Alpacas

We are lucky enough to be the owners of a small herd of Alpacas who have a paddock and stable at Casa San Gabriel. All our guests love them as they are very kind, friendly animals who especially like little people.
We will be delighted to introduce our Alpacas to our guests and you are welcome to help us to feed and look after them during your stay. If however you are not keen don’t worry as they are located in a separate area of Casa San Gabriel and so they will not impose on your stay.
Alpacas make wonderful pets and we have two boys called Tom and Harry. Have a look to see more photos of our very friendly and lovable boys.
In addition to the boys, we also have a female breeding Alpaca called Fiorella who is Tom’s and Harry’s mother.
Alpacas are bred for their fine fleece, please have a look at our Alpaca products section for information on products.

We look forward to welcoming you to Casa San Gabriel and introducing you to our Alpacas. Please do contact us if you have any questions about them or you just want to visit them if you are in the area.

  1. Facts about alpacas

    What is an Alpaca?
    Alpacas are both intelligent and social animals, they are wonderful to keep, having a very kind temperament, easy to look after and look so gorgeous too!
    Alpacas are native to South America, living in the high Altiplano. There were bred over 6000 years ago from wild vicuna and have been providing the Andean people with a vital source of fuel, food, clothing and transportation for thousands of years.
    There are 2 breeds, Huacaya and Suri, of which the majority throughout the world are Huacaya. Huacaya have a fleece with a crimp, whereas Suri have a longer fleece and no crimp.
    There are many variations and markings of fleece, and colours range from white, brown to black, with approx 22 different colours.
    Alpacas can live up to 15/20 years and an adult can weigh in the region of 60-75 kgs.
    A baby Alpaca is called a Cria and the gestation period is approx 11.5 months.

  1. Alpaca products

    Alpacas are bred for their wonderful fleece, know as fibre. The Alpacas are sheared once a year and their yarn is used to make high quality knitwear.

    Alpaca yarn is special because:
    It is very soft to the touch, many people who can not wear sheep’s wool because it is itchy, are able to wear Alpaca
    It is very warm, (allowing Alpacas to live at altitudes of 4000 meters) and a very light garment can still be very warm
    It is very durable and garments can last a lifetime
    It drapes very beautifully and does not become limp

    We have a number of hand knitted Alpaca teddy bears available for sale, please let us know if you are interested in looking at them.

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