You’ll often find me wandering around the Cheshire countryside, usually alone and listening to a podcast. Well today I decided to mix it up and have some company. But Aimee wasn’t enough. I needed more… fluff.
We headed to Cheshire Alpacas @ Oakdale Farm in the village of Antrobus, halfway between Northwich and Warrington, for a morning with some South American camelids. A standard ticket will cost you £30 for a 90 or so minute experience.
We arrived just before 10am and I changed into my walking boots.
Aimee meanwhile decided her Vans would be up to the job… We shall see…
The alpacas already waiting for us in a little pen.
At first I was hesitant to touch them, or even approach them for fear of being spat at. But our guide Sophie reassured us that this is a common misconception – alpacas will spit at each other, but rarely spit at humans. You have to really annoy an alpaca to receive a mouthful of saliva. It’s their close relatives the llama that you have to worry about. Llamas are larger, with longer, pointy ears and usually bald heads. Alpacas, meanwhile, like to sport a hair-do.
Alpacas are the domesticated form of their wild relatives vicuna and were bred for their fibre, which is used for making knitted and woven items – similar to sheep’s wool.
All of these alpacas were lads, as most of the females are pregnant and kept in a separate field with the babies (called crias). Females have a gestation period of about a year, and can breed at any time.
The alpacas seemed impatient. Our guide Sophie handed us all a dish of food for us to feed the hungry boys. We were joined by some chickens who knew the drill.
I approached the fence and experienced an all too familiar feeling of rejection.
Nobody wanted me to feed them. This happened to me at the Lanta Elephant Sanctuary in Thailand. Why do I struggle to give free food to animals?
Of course, Aimee had no such problem.
I finally managed to coax one over for a nibble.
Before the black one named Benson barged in and vigorously devoured the whole plate.
As the chickens pecked at the scraps on the floor, Sophie ordered us into a line and started attaching leads to the alpacas. She then began assigning us our alpaca partners for the walk. I kinda hoped to avoid Benson as he seemed to be the most mischievous and biggest handful of the group. His nickname on the website is “The Bad Influence”…
But of course, Lady Luck does not smile upon me. Sophie brought Benson to me and asked us all to stroke and cuddle our alpacas to get them used to us. I used a modern method to make friends with Benson and had a selfie with him.
Benson still has his baby teeth sticking out of his mouth. I thought it best not to mock him about it.
Aimee received Jackson; a far more laid back alpaca, nicknamed “The Cool One”. With everyone ready, we headed down the driveway.
It was a perfect day for a stroll with an alpaca – not too warm for them, not too cold. And dry. Despite having naturally water-repellent fur, these particular animals have learned to dislike the rain and prefer to shelter in the barn.
Alpacas have minds and personalities of their own. They even have their own friend groups in the herd, and Sophie made sure to keep friendly alpacas together. To start with, Benson just wanted to chill at the back of the herd and not move.
I tried to gently tug but he wouldn’t budge. He just wanted to do his own thing.
I soon learned that he tended to walk forwards when I was at his side.
On the walk down the driveway, the alpacas would brush themselves up against the hedges. Some of the other people had little shocks when their alpacas would suddenly bound forwards.
Opposite the driveway was a lush field and Benson joined Jackson in a munch on the grass.
The very wet grass. My boots were getting very sodden. Good job I wasn’t wearing Vans…
We had to take care to avoid the alpaca poo. When one alpaca pulls his trousers down, the others tend to follow suit in the same place. For that moment, it’s trendy to toilet. Sophie suggested this was a good time for a selfie, as the alpacas were otherwise occupied.
I think Benson was warming to me. He stopped flinching when I stroked his neck.
We continued around the field and walked back up the driveway.
Benson fancied another brush and nearly yanked me along with him.
We returned the boys to their field where they joined the lads who had to sit out this morning’s walk. The Cheshire Alpacas team alternate the males who get treated to a walk each day. I suppose you can’t have too much of a good thing!
Aimee and I bid farewell to Benson and Jackson.
Cheshire Alpacas doesn’t just feature alpacas and chickens, oh no. In the neighbouring field to the male alpacas, there are some goats.
This one was very inquisitive.
Or hungry, cos he tried nibbling on Aimee’s coat.
The goats’ field was also home to Wolfie, the stud alpaca and father to a lot of the herd.
He’s kept alone cos yaknow, he’s the boss.
Sophie led us into the next field and handed us another dish of food. She then went and opened the far gate.
Here come the girls. And the babies.
Again, the alpacas ignored me and ran to the rest of the group.
Like seriously, do I smell?
We walked over to the group and finally found some suitors.
Aimee made a girlfriend called Summer, who was very friendly.
Aimee would like to clarify that she does not have this alpaca in chokehold. Summer initiated this cuddle.
After food and cuddles, the girls wandered off into another field. Sophie made us all a round of brews and then provided us each with a photo to take home.
Ain’t that just lovely!
As we left, we felt very content. It’s a lovely, calming, therapeutic experience – especially for two people who last night shared a bottle of prosecco and 32 shots of amaretto, vodka and tequila.
Cheers, Cheshire Alpacas. Our guide Sophie was friendly, knowledgeable and clearly passionate about her animals. We’ll see you again someday I’m sure…
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