Visiting the Ostrich Farm in Aruba

The Aruba Ostrich Farm is one of those attractions that manages to be simultaneously educational, entertaining, and genuinely surprising. Located in the Rooi Catootje area of central Aruba, a short drive inland from the beach resort corridor, the farm sits on a hillside that commands remarkable panoramic views of the island's interior desert landscape, making the scenery part of the experience even before you encounter any animals.

The farm's primary residents are, naturally, ostriches, the world's largest living bird, capable of reaching 2.7 metres in height and weighing up to 150 kilograms. Aruba's hot, arid climate turns out to be surprisingly similar to the savannah conditions of southern Africa where ostriches originate, making the island an unexpectedly suitable home for these remarkable animals. The ostriches at the farm were originally imported from South Africa and have bred successfully on the island for several generations.

But the Ostrich Farm is not exclusively about ostriches. The farm also houses several dromedary camels (another African species that thrives in Aruba's desert-like climate), along with various African and exotic bird species, emus, and other animals. The result is a compact but genuinely diverse animal experience that has broad appeal for families with children of all ages.

The Ostrich Farm operates on a guided tour basis, with tours departing approximately every 30 minutes throughout the operating day. The tours are led by experienced guides who know their animals well and deliver the educational content with enthusiasm and humour, keeping both children and adults engaged throughout.

The tour covers the full story of the ostrich: their biology (did you know an ostrich's eye is larger than its brain?), their behaviour, their breeding cycle, and their various economic uses, feathers for fashion, leather for goods, eggs (a single ostrich egg is equivalent in volume to about 24 chicken eggs), and meat. Visitors learn fascinating facts about ostriches that most people have never heard: how their powerful legs can kick hard enough to kill a lion, why they don't actually bury their heads in the sand (they periodically lower their heads to turn their eggs), and how they can run at sustained speeds of up to 45 kilometres per hour.

One of the tour highlights for most visitors, especially children, is the opportunity to sit on an ostrich. The bird is guided by a handler, and the rider sits astride the ostrich's back in a small padded saddle. It's a short experience but a memorable and unique one. There's also the option to feed the ostriches and camels by hand, which the animals approach with considerable enthusiasm and which generates some of the best photo moments of any attraction in Aruba.

The camel interaction is particularly popular. The farm's dromedaries are placid and well-handled, accustomed to human interaction. Camel rides may be available depending on the time of year and the animals' rotation schedule.

The Ostrich Farm's hillside location in the Rooi Catootje area provides a genuinely impressive panoramic view over Aruba's central interior. From the farm's elevated vantage point, you can see across the flat desert landscape to the north and west, with the distinctive silhouettes of the Hooiberg (Aruba's famous cone-shaped hill) and the Ayo rock formations visible in the distance. On a clear day the view extends to the coastline and the shimmering Caribbean sea.

This elevated perspective gives visitors a rare sense of Aruba's actual geography. Away from the beach hotels, the island's interior is a wide, surprisingly wild-looking desert dotted with cacti and thorny trees, with scattered traditional cunucu farmhouses breaking the landscape. It's a side of Aruba that many visitors never see from the beach resort zone, and the Ostrich Farm's location makes it an excellent vantage point to appreciate it.

The Ostrich Farm is located in Rooi Catootje in the central-north interior of Aruba, approximately 15 minutes by car from the Palm Beach hotel strip and about 20 minutes from Oranjestad. The route is straightforward and fully paved. Any rental car handles it comfortably, with no off-road driving involved.

From Palm Beach, head inland on the main cross-island road (Route 7 / Bushiri road direction) and follow signs for the Ostrich Farm. There is clear brown tourism signage from the main road. The farm has its own car park with space for standard vehicles. GPS coordinates: approximately 12.5213° N, 70.0003° W, though a simple search for "Aruba Ostrich Farm" in any navigation app will get you there accurately.

The farm is also a natural pairing with Arikok National Park. Both are in the central-east interior of the island, and a combined day trip visiting both sites is very manageable with a rental car. Head to the Ostrich Farm in the morning for the tours, then continue east to Arikok for a hiking afternoon.