Family Day at the Ostrich Farm in Curaçao

Prior to this experience, my knowledge of ostriches consisted of the fact that they put their heads in the sand. Where did I get this information? Cartoons, of course. Spoiler alert: apparently they don’t do that at all. Just one of the many little nuggets I gleaned on my tour of the Curaçao Ostrich Farm.

When we found out we were moving to Curaçao, we put the Ostrich Farm on our shortlist of things to do. Of course, we hit the ground running when we got here and the shortlist got lost in a pile of packing paper. But one day, our neighbors, a lovely couple from the island, popped over and asked us to go to the farm with them for the tour and lunch – apparently they own it! Small ~~world~~ island.

The Tour

The insightful tour leaves on the hour. You can buy your tickets when you get there, but you can also buy ahead online. The tour is led by the driver, who speaks four languages! Ticket holders hop on an open-aired bus that travels between the ostriches. The tour guide stops every so often to provide information in all languages necessary. I am totally amazed by this. Ostriches are truly interesting, but the humor of our tour guide is what made the day really enjoyable. We laughed a lot as a family – is there anything better??

At the end of the tour, you can hop off the bus and feed the ostriches. I tried to make this a mandatory activity so I could get a picture. Jack was ready to comply … until he saw what it looked like! I know it’s safe, and even little kids did it, but the ostriches come at you very quickly and aggressively. I think this city family just enjoyed watching other families feed the ostriches.

At this same stop, there was also a pig! Everyone who knows me knows where my attention was! I took tons of pictures of a pig butt (I’m sparing you from most of them – you’re welcome). There were also a few goats and cows, though Texas kids were amazed at how small the cows were.

At the end of the tour, there were two crocodiles, and we learned about their function on the farm. Finally we stood on an ostrich egg! They are so strong that you can actually stand on them without cracking it.

The Restaurant

As if the tour was not family fun enough, there is a restaurant with AMAZING food! Restaurant Zambezi was delicious. You can order ostrich meat, which Cody did, and supposedly it is “to die for”, but that’s a little too twisted for me – I’m not a fan of eating an animal I just learned about. So, I opted for the salmon salad (I know, shock!). Jack and Rhys chose a sandwich wrap and a hamburger (cow meat). When the plates were cleaned, the boys chased that with chocolate cake, Dutch apple pie, and cherry cheesecake, which were devoured in seconds.

The Rest of the Farm

While waiting for the food, we enjoyed a stunning view of hills, water, and distant land. They also had parrots and peacocks all around which were friendly and did not shy away from human interaction.

There were also adorable monkeys and turtles. I saw and caught on film a monkey riding on a turtle!