Photos by Daisy Goodman
After nearly 20 years of working in Insurance or tax (or a combination of both) we decided enough was enough and an escape from the rat race was put in motion. We had been coming to Branscombe on a regular basis since 2016 and this was enough to convince us that this was the place to be.
The general idea was relocate to the country, to a house with a couple of acres and then begin our version of the good life. So house bought, conveniently with a sizeable paddock and still enough garden to grow things, down we came.
The question then was what do we put in the paddock? The answer was Donkeys – obviously. Ever since I was small, donkeys were on the hit list however sitting in our new garden one beautiful evening, commenting on the peace & quiet we interrupted by the donkeys talking from up the valley at the Donkey Sanctuary. It was then pointed out that if we could hear them from 1.5 miles away, could I imagine the sound from 150 meters away? OK so maybe not. Not to be deterred from filling the paddock with some sort of lawn mower I very swiftly diverted to the next best thing – Alpaca.
So how difficult can it be to look after Alpaca? As it turns out, not very. They really are quite durable. So I put together a simple plan of 1 maybe 2 alpacas wondering around the paddock, looking pretty and munching grass. So off I go to the Blackdown Hills on the search for my very own field furniture, and this is where it all starts going slightly awry.
Welcome to Alpaca Paradise! 🦙