Located just outside Paarl, near the famous Fairview Wine and Cheese Estate and Spice Route, sits the delightful Alpaca Loom. On seven hectares of land, the loom houses more than 340 alpacas, two llamas, and a few goats and dromedary camels.
Female alpacas grazing the green pastures of the Alpaca Loom. The female alpacas are kept separate from the male alpacas, who are more socialised and located in the petting zoo. PHOTO: Inge du Plessis
This is according to Dietmar Keil, co-owner of the Alpaca Loom. After first farming with free-range pigs and then sheep and goats for roughly two years, Dietmar and his wife, Kerstin Heisterkamp, stumbled across alpacas in 2004 and immediately fell in love with them.
“I never thought I would do scarves or shawls or alpaca products one day, but that’s how it just developed,” says Keil.
The Alpaca Loom offers educational tours, feeding of the animals, and alpaca wool products. You can even stop by the coffee shop for a quick bite or refreshment. VIDEO: Inge du Plessis
They started with seven animals from South America, and since then have grown exponentially. “I’d say, we are one of the biggest alpaca farms in the country, or actually on the continent. We have got about 340,” says Keil.
“We [have] had over 1 200 birthings by now,” he says, and adds that this is why they do not import anymore. “We only breed now. So we are part of the [South Africa Alpaca Breeders’ Society].”
According to Keil, the loom has been a breakaway from the lockdown blues.
“We are selling fresh air and happiness. I think that’s a big part of our lives nowadays. You get these people who are in lockdown […] they’ve been sitting in their 60 square metres apartment and the young kid is doing homeschooling in the morning on the computer,” he says.
Some of the alpacas at the Alpaca Loom. “Selling fresh air and happiness” is part of the goal at the Alpaca Loom, according to co-owner Dietmar Keil. PHOTOS: Kirsty Bucholz
At the loom there are friendly animals eating out of people’s hands, says Keil. “So it is very nice for people to interact with [the animals], especially the alpacas. Overseas they are used in [animal-assisted] therapy,” he adds.
The initial lockdown was, however, still quite difficult for the loom, according to Keil. “It was very abrupt. But I think we quickly adapted. I think that was one of our strengths – to be very quick into marketing ourselves,” he says.
On 1 May 2020, the government eased regulations that allowed winter products to be sold again. The loom grabbed the opportunity with both hands and started selling their winter products, such as scarves, shawls, blankets and ponchos. During the next level, takeaways were allowed, so they jumped on that as soon as possible.
The wool of the alpacas is used to weave winter products such as scarves, shawls, blankets and ponchos. The different colours of the alpacas allow these products to have a variety of natural colours, according to Dietmar Keil, co-owner of the Alpaca Loom. PHOTOS: Kirsty Bucholz
“We tried to find the gaps – maybe ‘gap’ is not the best word – but to be operational. In the meantime, we sold quite a few alpacas,” says Keil.
The lockdown also meant a smaller staff. “Before lockdown, we had three weavers permanently employed and now we are down to one weaver and we, unfortunately, use her to do dishes, and waitering as well,” says Keil. He explains that their workforce needs to be multi-tasking and be able to do everything.
“I didn’t have a degree in weaving or any idea of how weaving works, but my bosses taught me everything about how the looms work,” says Agneta Sherini, a weaver at the loom since 2014. She says her employers, Keil and Heisterkamp, are very kind and loving, and that she is now the best weaver because of them.
“It was an adjustment period especially with us having to limit our numbers because there is only so much space here,” says Brandon Abrahams, one of the two tour guides at the Alpaca Loom.
Brandon Abrahams, one of the two tour guides at the Alpaca Loom, giving a tour. PHOTO: Inge du Plessis
Lockdown brought on unpredictability. The Alpaca Loom would hire casuals on predicted busy periods but then few people would visit the farm, says Abrahams. Therefore, the remaining staff had to pick up the slack and perform multiple roles, he adds.
The loom gets most of its visitors over the weekend; they can receive approximately 200 to 300 people per day over the weekend, says Abrahams.
First newborn
The birthing season has started now in the month of October, when the loom saw its first official birth of the season on 1 October. One of their alpacas, Flora, gave birth to a daughter at 326 days and 5.4 kg, according to Keil.
Dietmar Keil (left) and Kerstin Heisterkamp (right), the owners of the Alpaca Loom, with their alpaca, Flora, and her baby, the first newborn alpaca of the 2021 birthing season. PHOTOS: Inge du Plessis and Kirsty Bucholz
Alpaca Loom has had over 1 000 newborns since they started breeding, says Heisterkamp, co-owner of the loom.
Heisterkamp is an “unofficial alpaca expert”, says Abrahams. They started farming with sheep and goats before farming with alpacas in 2004, and that experience with herd animals has assisted her with the breeding and caring for alpacas, Heisterkamp told MatieMedia.
“It’s the university of life,” she says.
The Alpaca Loom is the perfect place for a Covid-19 breakaway. VIDEO: Kirsty Bucholz
By Alexander Brand, Kirsty Bucholz, Inge du Plessis and Kyra-Kay Rensburg