By way of an 8th birthday celebration I had booked my daughter and some of her friends on an Alpaca Walk, with Beacon Alpacas in Husthwaite, near York. She loves alpacas and it sounded like a fun and novel activity.
Not really knowing what to expect, it actually turned out to be a slightly bonkers but totally fantastic experience.
Younger children, from age 7, must be accompanied by an adult at a ratio of 1 adult sharing an alpaca with up to two children. After speaking to a couple of mums they were super keen to participate, so I booked 3 alpacas, each with an adult and 1 or 2 kids (it cost £33 per alpaca with 1 adult and up to 2 kids) which is great value for what you get in my opinion.
We arrived at our allocated start time and received a warm welcome from the staff. There is a wooden cabin (‘The Bothy”) with a small shop selling a variety of alpaca products, a toilet and a kettle with supplies so you can make a hot drink. Then it was time to meet the alpacas and get partnered up.
The staff were great with the girls and presented 3 alpacas which were particularly good with children. My daughter chose Didier and we also had Pascha and Frankel. The alpacas had two leads attached to the halter so both girls could lead together, which was perfect.
The alpacas used on the walks are all males and were absolutely fantastic. Who knew that alpacas were such placid and compliant animals? I always had the impression they were a bit grumpy and temperamental and had visions of them spitting, but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
These guys were super cute and the perfect height for an eight year old to cuddle. The alpaca’s temperaments were properly tested by an excited gaggle of exuberant girls and they were cuddled and dragged around to within an inch of their lives, but they were brilliant and behaved impeccably. Their fleeces are gorgeously soft and surprisingly thick, lovely to bury you fingers into!
What’s more, some of these guys are famous, having been featured on TV on Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet. Celebrity alpacas!
The walk, amidst the beautiful Yorkshire Wold countryside, took over an hour but was actually only about a mile; the going was slow as the alpacas took their time and were also keen to stop and graze at every opportunity. There was also plenty of time for photos and questions and the brilliant staff were happy to tell us all about the alpacas as we walked.
The walk was very scenic, through farmland with expansive views over the Vale of York and the white Horse of Kilburn in the distance.
Once back at the farm we got the opportunity to meet and feed the mums with their cria (baby alpacas). There were not any really young ones, which was a shame, but down to the time of year, and it was great to feed and mingle with the rest of the crew.
We also had coffee from the bothy and birthday cake, which I had taken along for the occasion.
It seemed somewhat surreal walking through the Yorkshire countryside with an alpaca on a lead, but in the best possible way. Afterwards everyone agreed that it had been a really unique and enjoyable experience. And it’s safe to say that the girls all absolutely loved their alpaca encounter; “Can we go again for my birthday?”
