This post is the fourth in my series on southern Africa’s traditional baskets. This one is from Botswana, and the pattern is titled Running Ostrich. If you’ve ever watched these gangley birds do a thirty yard dash, you know this basket couldn’t be called anything else. Perfectly named!
The ostrich is as about as smart as a box of rocks.
RUN! Etosha National Park, NamibiaHey! Where’d the lion go? Etosha National Park, Namibia
This bird is ridiculous! Oh, how the ostrich makes me laugh… just the sight of something so big, and awkward, and silly-looking cracks me up.
Maybe we’ll be safer here. Etosha National Park, Namibia
And stupid: the brain of an ostrich is roughly the size of a human eyeball.
The ostrich does make a pretty sculpture, though. Oudtshoorn, South Africa
And healthy, as well as tasty: ostrich meat has zero cholesterol. *
And striking, with all those feathers and angular limbs. When you see an ostrich running, their limbs go all akimbo.
Basket on the right: traditional Botswana basket pattern Running Ostrich
And lethal. Those spurs on the ostrich’s legs can be deadly. The spurs are found on males, who uses them in mating competitions or to defend territory. The ostrich needs them, because he can’t rely on superior brain power. Remember the comment about brains? An ostrich’s brain is the size of a human eyeball. And that’s a fact worth repeating, because it makes me start laughing all over again.
Garden Route, South Africa
God was in a great mood the day She invented this bird.
I am a Best American Essays-nominated writer. My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. My most recent book The Taste of Your Name was a finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Award.
