Solvang Trip : OstrichLand USA

OstrichLand USA

Solvang, California

by Veronica Nunez

August 18, 2020

OstrichLand USA Photo op area

The primary reason for going to Solvang, California was to get out of the house.  We decided on Solvang because I had never been there, and my boyfriend hadn’t been there for a few decades.  It was his birthday weekend so I took care of the hotel accommodations, driving, and most of the meals.  For a weekend in the middle of July, the weather was wonderful for our trip.  

After booking the hotel room at the Sideways Inn (see my review here), I bought two tickets for 10am entry at OstrichLand USA, which is located one mile from the Sideways Inn.  OstrichLand USA is also a great stop to make on your way to downtown Solvang.  Adult tickets are only $5.00 each, and you can prepay for food to feed the Ostriches and Emus.   Pre-booking tickets wasn’t necessary, but with COVID-19 restrictions I wanted to be sure we could get in.  The OstrichLand website mentions that food may not be available if too much had been given out earlier in the day.

There are a few photo–op areas just inside the entrance of OstrichLand.  I had packed my selfie stick, but I forgot it at the hotel. Doh!  We went to the first area of ostriches located nearest the entrance.  The ostriches are VERY aggressive and try to pull the food bowl out of your hands so hold on tight!  The struggle to hold the food bowl causes a lot food to flying onto the ground where the ostriches can’t reach it.  We ran out of food quite quickly, and there were so many more ostriches and we hadn’t even gotten to the Emus, either.  We went to get more food, then went to the “back” of the property to feed the emus and ostriches located there.  We saw two ostrich eggs in the back area, one each in two different “enclosures.”  I believe OstrichLand USA often has ostrich eggs for sale, but it wasn’t something we were interested in so we didn’t inquire.

Feeding ostriches

Feeding emus

One of the ostrich eggs we saw

There is a hand-washing station near the entrance with running water. Liquid hand soap was provided as well as bottles of hand sanitizer.  We washed our hands on our way out.  Outside the entrance is a pressed penny machine, and I got a set to add to my collection.  To the left of the pressed penny machine was a small souvenir stand where I purchased one of the last of two OstrichLand USA t-shirts and a keychain. We spent just under an hour at OstrichLand, and it was much busier when we had left than it had been when we arrived.  I’d love to come back and feed the ostriches and emus again whenever we are in the Solvang area. 

OstrichLand entrance

We headed to downtown Solvang after our visit to OstrichLand USA so check back later on our adventures in the city known as “a little slice of Denmark in Southern California.”