I love alpacas (doesn't everyone?) so I decided that all I wanted to do for my birthday was hang out with some alpacas. It was a dream come true.

I found out (through an Instagram ad) that there was an Alpaca Farm near where I lived. The company offered 2 types of visits; an hour-long visit to see the alpacas in the field and learn about them, or a three-hour trek, with the opportunity to feed and get close to the animals. Naturally, I wanted to go on a trek, but the weather wasn't right (-4 degrees) but I still so desperately wanted to see them I decided to go anyway and just observe them in the field.

The couple that run the farm are so lovely and welcoming, even though the weather was freezing, they couldn’t have been nicer. They took us to meet the animals, and spend time with them in the field. I couldn’t stop laughing at how cute and funny the little expressions on their faces are (the alpacas I mean, not the couple, obviously). We stayed back and observed them for a while, but some were braver than others and came quite close to us. It was obviously amazing to experience but it’s always important to remember that they are wild animals, some mothers with babies, so you never quite know how they’re going to behave.

After hanging out with the alpacas the couple invited us in for a hot drink, which we were more than thankful to take seeing as our noses, fingers and toes were frozen to the bone by this point. They told us all about the farm and the animals and the history of their business and fed us some of the most delicious lemon drizzle cake I’ve had in my life. We visited the gift shop on the way out (as you do) and I got a stuffed fluffy alpaca toy to take home. We called it Al Pacino. (He’s currently in the care of my 3-year-old niece)

I swear this not an ad or endorsement but, but just my genuine experience at Auld Mill Farms, a place that I thoroughly recommend visiting if you’re in the north of Scotland (although, maybe pick a better time of year, haha). Check out the website here if you want to have your own Alpaca adventure.