Camping with Llamas

I have never done this, but I have read about it, and I think it would be a great thing to take a pack llama along if you were camping or hiking, as opposed to trying to carry everything in yourself. A llama walks at about the pace of a human, and they are a lot easier to handle than a horse or mule would be as a pack animal. They are a very friendly creature, and usually enjoy human companionship. I have had several llamas and enjoyed them a lot, but I have never gone on a hiking or camping trip with one. They are easy to train, and very intelligent; so I think that it would be perfect to train one for packing.

 

It depends on the size of the llama, and how old they are. Mine was easily able to carry my granddaughter, who was probably about 50 lbs, and I would have to look to see exactly how much they can carry. I would estimate 50-100 lbs at most. and maybe not much overr 50 if they were going to be packing it for a long hike.

The nice thing about a llama is that they are smaller, and more easily handled than a horse is, not spooky, and they very easy to train because of their disposition and their high intelligence. Also, if you accidentally get stepped on by a llama, it is not going to hurt nearly as bad as when a horse tromps on your foot. Llamas walk at a slower pace than a horse does, and they are not good to take along when you are riding horses because they can't keep up with the horse or mule. However, their speed is perfect for walking along beside a person, and they are a very companionable animal.

Llamas make kind of a humming noise to communicate, and when I went out to feed mine in the mornings, I would stand at the pasture fence and say "ooommm, ooommm", and pretty soon he would hum back at me, run up, put his nose in my face and give me his morning "llama kiss".

When I went for a walk around on the property, he would happily follow along beside me, with the dogs and the goat tagging along behind. They are also an excellent guard animal, and will chase off coyotes, and any other pests that come around. (Assuming it is not @Northern Dancer and his bear, of course)
Since they will lie down in a vehicle, they can easily be transported in a van or even a car. There are just a lot of good attributes that make a llama a good pack animal.