House Sitting Alpacas in the South of France

jcave — Sat, 26 Sep 2015 09:07:00 GMT

Over the past few years, I’ve house sat throughout Europe. Every house sitting job has been an adventure, but of all of them the most memorable has to be the one where I looked after 18 alpacas.

House sitting, for those not in the know, is where you look after other people’s homes while they’re away. Typically there are pets to look after as well, although normally that means looking after cats and dogs as opposed to alpacas.

This particular house sit was closer to a WWOOFing assignment than a house sitting job. For most house sits, you turn up a day or two before the house sit begins, get yourself acquainted with the pets and property, before the owners leave for their vacation. Because this assignment involved looking after a farm (someone else’s livelihood), the owners wanted us to do two weeks of training for around 3-4 hours per day before they were willing to leave us in charge.

I’d stumbled across the assignment on Trusted Housesitters, one of the main house sitting websites. There are a handful of different websites that cater to house sitting, ranging from around $20 per year in price to over $100. I’d spent a lot of time reading about each of them and trying to work out which were worth joining, but in the end seeing this particular assignment as all it took to encourage us to sign up.

As soon as we’d created a profile, we got in touch with the owners and after exchanging a few emails and phone calls, we were packing our bags to head to France.

The Assignment

This house sit involved looking after 18 alpacas and 7 cats, as well as all of the usual responsibilities that go with looking after a property when the owners are away.

The owners were keen for us to get to know the alpacas by name and to be able to tell them apart. Naturally, if you’ve ever seen two alpacas side-by-side, we didn’t think this would ever be possible but over the course of the two weeks we surprised ourselves in being able to tell all eighteen apart.

We were also expected to run through a few different scenarios e.g. what happens if the stud male escapes and gets into the female pen, or what happens if a car crashes and breaks down the fence? It was basically boot camp for alpaca wrangling at the end of the two weeks we felt confident that we were ready for just about any eventuality.

Several of the alpacas and cats had medical conditions that needed attending to at least daily, and sometimes even more than that and we also had to do a few simulations where vet care might be involved.

Would I do it again?

This particular house sit was a lot of work and I normally tend to go for assignments that take up less time, but it looked like such a unique experience it was hard to pass it up. I’d definitely consider taking on another assignment like this again in the future.

Ferry from Karaköy to Kadiköy, Istanbul

jcave — Wed, 27 May 2015 08:37:01 GMT

The ferry takes you from Karaköy on the European side of the city to Kadiköy on the Asian side.

I stuffed the battered guidebook into the bottom of my equally battered rucksack and walked to Karaköy harbour. For three lira, the price of a can of Coke, I joined a hundred or so other people on their commute home from work.

I’d never been to Asia before. Of course I knew that going to the Asian side of Istanbul wouldn’t be enough for anyone to agree I’d really been to Asia, much less me, but it was still a fun idea to entertain. In the city where east officially meets west it seemed like the perfect thing to do.

Fate was on my side as, for an impromptu trip, I had timed it perfectly. The sun was setting over the city, and as the ferry pulled out of Karaköy I looked back to see the skyline of Istanbul perfectly silhouetted against the orange and red glow of the evening sunset.

Opposite me a child stood on his seat, his face pressed against the window. He traced his finger across the minarets, domes and skyscrapers that make Istanbul’s skyline so unique. Next to him his mother, covered completely by her black burka, looked up from her iPad. East meets west.

On a boat made up almost entirely of people travelling home from work, we were the only ones captivated by this view. Some gave it a polite glance but most just chatted or played on their phones while others stared that tired, absent-minded stare of commuters the world over.

Two men walked into the room carrying trays filled with tulip-shaped glasses, each filled to the brim with tea. Suddenly the room sat up. Coins jingled as people fiddled with their pockets and handbags, everyone searching for a Lira or two. “Çay” they shouted out but it wasn’t necessary. There’s always demand for tea in Turkey.

“Çay ister misiniz?” My brow creased as I tried to remember the Turkish word for yes. I know this word, I thought frustrated. I’ve used it at least three times today! Seeing me struggle he politely continued, “Would you like some tea?” I took one of the glasses and smiled, embarrassed that I’d forgotten something so basic.

The tea was strong, tannic and bitter, giving me the perk I needed to get me through until my next cup. Evet! That was the word! I looked up to tell him, to make amends for my cultural ignorance, but he was already gone.

The ferry docked and everyone poured into Kadiköy, while I stood there for a few minutes, savouring what I’ll always remember as my first trip to Asia.

A Ferry to Asia

House Sitting Alpacas in the South of France

Ferry from Karaköy to Kadiköy, Istanbul