Even
if I’m a city girl, I’m an animal lover at heart!
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I
grew up in a small town in the middle of Nebraska (USA) with various
fluffy rabbits, escape-artist hamsters, numerous goldfish, cats, dogs and even a
hedgehog at one point. So, it comes as no surprise to my husband when I suggest
something wild like, “Hey, do you wanna go to a goat farm?” Or better yet, “How
about walking a llama?”
Now,
my last suggestion sounded a bit far-fetched at first. But, when I started researching
things to do on the Isle of Wight, I found a farm that raises/breeds
alpacas and llamas. This family farm just happened to be near the route that we
planned to cycle on this English island, located an hour train ride south of London
and a short ferry boat ride away.
Apparently,
many city folks like ourselves are interested in this fairly new-ish idea of
walking an alpaca or llama in the English countryside. There are literally
dozens of these farms and bed-and-breakfasts across the U.K. now offering “meet
the alpacas” or walking experiences.
When I called the West Wight Alpacas
before our trip, I secured the last two spots for a 20-minute walk around the
farm. The farm, started in 2010 by husband and wife team, Neil and Michelle
Payne, also offers 40-minute walks and has numerous animals that can be petted
or fed before or after your walk. You’ll find more than 60 alpacas and llamas
here as well as goats, chickens and two adorable fat pigs!
After
we were given a good intro about the farm and its animals, I quickly learned
two things about my particular llama.
1. 1. Llamas
can be stubborn AF. Mine certainly was. My llama often wanted to brush up against
the hedgerows to have a scratch or start eating the leaves.
2. 2. Llamas
do not cooperate very well for photos/selfies. I had many failed attempts with
my llama and opted for some other llama photos afterwards that hubby took.
I
learned another truth later, but we’ll get to that story in a moment.
Now
you may be wondering, what the heck is the difference between an alpaca and a llama?
To
be honest, I didn’t really know until we went on this llama walk on the Isle of
Wight.
First,
llamas and alpacas are both in the camelid (camel) family and originally hail
from South America.
Based
on physical characteristics, llamas have long, banana-shaped ears while alpacas
have straight, smaller ears. Also, llamas are bigger than alpacas, sometimes
weighing twice as much.
Another
difference between the two is the fur. Alpaca wool is much softer and has a
finer fiber than the llama’s double-layered coat.
But the
one common trait they both have is that they spit!
After
our generally nice walk with our llamas, we bought some animal feed from the
farm café so we could feed the other animals. We set out to feed some of the
other llamas and alpacas that were out in the pasture. Well, I was feeding one
of the llamas, but I thought he/she was being a bit too greedy, so I moved over
to feed one of his/her pals. That was enough to piss off the first animal, and
the next thing I know I was partially covered in green, grassy-smelling spit –
on my face and on my t-shirt!
It was
disgusting, but also pretty funny! Of course, this would happen to me! Somehow,
I always seem to be the accident-prone person.
Luckily,
I had a spare t-shirt in my backpack so I could change. No problem!
Walking
a llama was still a cool, farm experience and it’s something I would recommend
to any other fellow animal lovers.
Just
don’t expect to actually learn how to walk a llama because they do what they
want!
Cheers,
Joy
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