V.I.P. ALPACA EXPERIENCE · MARKDALE, ON
Everything in the Private tour, with another thirty minutes, 10% off in the shop, and an alpaca plushie that goes home with the Guest of Honour.
$75 per adult · $35 per youth, ages 3 to 17 · Under 3 come free
Minimum ninety minutes
Over 300 Google reviews with a 5 star rating
Always indoors, whatever the weather
Wheelchair and stroller accessible
100% money-back guarantee
$75 adult, $35 youth
Ages 3 to 17. Under 3 come free
Minimum ninety minutes
Half an hour longer than the Private tour
Your group, up to 15
Nobody else is booked into your time slot
A plushie for the Guest of Honour
A twelve inch alpaca, or two five inch ones
10% off in the shop
Including the things Carolyn makes herself
Always indoors
Whatever the weather
Treats are included, and we bring out as many alpacas as your group needs. A small group gets a few, so nobody is surrounded by four alpacas all trying to eat at once. A larger group gets more, so nobody is left holding a handful of treats waiting for a turn.
Everyone feeds an alpaca. Every time.
If the weather is good, you may start outside with the boys. They live in their own field, away from the girls, and Carolyn will tell you why.
Whether you feed them out there is her call on the day. A bigger group usually does. A small one usually does not, because the boys come over all at once and there is no holding some of them back in an open field.
If it is cold or wet, we skip this part. You will just get more time with the girls.
A minimum of ninety minutes, and none of it spent watching from behind a fence.
Then you are inside for the rest of it. Clean footing throughout, no mud, nothing to walk through that you would not want on your shoes. Strollers and wheelchairs come straight in.
Carolyn runs through a few pointers on how to be around the alpacas. It takes a minute.
You stand in the centre aisle and Carolyn lets a group of the girls out to join you. Not behind a gate. In the aisle, with you.
DQ's Special is usually among the first over, and is always ready for a handful of treats. Lady Grantham will come out for treats too, as long as her friends are coming with her.
Carolyn hands out small bowls of feed and the alpacas do the rest.
That happens more than once. Carolyn swaps one group out and brings the next through. Depending on the time of year that might be the adult girls, the moms with their crias, or the yearlings.
You feed each group that comes out. Different ages, different characters, a different feel each time.
Ask Carolyn about Princess Sara. She broke a leg at six months old, stayed with her mother two extra months while it healed, and at a year old went to story time at the Owen Sound library and ended up on the front page of the paper.
All the way through, Carolyn is talking about them. Who they are, how they behave, how the farm runs. Ask her anything you like and take as many photos as you want. Both are encouraged, not just allowed.
Ninety minutes is the minimum. That is half an hour more than the Private tour, which is enough that nothing has to be hurried. If there is something you particularly want time for, tell us when you book.
When the tour finishes Carolyn walks everyone over to the farm house, where the shop is. She will show you what is there and where it came from, including the things she makes herself from our own alpacas' fibre. Then she leaves you to browse, with 10% off anything you choose.
Many items made from the same herd you just spent ninety minutes with.
The Guest of Honour.
There is one plushie included on a V.I.P. tour and it goes to whoever the day is about. The birthday, the anniversary, the one who has wanted to meet an alpaca since they were four. Not one each, and not a bag of them at the end. One, just for them.
They choose a twelve inch alpaca, or two five inch ones. Either choice sells for $70 in the shop, so if anyone else in the group wants one, your 10% comes off those too.
That is the difference between a nice afternoon and an occasion, and it is the reason most V.I.P. tours are booked by somebody other than the person who enjoys it most. The rest of it is the Private tour with another half hour: the same barn, the same alpacas, the same Carolyn, and nobody else booked into your slot.
Gift certificates are sold by dollar value rather than by tour, so the person you are buying for picks their own date and their own group. We will tell you what to put on it for the tour and the number of guests you have in mind.
No expiry games and no blackout dates. Whatever is on the certificate is theirs to use.
See gift certificates“We arranged this tour for my mother in-law's birthday. It was such a blast! Carolyn, the owner, was our tour guide and she gave us so much information about alpacas.”
Christine Mills-McCulligh
“We had 4 generations, Great-Grandma, Grandma, Daughter and her 2 children. Carolyn was amazing with all ages of our family.”
Susan Busse
“I booked a tour for my birthday and I'm so glad I did! What an amazing experience and it made me so happy.”
Amy Rammage
Footwear
Closed-toe shoes. The barn is clean but it is still a barn
Weather
Tours run in rain, snow and wind, because you are indoors. If driving conditions are unsafe, you choose between a reschedule and a refund
Dogs
For the comfort of our alpacas, please do not bring dogs to the farm. Alpacas see a dog as a predator, and even a calm one changes how the herd behaves for the rest of the visit
Ages
Guests have ranged from two weeks old to 98 years old
Access
Wheelchairs and strollers come straight into the barn. Clean footing throughout
Booking ahead
Please book ahead. Tours run to a schedule, and when the day is full we cannot fit anyone else in
Come on the tour. If you get to the end and you do not think it was worth it, tell Carolyn and we will refund you in full.
Nobody has asked yet, but the offer stands.
$75 per adult, $35 per youth aged 3 to 17. Under 3 come free. Minimum ninety minutes, always indoors.
See available dates or book a V.I.P. TourTours start at 10am, 12, 2 and 4. A V.I.P. booking takes the whole slot, so the time you pick is yours. There is a box when you book to tell us who the Guest of Honour is and what you are celebrating.
Same barn, same alpacas, same Carolyn, and nobody else booked into your slot either way. Three differences. It runs a minimum of ninety minutes instead of sixty, there is 10% off anything in the shop, and there is an alpaca plushie for the Guest of Honour to take home.
Whoever the day is about. There is one, not one each. Tell us who it is for when you book.
Most people book it for someone they are bringing with them: a partner, or a family member with a birthday, an anniversary or a graduation. You can also buy it as a gift certificate, which is sold by dollar value, so the person you give it to picks their own date and their own group.
Yes, everyone does, every time. Carolyn brings out as many alpacas as your group needs so nobody is left waiting for a turn.
The tour runs. Everything you came for happens indoors. The one exception is driving conditions: if the roads are unsafe, you choose between moving your booking and a full refund.
Yes. Guests have ranged from two weeks old to 98 years old.
For the comfort of our alpacas and to have your best experience, please do not bring dogs to the farm. Alpacas see a dog as a predator, and even a calm one changes how the herd behaves for the rest of the visit.
Closed-toe shoes, and dress for the temperature outside. The barn keeps the wind, rain and snow off you, but it is not heated, so it will be about as warm as the day is.
Please book ahead. Tours run to a schedule, and when the day is full we cannot fit anyone else in. Even when there is room, turning up unannounced usually means waiting half an hour or more while we finish whatever we are in the middle of. Booking ahead means we are ready for you when you arrive.
