Flying Into Montecasino's Bird Park

For all you closet ornithologists out there, this post is for you.

Why? Because this week Didier, Darvey, and I spent the afternoon at Monte Casino's Bird Park!

Sadly, this fella wouldn't talk back to Didier and I, but Darvey soon got him "dancing". I was doubled over in laughter as they both bobbed up & down while kicking a leg out to the side. 

To be completely honest with you, I wasn't expecting too much as birds aren't really my thing, but I truly ended up having a great time.

After 23 years of visiting various zoos and watching Nat Geo programs, I sort of had it programmed in my head that there weren't many 'bird things' left to discover. When it came to feathered friends I held the attitude of "been there, done that".

I only fully appreciated the ignorance of that line of thinking once we had completed our tour of the park.

I got the chance to interact with so many stunning, exotic birds that I had never seen (or even heard of) before. It was really cool! And at only 45Rand (around 7 bucks) a head, it was good, inexpensive fun.

Our day started off with the Flight of Fantasy Bird Show. It was an entertaining half-hour presentation of all types of amazing birds.

The elegant & graceful Blue Crane -- South Africa's national bird

African Hawk Eagle. This guy was so stocky and physically intimidating!

My favorite moment of the show was when this giant, white vulture made his grand entrance. 

The host of the show called out his name and the music began pumping. Everyone in the crown turned their attention to the entranceway to the right. There was a solid 20 seconds of nothing.

All of a sudden, this scary looking three-foot bird bolted from the darkened recess. 

What made it so funny was that the second he made eye contact with the audience, he abruptly stopped his awkward waddling and froze.

It was like a person dancing their heart out in their living room, only to look up and freeze when they see their neighbors gaping at them from across the street.  

Eventually he snapped out of it and began galloping across the stage to the left exit. I guess you had to be there to fully appreciate the hilarity of seeing this bird act so awkward, but trust me when I say that it was priceless. 

"Oh shit. What do I do?!"

Making his hasty exit -- head down and feet flying!

The trainers had the birds do tricks like catch treats, walk in circles and fly across the auditorium. Their toucan, Tango, showed us his impressive hopping skills as he scaled down the step divider: 

The little guy hopped all the way down from the top

Not all the birds on show were pretty. 

The vulture was bad enough, but this next guy... yikes. The Southern Ground Hornbill = terrifying.

Before he came out, the host had everyone with open-toed shoes to move off of the front row. Apparently he has a fetish for taste-testing little piggys. 

This bird was BIG. His body was literally the size of my torso. 

Wouldn't want to meet him alone in a dark alley

It was nice that the show included birds indigenous to SA, such as the hawdida (pronounced: haw-dee-da), as well as imported species like the Eurasian Eagle Owl:

The finale of the show was a giant pelican named Oliver. 

His size was astounding. I see a lot of pelicans back home in Manitoba, but that is normally from atop bridges and riverside highways. When you're sitting 5 feet from their beak, suddenly the reality of their mass sinks in. 

His slow, deep waddling was nearly as funnily cute as the vulture's grand entrance :) 

When this guy hopped off the barrel and flew into the water, our faces were hit with a sizeable blast of wind. We were all impressed by the sheer strength of his wings. 

The shadown underneath him is pretty, no? 

After the show we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the Flamingo Cafe (where my purse was stubbornly attacked by a particularly aggressive duck) and then set off for a walk around the park. 

Because most of the birds are housed in large aviaries, they can fly and walk around you at their leisure. This made the whole experience much more interactive than the usual bird-in-cage scenario.

One type of bird we met, the Rainbow Lorikeet, enjoys eating nectar, so we bought a small tin to feed them by hand. They were super tame and didn't hesitate to climb onto your hands, arms, and shoulders to get a nip of the awaiting sweet treat.

His little tongue furiously drank up the nectar from the cup like a machine

Double trouble!

Isn't the bird to the far right coloured amazingly??!

