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1-Day Kota Tinggi Ostrich Farm/ Fireflies Tour

Kota Tinggi is one of Singaporeans’ favorite destination to experience the Christmas tree-like effect of fireflies.  Many tour operators offer this popular one-day getaway trip from Singapore.  To keep you occupied during the day, they would usually include visits to ostrich farms and some shopping.

Upon immigration clearance, stopover at a coffee shop in Johor Bahru for breakfast.  This is then followed by a visit to a Cocoa House Show room where they will demonstrate how chocolate is made.  A variety of chocolate mixed with different flavors is also offered here – green tea chocolate, durian chocolate etc.

Ostrich Farm

This is then followed by a 2-hour drive to Desaru/Kota Tinggi area.  Here we visited the Ostrich Farm where you can experience the hundreds of ostriches up close and personal and also understand the ostrich breeding process.

We came across a day-old ostrich at the farm – it had just cracked out of its egg shell and would be pecking itself out of it for the next few days.  An ostrich egg can withstand a weight of about 250kg and visitors would usually be invited to step on one to test its hardness.

We also learned that every part of an ostrich has many practical usages e.g.

• Ostrich Feathers are used to make dusters suitable for cleaning computer parts, keyboards because they are anti-static and do not trap dust (unlike dusters made from other bird feathers).
• Ostrich Skin are usually tanned into leather and dyed to make bags and pouches.
• Ostrich Fat, the layer just underneath the skin, is used to make ointments.  This ointment helps to relieve everything from skin diseases to headaches.
• Ostrich Meat taste like a mixture of chicken and beef – tender and tasty and a lot more healthier.
• Ostrich Bones and Tendons are boiled in soups.  They help to relieve conditions such as arthritis and bone weakness.
• Ostrich Eggs, drained of its white and yolk, are used to make attractive lamp shades.  A whole collection of beautifully painted ostrich egg-shells could be found at the farm’s souvenir shop (see above picture).

At the ostrich farm, you also get to feed the ostriches or take a short ride on an ostrich (for kids only!).  For RM2, visitors are given a small container with some ostrich feed.  These ostriches are already pre-programmed to react to this small blue container (see below pictures in my hand) and will all rush towards you if you are holding one.

As you walk along a trail separating 2 groups of ostriches, with the container, you can see the ostriches following you closely and reaching out  their long necks to peck at the container in your hand.  You can try to be an ostrich conductor, waving your container and seeing how the heads move with you.

Ostriches, ostriches, ostriches… To differentiate between a male and female ostrich, look at the color of their feathers.  Male ostriches’ feathers are much more darker in color compared to females.

After the ostrich farm visit, we stopped at a local seafood restaurant for a sumptuous 6-course seafood meal.  This is then followed by a visit to a fruit farm (we decided to just visit the market outside the farm instead).

Next up on the itinerary was a 1+ hour shopping at a local shopping centre before we proceeded for another seafood dinner.

Fireflies Boat Tour

The highlight of this trip – Fireflies tour!

No pictures of the fireflies though because it is almost impossible to capture one – all you get is pitch darkness.   The boat tour among the mangroves started at 7pm and lasted for about 45 minutes.  The view of the fireflies was very spectacular – thousands of fireflies on the trees – almost like a Christmas tree!

Tour Details

Itinerary:                             As above
Meals:                                    Lunch and Dinner included
Price per pax:                     65 SGD
Minimum pax required: 10

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