I’ve had my fair share of unforgettable travel moments over the years, but this one, which led to milking a sheep in a hailstorm on a remote mountain in North Albania, is right up there. This summer, my 11-year-old daughter and I joined a ‘tester day’ for a new experience we’ve included on our Family Peaks of the Balkans Hiking Holiday. I stumbled across Nina on social media a while ago; a fellow foreigner who’d fallen as deeply for this region as we have, she’d begun connecting travellers with shepherd families in the highlands of Kelmend. It sounded like exactly the kind of local encounter we love to include in our trips: authentic, meaningful, and rooted in everyday life. Arriving at the ‘stan’ We met Nina early at our Lëpushë guesthouse, and set off on foot towards the Nikaj family ‘stan’ (a shepherd’s hut where the family spend the warmer months tending to their flock). Our walk took around forty-five minutes through rolling countryside, with a few stops to admire the bucolic views, greet a passing goat-herder, and pause by a large white cross that marks the entrance to these Catholic highlands. When we reached the stan, we were greeted by a barking but friendly dog and the comforting chaos of family life. Lule, the chief shepherdess, greeted us with a smile that could light up the valley. She and her husband have seven children ranging in age from seven to 24. Within minutes, we were sitting around their outside table with Turkish coffee, ‘raki’ brandy (“it makes things easier,” laughed Lule) and, for the kids, fresh sheep’s milk. I tasted it too, and to my surprise, it was closer to creamy cow’s milk than the stronger flavour I’d anticipated. Meanwhile, the kids were already off making friends with piglets
I’ve had my fair share of unforgettable travel moments over the years, but this one, which led to milking a sheep in a hailstorm on a remote mountain in North Albania, is right up there. This summer, my 11-year-old daughter and I joined a ‘tester day’ for a new experience we’ve included on our Family
