour options (Heritage and Adventure Tour) that operate daily. We elected to take hour long Heritage Tour and enjoyed the leisurely stroll through the caverns and learning more about the history of this natural phenomenon. Reservations are required (email: reservations@cangocaves.co.za)
A trip to Oudtshoorn would not be complete with out a visit to one of the many ostrich farms. (Chose one of the show farms: Cango, Safari or Highgate.) If you choose you can feed or even ride one of these unique birds, as a part of your tour.
This pass which links Oudtshoorn and Price Albert provides some of the most spectacular scenery around. Allow ample time and be prepared for a slow going drive over the unpaved road. Return via the paved road, which is longer in distance but shorter in time. (It too is a very scenic and beautiful drive.) Watch the weather and plan your trip accordingly.
The establishment is a winery and one of the few craft breweries that we have encountered in South Africa to date. In addition to wine tasting (no beer tasting) you can enjoy a light lunch. Our favorite wines were the Shiraz/Cab, Grenache Noir/Shiraz/Mourveder, and their 5th Element Syrah/Viognier. Kevin was also a fan of their Zwartberger (amber ale) beer.
Interested in Croc Cage Diving? Then this is for you. The Wildlife Ranch is also home to cheetahs, lions, leopards, and white bengal tigers.
A waterfall that is located about 11km off the R328 not far from the Cango Caves. We attempted to visit the waterfall on a rainy day and made it all the way to the entrance only to find that it was closed, due to the rain!
We did not choose to visit the holiday park, however the key draw is to ride a camel. We drove by and snapped a few pictures of the camels from the road.
Located in town, this museum is dedicated to providing history of the Ostrich industry. (We did not visit during our stay.)
Rise early (meets before 6am) and sit in a field waiting for the meerkats to make their appearance and move through their morning rituals. Note: Weather matters. Meerkats do not make an appearance in rainy weather. Due to the weather, the expense, and our time limitations, we did not elect to take this tour.
The restaurant specializes in Karoo cuisine. We would highly recommend based our fantastic dinner. We followed a local’s recommendation to eat either lamb or ostrich while in Karoo. We ordered the lamb stew, an ostrich burger, and a bottle of the Fairview (La Capra) Pinotage. We throughly enjoyed all three. The food was so good that we even considered eating there two nights in a row.
The Karusa Winery & Brewery serves cheese platters, meat platters, and light lunches. The food was good for lunch and we enjoyed sipping a glass of wine / beer by the fireplace on a rainy day.
The food was average and the atmosphere was just okay. Personally, we would probably not visit again and would try one of the other recommendations we received instead.
Other recommended options, that we did not visit include: Jemimas, The Colony @ The Queens Hotel, Su Casa, and Buffelsdrift Game Lodge.
We enjoyed our two night stay at this modern B&B. Our hosts were friendly, rooms are spacious, modern, and clean. Although we never used it, the honesty bar and common ares (including pool and grassy yard) were an added bonus.
This quaint town is known for their hot springs. Located a couple of hours drive from Cape Town near the start of Route 62. We used this as our first stop on our road-trip through the Western Cape. We arrived early evening, in order to catch a beautiful sunset. Unfortunately, we did not have ample time to scope out the area’s activities.
Located at the Montagu Springs Resort. As a guest of the hotel you can use the hot springs, or elect to go as a day visitor. We can not vouch for this first hand as we elected to forego the obligatory visit to the hot springs during our quick stop in town.
There are a handful of hikes in the area. We were made aware of a handful of hikes that started from Old Mill. Visit the tourist office for maps and additional information.
On the corner of Barry and Bath Street (not far from the information center) there are a set of trees that are home to hundreds of birds. Best to view in the last couple hours of daylight.
It was recommended to approach town from the west/south from Ashton. Route 62 will winds through a scenic area and takes you through the center of a rock before landing you in town.
Based on a recommendation from our B&B, we ate dinner at Four Oaks. The food was fantastic. We would definitely recommend it for this alone. The atmosphere was a little odd and the owner/waiter had a bit of an air to him. However, the food made it worth the visit.
A cute little tavern and restaurant located on Church street (directly across from the Church). We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink here, but must admit that the dinner selections looked appetizing.
We stayed in a nice B&B in the center of town. The rooms were spacious and clean. The wifi was good and the breakfast was delicious.
