Visiting Eastland Alpacas

Recently, I visited Eastland Alpacas. This was one of the best animal farm visits, I’ve ever been too. Many have asked me how did I luck up and find this gem of a place?! I was searching on www.roadtrippers.com for places to visit in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is relatively close to me and my mom will typically take me places I would like to visit if it isn’t too far and that could easily be done in a day. If you know me, I’m always searching for my next adventure. When I found the Eastland Alpacas Farm, I was really excited! I have seen many llamas in my day but never an Alpaca. 

Eastland Alpaca Farm is located in Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, which is about an hour and a half from my house, but we had actually been visiting close to that area (Allentown, Pennsylvania), so it worked out well and we killed two birds with one stone. We actually were thinking we would have to come another day but when my mom looked up how far Allentown was from Mt. Joy and figured out it was only 10 minutes away, we immediately contacted Sue (the Owner of Eastland Alpacas) and she let us come that day. I was beyond thrilled!

When we got there, there was a tour already happening, so we decided to wait until the next one. I’m glad we did because the tour group before us was kind of big. My group consisted of me (of course), my mom, my baby sister and another family (a mom, 3 kids). We had a fairly small group and I think that’s what made the experience even better. Our tour guide Emily, a college student, was amazing! I honestly, thought she was a family member to the farm but she wasn’t. She was SUPER friendly, very informative, and the Alpacas really adored her. 

Okay about the Alpacas! OOOOMMMMGGGG, that were SUPER SWEET, extremely friendly, and cute! (Just Simply Lovable) Honestly, I would love to have one, if only, I could! Their personality was so cool. They are very relaxed unless they get to close to each other while feeding – one did slightly spit on another one. We heard a little noise and Emily informed us what was about to happen. 

My absolute favorite part of the visit was feeding them. It was so funny they would come up and eat right out of your hand. They aren’t aggressive at all. They are simply adorable. 

Alpacas’ FUN FACTS: 

1. They are considerably smaller than llamas. Eastland Farm’s had one llama and you could easily tell it apart from the alpacas even though it was just chilling with them like it was an alpaca. 
2. Alpacas are bred for their fur. Their fur makes clothing and blankets. 
3. At Eastland Farm, their Alpacas get shaved once a year. I’m not sure if this is true for all Alpaca farms but I believe that is what was said. It would make sense that they would have their fur all year round until the summer.
4. There are 2 different breeds of Alpacas –  Suri and the Huacaya. The main difference between the two is their fur fibers. 
5. Alpacas are native to Peru. 
6. All alpacas are capable of spitting but not all of them do it. 
7. Alpacas can spit up to 10 feet away. (There are many reasons why they spit.) 
8. The lifespan of an Alpaca is between 15 to 20 years. 
9. Alpacas are not smelly animals. 
10. Alpacas are extremely intelligent animals and can be trained easily.

Greyson loved this 3-week old baby!

Fun Fact about Greyson: She loves animals. We thought the alpacas were going to be scary to her but she loved them. She cried when they walked away from her. Do you see how sweet alpacas are?! Look how’s she grabbing?!

Feeding this Sweetie Pie pellets from my hand. It felt funny. (Grey is tugging at my shirt begging me to get her an alpaca to play with her!)

Grey with another baby! 

Here is a picture of our wonderful Farm Tour Guide Emily! Like I mentioned earlier she was extremely knowledgeable about the alpacas.

Aren’t they cute?!

If you are ever in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania or close to the city of Mount Joy, do yourself a favor and add Eastland Alpaca Farm to your itinerary, it’s totally worth it. I had the pleasure of meeting one of the owners Sue Zurin and she was extremely nice. She honestly loves raising alpacas. That day of my visit she had a lot going on. Some of the Alpacas were taking shifts to go to the local fair. – How Cute! However, with all that she had going on, she made sure we were able to get on a tour and talked with us about her farm and her love for her alpacas. She’s was completely amazing! 

To visit Eastland Alpacas checkout their website: Eastland Alpacas 

It’s probably best to email or call them before you go to find out the best time to visit. Tours are done by donations. Also, don’t forget to check out their wonderful little gift shop. Some items are available for purchase online as well. (Personally, I found it fun to see some of the products made from the certain named Alpacas that I met through the tour.)