“Pic of the Week”, September 5, 2014: Alpacas, Minturn, Colorado

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While recently traveling in Colorado, we stopped by the weekly Saturday Farmer’s Market in the small town of Minturn (near Vail).  After parking we began our walk to the market, but before reaching this entertaining venue our attention was diverted to a crowd around a store selling wooden goods.  When the crowd cleared slightly, we saw two alpacas standing there, clearly the center of attention.

The owner of the wool shop very cleverly kept these alpacas as a crowd magnet, and obviously it worked.  They were awfully cute animals, from their teddy bear faces, to their little bleating cries.  Too bad I’m allergic to wool.

(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance)

Karl on Sep 4, 2014 | Comments Off on “Pic of the Week”, September 5, 2014: Alpacas, Minturn, Colorado

“Pic of the Week”. January 11, 2013. Alpaca herd, near Sullustani National Monument, Peru

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This photo was taken on the high altitude plateau (Altiplano) of Peru located over 13,000 ft (4,000 m) above sea level, not far from Lake Titicaca.  Given the high altitude, agriculture is limited, mostly potatoes and livestock (sheep, llamas, alpacas).  My brother and I were en-route from Puno to the Sullustani National Monument when we encountered this herd of alpacas.  We decided to stop for a photo and cautiously approached the herd.

These alpacas were very curious but leery of us.  The large white woolly alpaca in the left foreground of the photo was the alpha male and was of bad temperament.   He charged at us twice wanting to spit on us (which usually involves regurgitated stomach contents, a type …

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Karl on Jan 10, 2013 | 2 Comments