RAYMONDVILLE — In a small hidden corner in Raymondville, an alpaca ranch exists.
Luckily, it is now available for the public to experience and get to know first-hand the exotic South American mammals, which are often confused with llamas.
Martha Leticia Cardenas, owner of Alpaquita Ranch, got the idea of having alpacas in her ranch from a trip she took to Peru.
“That is where I first met them, and I thought it was very interesting. Every time you shear them you can get merchandise like pillows or scarves,” Cardenas said.
She visited an alpaca farm on her trip, and once she came back, Cardenas brought alpacas from Montana, Dallas and some from Tennessee.
Cardenas has had them for two years but began with the idea of creating personal tours in November of 2020.
Cardenas hosted a birthday party for her granddaughter, and the people who attended to decorate posted photos of the ranch on social media. People then began to reach out to her.
“We started getting phone calls, and we thought it was a good idea. People have nowhere to go, and this is outside. And it is very relaxing when you walk an alpaca,” Cardenas said.
When most businesses shut down last March because of the pandemic, Cardenas and her family made it a routine to drive down from their homes in McAllen and spend time in their Raymondville ranch.
Cardenas said they would have dinner and walk the alpacas and found it very relaxing.
“That is when the idea kind of came into my head, but I wasn’t sure anyone would want to see alpacas,” she said.
“Once we had the party, people started calling, and I did my research on other places that do the same and decided to do it. One thing led to another,” Cardenas said.
All the alpacas in Alpaquita Ranch are the common breed Huacaya. Cardenas said 80 percent of alpacas in the United States are that breed.
These are teddy-bear looking alpacas, she said.
The Alpaquita Ranch has become so popular, Cardenas is fully booked for March and April. She believes it is because her ranch is the only one in the Rio Grande Valley with alpacas.
“They might have llamas, but alpacas are different; they are cousins,” she said.
Cardenas also offers a charcuterie board with drinks for people who want to stay and have a light dinner.
Her deck is currently decorated for Easter, but every season she switches the decoration.
The tours basically consist of walking the alpacas through the ranch and feeding them, making it a one-on-one experience.
Currently, Cardenas has 25 alpacas, mostly females, with three babies and one that is currently pregnant.
Her ranch has piqued the interest of people in Houston, San Antonio and the Corpus Christi area who travel down to visit.
“A lot of families come and a lot of birthday parties. They come for an hour and a half, and we charge $25 for a tour. If you want to stay for an extra 45 minutes is $10 per person, and we add the charcuterie platter,” Cardenas said.
“I remember I walked the streets of Cusco (Peru), and a family we stayed in would walk down the plaza with their alpacas,” she said.
Besides the alpacas, Cardenas has goats, a donkey, rabbits and chickens.
But the alpacas are what make the ranch special and unique.
“I love seeing the kids’ faces and the people’s faces. A lot of people have to travel overseas to see alpacas,” Cardenas said.
“We are happy to share with the community, and we want them to experience this. We love people, and we love animals. That fills our heart. We had no idea this would be popular in the RGV,” she said.
Cardenas added the alpacas make a humming noise to communicate and a different noise for mating.
“It is said that when he is making a noise, he is singing to her. Once they mate, if she spits him it means she is pregnant. Because she doesn’t want him anymore,” she said.
“They are pregnant for 11-and-a-half months,” Cardenas said.
The tours are for one family at a time, that way they can experience the alpacas in a closer way.
Denise Aguilar, from McAllen, attended with her children and said she had been thinking about it since three weeks ago.
“We wanted to do something different for Spring Break. We were not going to the beach, and they like the outdoors and animals. We thought it would be something cool to try out,” she said.
“I didn’t know it existed and had never experienced something like this,” Aguilar said.
Through someone else, Aguilar came across the Alpaquita Ranch Instagram account and decided to book the tour.
“It is a nice experience. You don’t get to see these animals at all. This is the first time that we touch one or are close to one,” she said.
“The kids are having fun. My son has autism, and he is very comfortable with the one he is walking. It is nice to have things like this in the Valley,” Aguilar said.
