About Us

Meet Collins & Nikki Griffith of Sandollar Farms | Alpacas and Great Pyrenees!

Our passion is raising the extremely rare suri alpacas and working with their fabulous fiber; and the glorious Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs! It is evident on our farm and in ourlifestyle.  

In 2002, at a Fall Festival in Southern Arizona, we first experienced alpacas at a local breeder's booth.  A corral of yearlings was set up next to the breeder's booth of lovely alpaca items for sale.  It was love at first sight.  We had found the ideal retirement business that we could enjoy together!

Over the next 18 months we researched these delightful and mythical creatures from South America prized for their long, soft and silky fleece.  We bought three bred females in December, 2003; Collins then built the barn and paddocks, they were delivered in July, 2004 and the adventure began.

Since then, our alpaca family has grown exponentially,as we carefully added nationally renowned genetics to our foundation herd, yielding more and more of the exquisite fiber made famous by many Peruvian artisans.   Today our herd numbers about 14-20 alpacas on the ranch depending on the season of the year.  In 2007 we moved from Arizona to the Pacific Northwest, settling in to the Heart of Washington Wine Country, in the Tri-Cities area of Southeast Washington.

As crias (baby alpacas) pronk in the fields, we also spend time pursuing a wide range of other interests, including our needlefelting, weaving, knitting, spinning, and leather tooling of unusual custom alpaca and leather accessories that are sold in our onsite farm store, The Fuzzy Wuzzy.  

Nikki is a Senior Consultant for Marty McGee Bennett's Camelidynamics behavioral training program with alpacas; and in 2019 became an apprentice in the SGC (Sorting, Grading Classing) part of the fiber industry.  She also enjoys her business life as a commercial real estate appraiser / broker and principal of her own firm.One of her particular joys is helping new alpaca owners find that perfect piece of property to develop as a farm.  Nikki grew up in the Midwest, and earned her undergraduate degree at St. Louis University; she has worked as a commercial real estate appraiser, broker, banker and national educator for over 35 years.  Today, she still works full time in commercial real estate; and in addition to her duties at the farm, she operates the fiber arts studio.  An experienced trainer throughout her career, Nikki loves providing educational seminars on alpacas and their ownership several times each year.

Collins, Farm Manager for Sandollar Farms as well as Store Manager for The Fuzzy Wuzzy, grew up in Kansas and earned a degree in Agriculture from the University of Nevada. After serving in the army as an irrigation specialist, he owned and operated a greenhouse, landscaping and nursery business in central Washington State for 15 years, before migrating to Phoenix.   Recognizing a need for safe terrain, he engineered and trademarked a wood fiber product called Playsafe®, now used throughout the Southwest on playgrounds and recreational sites. Today he manages the farm and for added pleasure, tools his custom leather accessories and makes fabulous things out of alpaca fiber. Additionally, pasture management, farm layout and irrigation are all a piece of cake for Collins, and several breeders in the area have taken advantage of his expertise.

Want to know more?  We'd love to show you!   

Schedule your farm visit:  Call Nikki at 509.378.6909 or Collins at 509.378.5833!