Aruba Ostrich Farm- An Absolutely Must-See!

If you’re near the Natural Bridge, do yourself a favor and pop into the Aruba Ostrich Farm. The ostriches will be super excited to see you and absolutely love the attention!  I know what you’re thinking…ostriches?  In Africa?  You’ve gotta be kidding me!  I’m TOTALLY not.  There’s  an ostrich farm. In Aruba. 

The Aruba Ostrich Farm is the perfect place for adults and kids, alike! Here you’ll be able to feed live ostriches, see chicks and baby emus in incubators, and learn all about “The King of Birds”.  Despite the fact these massive birds are far from their African homeland, they are thriving in this stunning island nation.

FUN FACT: The ostrich has quite the impressive mating dance. If you’re lucky you’ll get to witness it first hand (we did!).

The farm’s massive open-air lodge is dedicated to the ostrich’s native African homeland. It features an art gallery that carries handicrafts straight from Zimbabwe right alongside local goods.  It’s a really cool way to tie in the ostrich’s ancestral homeland with their current home.  

The Aruba Ostrich Farm Tour

Tours leave every 30 minutes from 9 AM until 4 PM. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and taught us all about the ostriches and emus natural behaviors and survival tactics. He even gave us the low-down on the ostriches mating rituals.  I won’t spoil the story for you!

Did you know ostriches have three stomachs? The highlight of the tour was being able to feed the ostriches. It was super amusing watching them peck into the bowls we held. And by amusing, I mean that I was terrified by how ferociously they were pecking at the bowl…but hey, if I had 3 stomachs, I’d be starving too. The birds were far from shy and seemed to love all of the attention they were getting. And honestly, how many people can say they’ve fed an ostrich? It was a pretty rad experience, if I do say so myself!

The tour finished off with a visit to the incubator and hatchery. We also got to see the pens where they keep the young ostriches and emu.

While we were there we enjoyed lunch at the Savanna Lodge Bar & Restaurant. The eatery features a locally inspired lunch menu and serves smoothies (both kid-friendly and spiked), sodas, and the local beer, Balashi.

Over the years, I have become more and more aware of responsible travel/tourism. Part of that making conscientious decisions about the treatment of animals at “zoos” and “farms”. There are some animal attractions that I look back on and think “Man, I wish I wouldn’t have visited there.” The Aruba Ostrich Farm is not one of those places. The animals are well cared for, have clean habitats and seem to be genuinely happy. The employees were knowledgeable and gave the animals lots of positive attention.

The Details

Tours cost $14 per adult and $7 per child. Tours leave every 30 minutes from 9 AM until 4 PM. The farm is open 7 days a week.