Novello Alpaca Farm: Stud Farm

Novello is home to a small herd of gentle Huacaya Alpacas in Montagu, Western Cape

Visit us for a night or two, or just an hour or two at our Farm Stay Bed & Breakfast. Enjoy the unique experience of farm life with Alpacas – learn more about these beautiful creatures, the products they produce and inspire by visiting The Fibre Shed.

Our lives with alpacas began by accident – we opened a local farmer’s magazine and saw an article about these unusual animals, arranged to meet the importer to see them, and the rest is history – it was love at first sight!  We started with three alpacas, and in a year our herd increased to seven (we couldn’t resist buying a couple more!)  We also board other animals owned by alpaca enthusiasts who don’t have suitable conditions to keep their precious animals   Now, we can’t imagine our lives without them, they are our lives and the sheer joy one gets from caring and knowing them is beyond our imagination

Alpaca History
Since ancient times, the South American Andes Mountains have been the ancestral home to the prized alpaca. Together with their close relatives, the llamas, alpacas provided clothing, food, transport and fuel.  Their fine fleece was cherished by members of the Incan civilization (referred to as "The Fibre of the Gods"), and was reserved for Incan royalty.  Their graceful herds of alpaca roamed the lush foothills and mountainous pastures. In the 17th century, Spanish conquistadors killed a large part of both the Incan and alpaca populations, forcing the retreating survivors to seek refuge in the high mountain plains known as the Altiplano. The high altitude and harsh landscape ensured only the hardiest of these creatures survived, and these ancestors of today's best bloodlines have provided a gene pool producing hardy, agile animals with dense, high quality fibre.