I’ve been hiking with huskies and donkeys several times in Germany, but never with alpacas. So I was delighted when I read about a farm 50 kilometers away that was having a Christmas market. When we arrived, the off-road qualities of our Ford Mustang were put to the test as we had to park in a meadow – I always find this kind of thing a bit scary and I am afraid of getting stuck. But it of course worked out fine!

The first animal we met at the farm, was not an alpaca, but an angora rabbit, which we were allowed to pet. I had only seen them on pictures before and was very impressed by its fluffiness. Then we finally met the first alpacas – we learned that the animals are divided into different herds, male and female. There were information sessions about the alpacas, during which we were told lots of interesting facts, for example about eye colors and pregnancies (which can happen quickly, hence the separation of the sexes).

I was a little surprised that alpaca meat was also sold at the farm. Who buys that after seeing the cute animals? Speaking of food: Funnily enough, the same shawarma truck that we had seen the weekend before at a Christmas event at Cultus Lake, was here again. And the little crêpes truck, too. I had hoped that a farm would offer something homemade – stews, soups? But okay, it’s definitely better to offer something to eat than nothing at all.

At the farm shop, they sold warm sweaters, socks and those things as expected. And this cute stuffed animal, which we named „Gustave“ – it now sits on our couch at home.