Birthday idea: Alpaca picnic in Drenthe (NL)

Looking for a fun thing to do in Drenthe? An alpaca picnic is a great idea then!

As I spend my last 2 birthdays with my boyfriend in Spain, I wanted to do something fun with all my friends back home. Then the question is, what is fun to do when most of my friend don’t know each other and live all across The Netherlands (Den Haag, Groningen, Harderwijk, Assen and Zwolle).
I have been a fan of alpacas for a long time and knew my friends would also like it, so I started to do research where and what would be fun to do.
Eventually I came across Alpaca Enzo, a small farm with 5 incredible alpacas.

What to expect in this article:

Meet the alpacas!

Meet Tommy, Mikky, Fred, Harry and Bobby, 5 male alpacas.

Tommy is the leader of the pack and protects his pack at all costs.
Even when there was a storm in the Netherlands last week, it stayed outside all night to protect his pack from dangers outside, like wolves that hunt in the surrounding, and was exhausted in the morning. That’s a true leader, isn’t it?

Fred and Bobby are both white and best friends. Don’t wear white clothing when you see them, as it won’t be white anymore when you leave these 2 besties.

Then Mikky and Harry are left. Mikky has beautiful big brown eyes and Harry is very unique as it has a 2 coloured face.

There are not only alpacas on the site, but also 6 cute donkeys, different kind of chicken, ducks, 2 small goats and 2 rabbits. You won’t get bored here!

When Emy (our host and carer of the alpacas) greeted us, she told a bit more about the alpacas, and then gave us the ropes to walk the alpacas. Then the fun started!
She did say that you have to be a bit careful as they can kick, so I was a bit hesitant at first. Nevertheless, once I was walking with Fred (luckily I was not wearing white clothes) and petted it, I loved it!

The alpacas are super curious, will smell you a little and listen well to their owner Emy. Next, we took some pictures with them, untied the ropes and let them graze in peace.

Picnic with alpacas

After taking photos and petting the alpacas it was time for my other favourite thing to do (next to be with animals), food!

We could choose to sit outside and be surrounded by the alpacas or sit inside in a glass greenhouse.
After deciding for a minute, we choose for the greenhouse, as it is pretty cold in the Netherlands in February. We were very lucky that the sun was shining, but couldn’t risk it. Also by sitting in the glass greenhouse, we were still able to see all the animals outside, like you can see in the pictures.

As some of my friends are vegan and vegetarian I was scared there wouldn’t be enough food for them, but there was plenty and most of it was delicious!

Baguettes, beatroot wraps, brie cheese, different kinds of spreads, vegetable balls, fruits like grapes, strawberries and a lot of fresh vegetables like cucumber and capsicum. Even the fruit smoothie was delicious!
It might not sound like a lot, but there was enough choice, also for my vegan friends.

We found it super cosy to sit in the glass greenhouse, and were enjoying our meals and watching all that was happening outside at the same time.
You could still see the 2 goats kicking each other by the head, some of the cute waggling chicken running, the alpacas grazing and the 6 donkeys braying loudly.

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Feeding the alpacas carrots

After spending 1.5 to 2 hours enjoying our food and my friends getting to know each other better, we fed the alpacas carrots.

You don’t get a whole carrot, apparently when one alpaca has eaten something, another alpaca won’t touch it anymore.
Emy told us they often eat a bit of the carrot and then leave it, which makes her need to throw all the carrots. So we all got a little bucket filled with carrot snippets and fed it to them.

Do you want to kiss an alpaca? Put a bit of carrot between your lips and let the alpaca eat it. My boyfriend tried it, so I tried to not be too jealous of the alpaca 😉

The alpacas were pretty soft and gently eating from your hand. Tommy, the chef of the pack, was kept apart to feed as he is a bit competitive and would want all of the food for himself.

After feeding them and putting them back in the shed, we were walking around the farm to see all the other animals in action.
Emy was also telling us more about her passion, the alpacas and her life in Drenthe where she is living now from some years after escaping buzzling Den Haag.

Videos below:
Feeding the alpacas and bringing them back to their shed.

Other activities at the farm

As mentioned on their website, they also offer other activities next to the picnic with the alpacas.

Picnic: The picnic we choose for costs 24.95 euro.
You will meet the alpacas, eat food with them and feed them.
Meet & Feed VIP: This 1 hour arrangement includes petting the alpacas, while Emy is telling you more about them. Then you can feed them and take photos at the same time and lastly, will you also get coffee and pie.
It costs 15 euros per person and is for min. 2 people and max. 10.
Walking with Donkeys: Would you like to go on an 2 or 8 km walk with two donkeys, through beautiful Drenthe? During this walk you can feed them. I found the donkeys very cute and would have loved to walk with them.
It’s 20euros for the short walk and 50euros for the long walk.
Group walk with all 6 donkeys: This includes a home-made pie and a drink before you and the owners Emy & Patrick will take you and their 6 donkeys on a 8km walk. It might be a good choice for a relaxing walk. Afterwards you will eat soup at a flaming hot fire.

Dairy Farm tour: 5km from the alpaca farm there is also a dairy farm. You will get some interesting information, before you can cuddle with calves.
This costs 5euros per person.
Stay in the lodge: On the site there is even a lodge that you can stay in for some days. It must be amazing to wake up and immediately pet the alpacas, or feed the ducks. Contact them about prices through their website.
Hottub: There is even a hottub on the site. So take your bathing clothes and take a dip with an alpaca 😉
It costs 30 euros per person.

Nice spots in the area of the farm

There are quite some unique spots in the area, as written on their website.
Hunebedcentrum Borger, Giethoorn, Kamp Westerbork and Boomkroonpad Drouwen are some of my favorites.

If you can, don’t miss out on national park Dwingelderveld and het Blauwe Meer (the Blue Lake).
After our visit to the alpacas, we spend some time at national park Dwingelderveld, this is only 16 minutes away by car and next to the Blue Lake, one of my favorite parks in Drenthe.

In just one park you get to see all different types of landscapes and you can walk over ‘het plankenpad‘, which is a path made of wood. I have written a different blog about my 7 favourite spots in Drenthe. Make sure to check it out!

How to reach the alpaca farm?

By car
The easiest way to reach the farm is by car. From Assen (the capital city of Drenthe), it is a 25 minutes ride through greenery. When you are driving on the n371, you will have to take a left and go over a small bridge. Just around the corner you will find a small farm with some parking spots.

By bus
From Assen it will take 60 minutes to reach the farm by bus. You can take bus 20 and once in Diever you can change to bus 28, after a 2 minutes walk you will reach the alpaca farm.

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I really recommend you...

… to spend a couple of hours with the alpacas of this small farm. I went here with a couple of friends for my birthday, and you can even surprise someone for their birthday (make a reservation beforehand).

It’s super informative, cosy and there is enough to do in the area of the farm. You can pet all the animals, go on walks in the area or have a picnic like we did in the greenhouse and still enjoy seeing all the animals around you.

One other plus is also that when you are vegan or vegetarian, there will be enough options to choose from.

Emy is lovely to have as a host, she is very kind and loves to tell you all about her passion; the animals on the farm and the alpacas in special.

I would love to visit them again, as they are a small business and mostly doing this as a passion. It would be fun to surprise someone and take them to the farm to ‘cuddle’ with the alpacas.