I loved alpacas when my family lived in Bolivia! We would drive out on the Altiplano and see herds and herds of them. They were much gentler than llamas, and their wool was softer. Alpaca wool is soft like cashmere, warmer than sheep wool, hypo-allergenic (alpacas don’t produce lanolin the way sheep do), and very water-repellent. It’s also less itchy than wool.
My kids had seen alpacas in photos and from a distance, but over Thanksgiving weekend they got to see them up close – we stayed at Mike’s aunt’s home, and she owns alpacas! So the kids go to learn about feeding alpacas, and cleaning up with them. I’m hoping that they’ll get to meet some baby alpacas, eventually, but it may take a while – alpacas stay pregnant for almost a year!
The alpacas I met as a 12- and 13-year-old living in Bolivia were fairly shy, and the ones we met at over Thanksgiving were the same way, although the one pictured above LOVED the camera! The others would walk away when I tried to take photos, but this friendly female alpaca posed and posed!
Have you learned about any new animals recently?
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There were so many fun Christmas-themed activities in last week’s After School linky! These bird seashell ornaments from Happy Hooligans caught my eye – so cute, and different from anything we have on our tree! I’d like to try a red cardinal bird version!
Now it’s your turn! Share your fun and educational family time activities for elementary aged kids in this week’s linky! By doing so, you give us permission to feature your post and pin it to our After School Activities & Adventures Pinterest board – thanks!
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Sweet! We’ve never seen real alpacas but my girls love the British children’s show “Nuzzle & Scratch” about two puppet alpacas that are always mixing things up. They would love to see a real live alpacas one day. With the rains beginning here the scorpions and cobras have been coming out so we’ve been learning about them and why it’s important to keep our shoes on and our eyes open.
I have never seen that show, but sounds worth checking out! I’m glad that I don’t have to worry about scorpions and cobras!
Your family is way too cool!
This is fascinating! What a lovely animal. Great post! :)
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That sounds like a lot of fun for the kids. I’ve never seen an Alpaca up close.
It was a great experience, and these were some exceptionally beautiful alpacas!
I’ve seen more people raising them in recent years. What a fun adventure! Glad you and your gang got to share it together.
I agree! I had never seen them or heard of them before I lived in Bolivia, and now they are quite popular in the United States!
My dad and his wife have three alpacas! They were never very friendly, though. The goats that they, however, love people.
Wow! I think a truly friendly alpaca is pretty rare, but they do tend to be nicer than Llamas. Most of the goats I have met are very friendly, though!
What a lovely creature! The fur sounds soooo luxurious.
Their fur is very soft!
How fun to learn about new animals! I can’t believe they stay pregnant for a year!
That surprised me, too!
How fascinating. We only saw alpacas in a zoo. Smarty had a book report to write about animals in the end of the first term, but she chose to write about cats.
Cats are pretty fascinating animals, too :)
These are one of my favourite animals and I have always said I wanted one in my backyard! lol Do they spit like llamas do?
They really are neat animals! They apparently can spit, but they don’t do it nearly as much as llamas. I’ve seen several llamas spit, but never an alpaca.
Tara’s wedding was ALMOST held at an alpaca farm when the first venue fell through.
Oh, that would have been fun! The place we stayed would actually make a pretty awesome wedding venue, come to think of it :)
How neat. What does she do with the alpacas? Are they just pets, or can you use their fur for something?
Their fur is used as a softer, warmer alternative to wool in clothing, and I think that is what her end goal is. She is a veterinarian, and only started raising alpacas a couple years ago. Her alpacas are the prettiest ones I’ve seen!