SEALIN


Still no plans in the autumn of your life? In September 2020 the project “Senior Alpine Alpaka Interrail” will start, enabling 99 senior citizens to travel sustainably and drawing attention to the dwindling alpaca population in the Alps.

Sustainability, retirement and alpacas do not have to be mutually exclusive: The “Senior Alpine Alpaka Interrail Pass” makes it possible to travel sustainably in the Alpine countries, to raise awareness of the correct handling of native alpacas and at the same time to mobilise older people. First they travel to the mountains by train, then they hike together with alpacas from different Alpine countries and exchange views on health and weather.

Anyone over 60 years of age who does not suffer from alpaca hair allergies can take part. In a one-week preparatory course, the selected participants learn how to groom alpacas, which plants the animals particularly love and how to make vessels from their remains.

The young at heart senior citizens are invited to report about their adventures by letter or to try out the so-called “social media”. Fantastic prizes await them at the Alpaca Selfie Contest. The project was initiated by CIPRA’s Council of Elders, the CIPRA Oldie Council (COC). The COC advocates more senior-friendly and slower travel in the Alps. The 98-year-old Senator Anna Antichissima sums up the common vision: “If you rest you rust”.