My daughter is animal mad, so for Christmas last year I bought her a 90 minute Alpaca walking experience at Charnwood Forest Alpacas in Derbyshire. An hour and a half from home, I thought it would make a great day out for us, so opted for an experience for the 2 of us, which we went on yesterday.
Where did we go?
Charnwood Forest Alpacas
Scamhazel Farm
Ashby Road, Boundary
DE11 7BA
pukkapacas.com
With cold and rainy weather all week we both made sure we were suitably dressed, lots of warm layers, walking boots, waterproofs the lot. Whilst the weather stayed dry, it was very cold so we were glad we were prepared!
The centre was easy to find (though we did zoom past it initially thanks to my SatNav) and by 12:50 we’d arrived in the car park ready for our 1pm booking.
The Alpaca centre itself is set within the grounds of a working farm and it was lovely to see chickens wandering around, as well as a field of exotic looking pigs. On-site there are an incredible 160 alpacas and the 90 minute experience started with a briefing and a demo Alpaca was bought in as we learned about their beautiful fleeces, their natural habitat in Peru as well as how to safely handle them whilst out walking with them.
We were delighted to learn that we’d be taking out the ‘babies’, Alpacas born early last Autumn and before being taken to their holding pens. Lined up, we were each handed an Alpaca in turn. My daughter received a brown Alpaca called Chalk and Cheese and I was handed a white Alpaca called Snow in Summer.
As we set off for our walk, it was adorable to see them preferring to be close to one another, with some jostling for position and wanting to lead whilst others hung back preferring to head up the rear. The size of the group was spot on, about 12 of us in total, and as we walked our friendly, knowledgeable guide kept a watchful eye to ensure everyone was comfortable and happy leading their Alpaca.
The mud wasn’t too bad and the rain stayed away for the length of the walk, and about half way through we got a great opportunity to stop, take photos and even feed the Alpacas with food pellets we’d purchased at the shop on arrival.
After the walk, it was time to hand back our Alpacas and despite the next group being handed out their Alpacas to walk with, we didn’t feel at all rushed and were invited to hang around to pet the Alpacas in other pens.
After the walk we headed to the cafe for a bite to eat (the chocolate orange cheesecake was particularly good) before heading back to the car.
It was a great day out, and something that bit different and for anyone that loves Alpacas or just loves animals in general, a Charnwood Forest Alpaca walk is an experience I would thoroughly recommend! A 90 minute Alpaca experience costs £35pp.
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