This weekend I had such a surprise visit at the Waterfront. Whilst exploring the Craft Shed we discovered some birds of prey on display from Spier’s Eagle Encounters in Stellenbosch! There were owls as well as an INCREDIBLE Black Eagle!
It had a hood on as obviously these birds are incredibly powerful and one wouldn’t want them merely flying around! The trainer explained that sight was their main sense so if that was dulled then they were docile. He also said that one of their talons is more powerful than a lion’s jaw. Holy jaw line!
Next to the black eagle was Barney and Jack-Jack the Wood Owl!
They were just the cutest owls I have ever seen! How many owls have I seen up close? None! BUT I do see them all the time perched at dusk in Cape Town. For R20 you can hold the owls (with safety glove) and for R50 you can hold the Black Eagle. It was such a massive and powerful bird that I was too intimidated to hold him. But the little owls were just ADORABLE!!!
These birds come from Eagle Encounters at the Spier Wine Estate, a bird of prey rehabilitation program. They are really well taken care of but our support is vital. It was such an incredible experience that I put R50 in the jar before I even knew you could hold the birds. I know R50 is nothing, but if we all gave R50 then it’d be something 🙂
I wholeheartedly encourage you to take a day trip out to Spier to visit the bird sanctuary. It really was a life changing and beautiful experience to see such beautiful creatures up close. Hell, if you live in Africa there’s no reason not to enjoy our exquisite creatures 🙂
