Photograph of Alpacaly Ever After by Alex Nichol

Alpacaly Ever After

If there's a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than feeding a herd of Alpacas in the Lake District, I don't want to know what it is.

Alpacaly Ever After by Alex Nichol
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + Canon 35 mm f/1.4 L II USM

We paid a visit to Alpacaly Ever After, a not-for-profit in Cumbria re-homing Alpacas and Llamas in their farm near Bassenthwaite Lake.

Alpacaly Ever After by Alex Nichol
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + Canon 35 mm f/1.4 L II USM

One way the company funds this social enterprise is providing fun experience days, where anyone can feed, groom and walk the animals. We did the Meet The Alpacas experience at The Lakes Distillery.

Alpacaly Ever After by Alex Nichol
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + Canon 35 mm f/1.4 L II USM

They give you a bucket of pellets and let you feed the Alpacas by hand, while they tell you loads of interesting facts about their behaviours and social order out in the wild.

Alpacaly Ever After by Alex Nichol
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + Canon 35 mm f/1.4 L II USM

They were lovely, friendly, docile creatures and great fun to be around. And contrary to popular myth, they don't spit at you... unless you provoke them.

Alpacaly Ever After by Alex Nichol
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV + Canon 35 mm f/1.4 L II USM

It's also worth doing the Lakes Distillery tour while you're in the area. The staff there are incredibly knowledgable and passionate about the production of award winning whiskeys and gins.

These photographs were taken with my Canon EOS 5D Mark IV and the extraordinary Canon 35 mm f/1.4 L II USM .

Alex Nichol

About the photographer

Alex Nichol is an amateur photographer based in the UK dabbling with landscape, travel and documentary. Alex has shot with pretty much everything, from classic 35mm and medium format film cameras from Zenit, Leica, Hasselblad, Mamiya and Rolleiflex, to digital SLR and mirrorless systems from Leica, Sony, Canon, Panasonic and Olympus. He is currently shooting with the Fujifilm X System.


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