Note: This has absolutely nothing to do with WSC. So don’t even think about trying to teach those alpacas to spit on annoying people. For example, Binky’s alpaca here:

Today was the third day of my journey in Peru! The rough plan was that I would spend the morning further exploring the captivating city of Cusco and learning more about the intriguing Incan culture. Then, in the afternoon, I would go visit Awana Kancha, theme park located approximately 35 minutes by car from Cusco. Its interpretation center was created with the purpose of showing the breeding process and the types of fibre produced from the alpaca. Although I enjoyed stopping by at the store to find ponchos, sweaters, coats, chullos and more (all made from alpaca fiber), it was far from being the most exciting experience – the alpacas themselves.

As soon as I set foot in the park, I was greeted by the scent of mountain grass, refreshed by a drink of the morning rain. In the distance, the outline of the Andes wavered hazily, draped in light fog. I was told by my guide that “The alpacas are distributed in different spaces specially designed for them,” and she handed me a handful of carrots. I walked into the nearest field. The alpacas closet to me stopped chewing at the grass, and made their way toward me. I could see the matted, tangled texture of their fur, and along, with it, a mixture of the smell of wool, chewed grass and… I sniffed harder. Breath? No… droppings. I wrinkled my nose, but still attempted to hold the carrots out. One stopped, looked at the carrots and gave a loud grumble. It raised its chin and spat some air at its competitor. Another walked up, gave a loud snort and spat the undigested contents of its stomach at its opponent. it missed, and hit me in the face! It soon escalated into multiple alpaca attacking from all sides. In this frisking frenzy, I had become covered in smelly, slimy spit. It certainly wasn’t the experience I was expecting, but unique nonetheless. One less thing to tick off from my bucket list!

Note: Do your research and try to avoid this situation, so you don’t end up like me!

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