I had wanted to do an alpaca trek for a long time but never really had the opportunity. On my recent trip to the Scottish Borders I was finally able to tick it off my bucket list, with a sunset alpaca trek at Beirhope Farm to finish off my first day.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary sunset alpaca trek as part of a 3 day press trip with Scotland Starts Here. 

If you haven’t sent or tagged your friends in a funny alpaca photo on instagram at some point over the last year or so I just dont believe you. They are hilarious and the surge in popularity of the animals has definitely seen a increase in demand for interactive encounters with them. 

They just look like funny characters, which obviously gives them their appeal but I wasn’t really sure what to expect from the trek itself. I turned up to Brierhope Farm by myself, with an open mind on the full experience.

As I pulled up at Beirhope Farm, I knew I was in the right place thanks to all the signs on the way in, and the mini tuck shop in one of the open barns. Lynn, one of the co owners of Beirhope Farm came straight over and made me feel at ease right away, especially considering I was on my own.

Turns out she’s from the North East herself, and both her and her husband gave up their past lives to retreat to the Scottish countryside, do up Beirhope Farm, and become alpaca trekkers. Lynn was lovely, really friendly and she directed me to the hand sanitising station that everyone who arrives on the farm needs to use before going any further.

Once fully sanitised, I walked round the back to the fields with the alpacas. There was another family there, already getting to know their chosen alpacas. Lynn handed me a tub of chopped up carrots, and introduced me to Daniel, my alpaca for the evening. 

I spent a good ten minutes feeding Daniel his carrot and getting him used to me. His mate Graffiti also kept nosying in, keen for some carrot of his own too. They’re not shy! I think they were quite excited for a sunset alpaca trek, it was a beautiful evening.

Once we were ready to go, Lynn gave us a demonstration of how to go into the enclosure, untie our alpacas from the fence, and walk them out ready for the trek. Have to say I really felt like I was in Harry Potter getting ready to meet a hypogriff, I was prepared to bow if needed. 

So I went in and untied Daniel from the fence giving him a friendly pat on the neck too. They are so soft! I can see why alpaca fleece is so sought after. You have to hold the lead quite close to their head, and that’s how you control and lead them, with the other hand loose and the end of the lead looped onto you.

Once we had all paraded in a line out of the enclosure, we listened to the full safety talk and instructions to keep 2m apart, but also to remember they’re pack animals so dont like to get too far away from each other.

With that we were off, heading up the hills to catch the sunset. The first part of the trek was the steepest, but it was absolutely fine and we slowly made our way up. The alpacas are great, they wont move unless they want to which was quite funny but in general are easy to lead.

As we made our way up and then along the path, the view just got better and better. We couldn’t have picked a better evening for a sunset walk, it had been a beautiful day and the sun was shining as far as we could see across the Cheviot Hills.

I have the worst sense of direction, but Lynn and her husband knew exactly where they were and could give some great descriptions of each direction, and stories from the past about the area. They were both really interesting and so easy to chat to, get them to tell you about the night Lynn announced she was going to become an alpaca trekker after a few glasses of wine…

It happened though and fair play to her. The alpacas plod along with us, sometimes digging their heels in if they wanted to stop for a scratch or wait for anyone who got a bit too far out of their reach than they liked.

The sunset trek lasts about two hours, but that includes the time at the farm getting to know them and feeding them, so it isn’t a full two hour hike. When it came to our descent we made our way back down along to the farm.

I’m so glad I finally got to go on an alpaca trek, and the guys at Beirhope were so lovely I’d recommend them to anyone. As well as the sunset trek, they do a number of others of varying lengths, and at different times of day. You can find more information on all the alpaca treks at Beirhope Farm on their website here.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary sunset alpaca trek as part of a 3 day press trip with Scotland Starts Here.

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