Another neat thing about the park is that it has a smattering of other unusual animals. We met a pair of sloths, lemurs, 6 foot iguanas (no joke! They looked like dinosaurs!), meerkats, blue duikers, black, red,and white squirrels, bats the size of a football, and a couple of types of itty bitty Emperor Tamarin monkeys that I wanted to smuggle home with me!

The bird gardens are accented by some impressive plant life: over 750 plants from 37 different species including one of the oldest surviving plants, estimated to be over 2500 years old.

The hot air balloon in the background is another part of the casino that offers rides for 70R -- it is still on our to-do list!

These Emperor Tamarins could fit in your hand! So precious.

The scariest part of the park was their snake room. I got to see two of South Africa's (and the worlds!) most venomous snakes, the Black Mamba and Puff Adder, up close and personal. Fingers crossed I never meet either one of these guys in the wild!

If the poisonous snakes weren't enough, we were also treated to the viewing of a 20 foot python that scared the bejeebus out of me. 

The Black Mamba. Named for its black gums and tongue. It averages 8feet long and it can kill a human in 30 minutes from one bite. 

Coolest colored squirrel ever!

But above all of the non-bird animals we saw, my absolute favorite was our time spent in the Frog Room.

Why?? Certainly not because of the scorpions and spiders (yuck).

Because they had Poison Arrow Dart Frogs from the rainforest!!!

As a child, I was fascinated by tropical rainforests. I did a research project on it in Grade 5 that lasted a whole morning. It included a guest speaker, home video, live animals, posters covering both blackboards, and an overhead slide show. Yeah. I was obsessed (as well as an over-achiever).

My favorite of all rainforest animals has always been these tiny, colorful frogs. Building on my general childhood love of frogs (of whom I spent countless hours catching and releasing in ditches), they captivated my imagination and awed me with their deadly power. Thing is, I had yet to see one in person. The bird park was able to give me that experience and I'll never forget it :)

Sadly, the Frog Room didn't allow photos but these are pictures (from Google) of the species I'm talking about:

Aren't they incredible little creatures??

We stopped along the way at the Parrot Gallery for some quality time with some stunning blue & red Macaw parrots and Cockatoos. 

While the Macaws stayed perched under their umbrella, they weren't tethered to it at all. I enjoyed seeing the birds being able to roam freely. 

Oh herrow!

Hard not to be captivated by their beautiful coat of feathers

The stars of the Parrot Gallery were -- hands down -- the pair of Cockatoos. They had such outgoing personalities!

The two would follow you around like lost puppies and repeated the sweetest "hello" you've ever heard after you greeted them. 

He and I were having a pretty intense conversation, as you can see. 

One took a a liking to Didier right away and demanded to be picked up. Once he was comfortably situated on his arm, an employee shouted to put the bird back since tourists weren't allowed to touch.

Well... he refused to leave! Dids tried to shoo him off, push his feet along, and he wouldn't budge!

After a Macaw tried to get involved in the scuffle (I think he was getting perturbed with all the action the Cockatoo was stirring up!), an employee had to come over with a pole to rescue Didier from his clingy feathered friend. It was too funny!

Trying...trying... trying to encourage him onto the perch

Mr.Macaw hops over and gets involved!

Ms.Pole to the rescue! Note how the Cockatoo's anger at being told what to do has made his yellow head feathers stand up in full bloom.

Another pretty member of the Parrot Gallery

A swing around the huge Flight Avery allowed us to meet Kookaburras, Pheasants, Turacos, Storks, Flamingos, and the Scarlet Ibis. 

All these birds and we didn't get pooped on once!

...okay so Didier's camera case got hit, but that really doesn't count :)

Darvey made a best friend this afternoon in this little green parrot. He followed us as we walked around and loved getting strokes and cuddles from Darv!

Guess he didn't mind me either ;)

It was a hot, hot Joburg day (the amount of sunshine in these photos is staggering) and I'm happy we got to enjoy it fully by visiting the Bird Park. Luckily, it's only a short drive away so I hope to visit again soon!