Would you go to a café full of alpacas?
You can find such a café in Stajićevo, Serbia. Six alpacas—different sizes and colors—serve as hosts. The South American animals roam among the tables at the Tiganjica Ethno-Village resort. They seem happy to interact with the guests.
The Alpaca Café opened almost two weeks ago. It’s a rare sight in Europe. Zoran Ostojin owns the resort. He says he got the idea in Slovakia.
“My wife and I were in an alpaca café in Slovakia, and we were fascinated,” he says. “We wanted people in our country to get to know alpacas.”
Have you met an alpaca? The animals are calm, friendly, and famously easy to get along with. They’re related to llamas and camels. But they’re smaller. People love their soft fur and the gentle humming sounds they make.
Visitors to the café must follow a few rules.
- Don’t approach the alpacas from behind.
- Don’t feed them stuff you brought from home. (Were you thinking, “Alpaca lunch?” Sorry—no outside food.)
- Arrange your visit ahead of time.
- Pay the entry fee—10 euros. (That’s $11.35 in American dollars.) The fee includes a drink, plus a bucket of alpaca food (carrots, lettuce, and apples).
All six animals are different. A black alpaca named Ljubica is grumpy. Snezana, the smallest of the group, is the herd leader.
Mr. Ostojin also runs a small zoo within his resort. He says it all started when he and his brother were boys and cared for injured animals.
The first alpaca came as a present from the Belgrade Zoo eight years ago.
Have you ever felt comforted by an animal? God certainly uses animals to bless humans in this way. Mr. Ostojin says he “very much liked the energy, the emotion that this animal sends out. Almost like a healing ability.”
The Lord is good to all, and His mercy is over all that He has made. — Psalm 145:9
